+ CASE STUDY
Goodwill Keystone Area / Solutions DGR
Goodwill Keystone Area Transformed Its Tech Stack with Solutions DGR
Overview
Goodwill Keystone Area recognized the opportunity to streamline their processes, increase operational efficiencies, improve decision making through reporting, and increase their profitability by upgrading their POS system to a single platform. Previously, they had cobbled together a number of solutions to meet their needs. Encouraged by the success of other Goodwill organizations, Goodwill Keystone Area took the initiative to upgrade its retail Point of Sale (POS) and Production software to Solutions DGR.
Project
After being exposed to the Donation Module that a neighboring Goodwill organization was using, the Goodwill Keystone team decided that having all their operational functions in one platform was appealing when the time came to upgrade their point-of-sale system, rather than opting for yet another add-on.
The new Solutions DGR system would service a wide range of organizational needs from production through to point of sale. Employing more efficient software to increase the transparency of their operations was another significant priority. Tying all their data into one reporting system would reduce friction throughout their operational processes, empowering them to track their resources at all times, from procurement to sales. The organization was determined to boost profitability by streamlining these processes.
As with any other tech migration, the IT department at Goodwill Keystone Area had come up with a list of possible issues they expected to encounter. The fact that Solutions ITW had addressed these issues during the proposal process was a major factor in their decision to make the switch.
Implementation
Solutions ITW got a clear view of the upcoming process.
Goodwill Keystone Area learned quickly during the initial consultations that their list of possible pitfalls had already been addressed by the Solutions ITW team. Solutions ITW’s extensive experience in working only with Goodwills had given the team a clear view of the upcoming process.
The migration was coordinated and implemented by both the IT team at Goodwill Keystone Area and the tech team at Solutions ITW. Throughout this partnership, the Goodwill Keystone Area team took up the challenge of procuring the necessary hardware for the project. Meanwhile, the Solutions ITW team provided the server and infrastructure support, helping the Goodwill IT team stay aligned with the requirements of the network.
Apart from covering the software-side of the project, the Solutions ITW team also completed a training program at a pilot store and assisted the process when necessary.
System migrations always come with their own set of issues that are almost always unavoidable. A big part of the implementation success of this project was the consistent two-way communication between the teams at Goodwill Keystone Area and Solutions ITW. This key aspect ensured that both teams stayed on the same page as the migration was finalized.
There’s nothing else out there in the retail POS industry that is designed for Goodwills from ground zero all the way through the stack. Goodwill-specific challenges are already thought through.
+ Thomas Moll, Director of Information Technology at Goodwill Keystone Area, Harrisburg, PA
The Outcome
Goodwill Keystone Area finally started to operate an intuitive and predictive software for its retail POS and production needs. With Solutions DGR, they could now capture data from the back door to the register, which allowed them to optimize pricing and production processes to increase overall revenue and employee effectiveness. Solutions DGR proved once more to be Goodwill-ready right out of the box for yet another location.
Besides the industry-specific functionality of the software, Goodwill Keystone Area also felt itself to be in safe hands by working with many Goodwill ex-employees who now form an integral part of the Solutions ITW team. This partnership continued our mission of providing excellent POS and production technology for Goodwill Keystone Area to thrive in what they do best — advance sustainability so that individuals and families can flourish.
Solutions ITW was available after hours and quickly addressed concerns from the networking side. After the first couple weeks of rolling out, we started feeling pretty confident in what we were doing. Roll-out time went from six hours at the pilot store to an hour and a half in the last couple of stores.
+ Chad Albaugh, Goodwill of Arkansas VP of Donated Goods