 |
||
|
SACO Petroleum, Inc. |
||
 SACO Petroleum, located in N. Kansas City, Missouri, is a family owned business that has been around for over fifty years. SACO got it’s start when Ken Suter opened his first full service gas station in Kansas City, Kansas. In addition to the gas station, Ken also operated a dump truck service. Over time, Ken grew his operation to eight full service locations. As convenience stores began taking hold in the industry and replacing full serve gas stations, Ken converted several of his locations to self serve and mini c-stores. At one time, SACO had expanded its operation to nineteen retail direct operations and approximately fifteen dealers. But over the past several years, they have changed the focus of their business. They have sold fifteen of their locations to dealers and only operate four directly. SACO Petroleum currently delivers to about 40 locations. They also operate a cardlock site and operate two bulk plants in Missouri. One is located in Springfield and the other is in Centerview. Ken is still active in the everyday operations of the business. Brian Suter, Ken’s son, has worked in the family business for quite a few years. In the nineties, SACO Petroleum was getting by with a general accounting system. But as the business grew and the industry changed, their accounting processes became more and more labor intensive. There was still a lot of manual work involved. In 1998, the Suters decided it was time to find an accounting system that was designed specifically for an oil jobber operation. They decided there had to be a better way to manage the work load. Then SACO evaluated |
what AIMS had to offer. They opted to go with AIMS’ COMPAS system. There was a transitional period when they made the change to COMPAS. Everyone began learning and getting used to the new system and all that it was capable of. Brian acknowledged, "We very quickly began to realize that we didn’t have to do as much manual work as we did before." Brian and the rest of the SACO staff realize the benefit of having such a comprehensive system in place. Brian states that with COMPAS, their reporting is much more accurate and they get far more details than they did before. "Now that we are starting to utilize more of the automation interfaces, we are becoming much more efficient. We have been able to reduce the size of our office staff. Not only that, we are getting things done faster and more accurately than before." And their plans are to continue automating the
home office, which gives SACO Petroleum more options and
flexibility. Brian offers his experience to his peers. "The support staff at AIMS has been wonderful and we have no complaints. I would highly recommend that marketers take a close look at COMPAS when the time comes to consider changing accounting systems."
|
|
