At Vanchem, senior leaders managed significant topline growth and gave the bottom line a boost with accurate purchasing and finished goods costing from Mar-Kov and QuickBooks.

“Our margins are up about 7% because that cost data is a really awesome business tool for an entrepreneur and numbers guy like me—the ROI on Mar-Kov is superlative,” says James Van Camp, president, Van Chem. “At least once a year, we review our purchasing and finished goods costs, then we decide if the margins make sense for Vanchem.”

Between 2011 and 2020, Vanchem’s sales increased 50%, then sales grew another 20% post-pandemic. Because of Mar-Kov and Quickbooks, Vanchem has managed the increased volume without hiring additional employees or replacing employees in the departments that were most affected: purchasing, batching and administration. Together, Mar-Kov and Quickbooks handle the bulk of the repetitive manual tasks and calculations and provide accurate data and reports. Employees have more time to run the business and use the ERP’s information to make the best business decisions for Vanchem and its customers.

“In 2011, the Mar-Kov-Quickbooks integration really sold me—together, they’re incredibly robust and their data gives us control of our business and bottom-line,” says James

Cost History Supports Price Increases & Forecasting Tasks

Vanchem consistently uses Mar-Kov to help manage raw material costs and hold the line on its prices. When possible, Vanchem will use Mar-Kov’s historical data to negotiate price concessions on commodities such as sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid as well as specialty chemicals. If price concessions aren’t an option, Vanchem will try to source new commodity suppliers or substitutes for the specialty chemicals. However, when Vanchem has to pay more for its raw materials, the company shares Mar-Kov reports with customers to show price increases are needed to maintain its margins.

“Customers understand and accept price increases when Mar-Kov data shows them the cost of a key raw material like aluminum nitrate went up 70% from 2021 to 2023,” says James.

Mar-Kov also helps Vanchem and its customers plan ahead. In a competitive market, Tier One and Tier Two suppliers have to honor the terms of their multi-year contracts with OEMs like Honda, Toyota and GM. When customers ask Vanchem what’s next, Vanchem’s future cost structure is based on up to 3 years of Mar-Kov data.

“Mar-Kov helps Vanchem and its customers prepare for the next cycle with costing and pricing we can all live with through the next 3-year contract,” says James.

Before Mar-Kov and Quickbooks, Vanchem relied on reams of paper and its DOS-based FoxPro and ACCPAC accounting software. Every year for decades, Vanchem’s admin employees had to pull all of the paper invoices and quotes, then plug those cost-specific numbers into 100+ costing sheets. The printed sheets went into a binder for James. He calculated the costs and compared the percentage increase or decrease to the historical data in the previous year’s binder, then reviewed the pricing and margins. Today, it takes less than a minute to get the costing information on a single SKU – a process that used to take an hour to compile.

Pricing is always top-of-mind but consistent quality is equally important. Each batch has to meet stringent quality control standards to be released for sale or put into finished goods inventory. Vanchem’s in-house quality control chemist checks pH levels, specific gravity, alkalinity and other key factors in the onsite lab. The quality records are available in Mar-Kov’s centralized database if Vanchem and its customers need to confirm the products will prep an auto part, treat industrial wastewater and more.

“Vanchem has had decades-long relationships with auto industry and military contractors because we meet their pricing, delivery and quality expectations,” says James.