PairSoft Helps WS Packaging Group Save Staff Time and Reduce Paper Use

The Client

Based in Algoma, Wisconsin, WS Packaging Group manufactures pressure-sensitive labels for major national packaged food and beverage companies.

The Challenge

WS Packaging accounting folks found themselves stuck under piles of paperwork just as their corporate office was about to move into a temporary location. “We really were running out of space, not only for people, but for files,” explains Cathy Schumer, the company’s corporate controller.

At first she had concerns regarding whether going paperless would pass muster with accountants, auditors and the Internal Revenue Service. She now anticipates that it will be a great timesaver for her staff and a more convenient way to get information disseminated. Also, the vast majority of WS Packaging’s manufacturing facilities use Microsoft Dynamics GP, so she needed something that would integrate seamlessly. PairSoft was the perfect solution.

The Solution

Schumer found the software at a conference in March and employed it in July, right after her company’s next fiscal year began. “It fit with our year end,” she says. “It was easy to implement. We actually got it up and running very quickly.” PairSoft also saved the company from excessive spending: “We had also explored some very high-end software for workflow management and they were so darn expensive. We figured out the return was going to be about a year.”

The Results

WS Packaging employees discovered they could use PairSoft to store credit applications, scan in remitted checks and attach them to transactions, assist with collections, promptly deal with vendor queries, and quickly investigate any unusual transactions. Schumer also adds that it makes buyouts go more smoothly; when WS Packaging acquires a company it can take control of its cash immediately through Microsoft Dynamics, scan everything in, and can start paying vendors immediately. “We’re able to quickly integrate their accounting into ours as a result of PairSoft,” she explains. Schumer admits accounts payable folks were apprehensive at first, but: “Once we got things rolling they were like, okay, this is really cool! It’s really easy to find things. Now they’re going gangbusters with it. They love it.”

Measures of Success

• WS Packaging has eliminated 55 four-drawer file cabinets thus far by implementing PairSoft.
• Its accounting department has freed up about 40 hours per week that would otherwise have been spent filing, searching for paperwork, and circulating hard copy documents.
• The accounting department has reduced paper usage by about 40 percent, mostly as a result of PairSoft.
• Schumer no longer worries about her department potentially losing everything if a fire or flood occurs