CANIDAE Helps the Environment, One Order at a Time

By Linda Cole

Protecting the environment and being good stewards of the land is a common sense thing to do. Healthy ecosystems are directly related to our good health and well being. Trees are the lungs of the world. One tree can absorb up to 48 lbs. of carbon dioxide in a year and releases enough oxygen for two people. Trees provide habitats for birds and other animals that live in the forests.

Technology is making our lives easier, and it can also help preserve our environment by reducing our need for paper. CANIDAE Pet Food Company has taken an important step to help preserve trees and provide better service to their customers by outfitting their entire sales team with iPads.

Jason Castillo, CANIDAE Controller, explains how making one small change to the way they do business can make a big difference in serving their customers. “The iPads are a sales team tool. Every sales person uses them every day as a key tool. They are used at each sales call to display valuable and up-to-the-minute data, as well as take orders. Because the retailer sees the order and then signs it, they are more accurate. Signed orders are then sent immediately via email for fulfillment.” Jason went on to say that “Customer service via our sales team has already been improved in terms of accuracy and speeding up the delivery of orders to our retailers because of the iPads.”

According to the Environmental Center at Westminster College in Utah, more than two billion trees are cut down in the United States every year for use in the paper industry. Depending on the business, paper costs can be a big part of their yearly budget. I asked Jason if he had any idea how much CANIDAE could save by switching to the iPads. “We don't have an exact estimate on the paper savings, but with over 7,000 retailers and old order forms that were in triplicate, we expect the first year's savings in our paper usage to be substantial.”

I've had jobs where I needed to finish up paperwork at the end of the day before going home. It can be tedious and time consuming, and mistakes can easily be made when you're tired. The CANIDAE sales team has embraced the iPad, as one might expect. “Not only has the sales team responded very well, so have our retail customers and distributors. The sales team enjoys them because they can record their order and data in real time instead of taking paper notes and then transferring them later to a laptop. Because the data is input in real time, the information is more accurate and the sales team can eliminate end of the day paperwork which saves them valuable time.”

Having the ability to record customer orders instantly makes it possible to start the delivery process faster and improve customer service to thousands of CANIDAE retailers around the country. Customers have the ability to look over their orders to make sure they are accurate before they are submitted and then sign off directly on the iPad.

By getting rid of an order form that had to be filled out in triplicate and putting orders on the iPad, there's no chance of paperwork getting lost or misdirected. Instead of the salesperson having to fax an order in, they can now simply email it which saves paper.

CANIDAE is helping to save vital natural resources, one order at a time. Along with adding iPads to their sales team, they use compact fluorescent light bulbs at their office and one of my dogs' favorite treats, Snap Biscuits®, are made at a plant powered entirely by wind energy.

As a pet owner and someone who is concerned about the environment, I love seeing how CANIDAE is utilizing new technology to save money and time, provide customers with more accurate and faster distribution of their product, and reduce the need for paper. Thank you, CANIDAE, for all that you do!

Photo at top: CANIDAE Sales Manager Stan Grumbeck uses his iPad during a meeting with a local independent retailer.

Read more articles by Linda Cole