In this Acumatica Manufacturing Success Story, while still a startup company, Firewire Surfboards purchased a low-cost ERP and then for more than a decade used it for basic transaction processing and as a company database. As the eco-conscious company grew, CFO, Franklin Shiraki, lacked visibility into the firm’s European distribution entity and the finances of the company’s weekly production operations. Shiraki also spent a large amount of time recreating financial reports that could have easily been automated with a more robust system. The finance team wanted a modern ERP with an open platform aligning with the company’s ambitions towards innovation. Firewire invested in Acumatica’s low-latency, high performing Cloud ERP — which beat out SAP – and gained an affordable, flexible ERP that will help Firewire maintain its competitive edge and remain a market leader in high-performance, sustainable surfboards.

Firewire considered SAP Business One, but chose and implemented Acumatica, gaining an affordable, low latency, high performing solution and avoiding potential vendor-lock in. The company installed Acumatica in each entity, which includes its new eco-conscious manufacturing operation in Thailand.

Acumatica’s flexibility was also a key differentiator. “We were looking for something that gave us as many options as possible. Our company today won’t be the same five years from now,” Shiraki says. “We’re not stagnant; not locked into policies, procedures or software. Everything we do is with the long-term perspective in mind, and we need an ERP system that can evolve with us.”