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Holmes
Oil Company, Inc. |
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 A
little back-ground:
Located in Bessemer, AL, it was established in 1945 by W. G. Petty,
who was a Gulf Oil contract distributor at the time. Don Holmes, who
worked as a salesman for Gulf Oil, purchased the business in 1970
and Holmes Oil Company, Inc. was born. They are currently branded
BP, ConocoPhillips, Citgo, Liberty and Texaco with deliveries to 41
retail locations. Holmes Oil also distributes Citgo lubricants.
Prior to making the change: "We had several different programs involved in running our day to day operations," says Wayne Holmes, President. "It was a challenge to put all of this together to make it useful to us. We had people doing double work to get this accomplished."Wayne was on a mission when he met with AIMS to discuss their COMPAS marketer accounting system. His goal was to have all of his information available to him in one software system. According to Wayne, "We did a lot of checking around and found the AIMS customers were more pleased with their systems than some of their competitions’ customers. After talking with some of the AIMS employees, we found them to be genuine people who care deeply for their product." After the switch to COMPAS: "The main benefit we have enjoyed is that we can work with fewer people on our staff, which has allowed us to reduce our operating expenses in these times of razor thin margins. That has been a huge plus for us." |
There are other benefits that have been realized by Holmes Oil. Wayne states, "With COMPAS, I now have the ability to track our profit margins on every product we sell and I know exactly where we stand. It is also a huge benefit to know that all I have to do is pick up the phone and call when I have a problem and usually it is resolved the same day. A look ahead: And what can a comprehensive accounting system and a proactive software vendor mean for a jobber’s outlook? As with Holmes Oil, the relationship can lay a solid foundation on which to build. "We can grow our company knowing that our COMPAS accounting system can grow with us and has the ability to handle it."Words of wisdom: Wayne is pleased to be able to share their experience with AIMS and COMPAS with other jobbers who find themselves in a similar situation. "My advice to anyone who is not happy with their present system is to give COMPAS and the people at AIMS a chance."The payoff to making the move to a true jobber system that knows your business can be huge. But Wayne knows changing accounting systems isn’t an easy task. The experience has been rewarding for Holmes Oil in many ways and he knows it can be for others too. "If you make a change, do it gradually so that you won’t be overwhelmed. AIMS will be with you every step of the way." |
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