Dataflo Consulting
Advancing CRM Capabilities with Inventory Management

Businesses across industries realize the value of keeping communication open between their organization and the customers they work with. Historically, these interactions may have been tracked through very basic systems, but as Information Technology continues to advance, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems have progressed to dynamic, real-time systems to increase the quality of interaction between clients and customers.

Dataflo Consulting, a progressive group that focuses on data collection technologies within the supply chain industry, is taking the general CRM system to another level by incorporating advanced capabilities. Not only does Dataflo integrate directly into Salesforce CRM, one of the most popular systems available, but also their popular add-on, Matrix velocity, enhances the system to include supply chain oversight. “Matrix velocity is the next step in turning the CRM into an inventory management and order fulfillment system,” explains Dataflo Consulting’s Technologist and CEO, Steve Campisi. “It provides that next step to take the Matrix into a full-blown ERP system, taking the CRM into an inventory management world.”

Dataflo Consulting takes the general information tracked via Salesforce through the supply chain and fulfillment arena. Not only can sales reps use Matrix velocity to better leverage quotes by being able to see when a customer bought a product, as well as the price of the product and purchase history. “They can be consistent in their pricing and see in real-time inventory on-hand,” Campisi says.

When the quote is awarded, Matrix velocity then moves into the inventory management side. As soon as a sales person converts a quote to an order, he states, they can quickly move into fulfillment, selecting which warehouse locations to use for the fulfillment orders. The system creates pick and pack tickets that complete the process and can generate invoices directly through the Matrix velocity platform.

For example, Dataflo Consulting works with a customer that at one point had a website with a shopping cart where they handled about 50 sales orders per day.

Matrix velocity is the next step in turning the CRM into an inventory management and order fulfillment system

However, the system was very manual and allowed for errors, from lost email orders to other issues that arise with a system dependent on hard copies. “Now with Matrix velocity they are processing over 300 orders per day from the website,” he says. “Those orders automatically come into the Matrix velocity order object, and from there, the fulfillment and pick ticket gets placed within Salesforce Matrix velocity.”

With more than 33 years of supply chain experience, Dataflo Consulting anticipated the need for this extension as far back as 2009 and began tailoring their platform to complement Salesforce offerings. “It’s very flexible,” he explains. “We also speak to many different industries with our product because of its flexibility.” For example, another major vertical they work with is the healthcare industry. Their platform can track items such as orthopedic parts to provide recall alerts as well as when parts are nearing the end of their shelf life.

Whenever they identify a customer need, Dataflo Consulting moves to fill that need, also offering solutions such as barcode type mobile devices, barcode printers, and a Cyberlock tool. While they focus on meeting customers’ demands, Dataflo Consulting is continually looking to improve their product offerings. “We are an embedded product within CRM,” Campisi says. “We have a long history, so we truly have supply chain DNA here at a corporate level. We don’t wait to create. We pay attention to what our customers are asking for in capabilities and features. We’re very customer-centric and with that information coming in from our customer base, we create new capabilities within Matrix.”