Ascent Customer Spotlight: Bosma Enterprises

Bosma is a nonprofit organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Its core mission is to help the blind or visually impaired find gainful employment. With a staff that is over 60% blind or visually impaired, Bosma programs teach individuals how to succeed in today’s fast-paced, sometimes virtual world. The organization also became a Salesforce System Integration (SI) and Ascent Solutions Certified Partner, assisting other nonprofits around the country with their Salesforce and assisted technology needs. Bosma is the largest employer of people with vision loss in the state of Indiana.

Opportunity to Improve Inventory Management for Visually Impaired Employees

Part of Bosma’s funds-generating platform is selling merchandise to third parties, including VA hospitals. To do this, Bosma receives individual parts from all over the world to package into the products that the consumer needs. Bosma’s 100+ product catalogue includes a wide array of items from medical gloves to surgical kits and salt bags for icy roads. Widgets are assembled and sold to larger manufacturers as specialized resource kits for hospitals and care centers. With an organization that is run almost exclusively on Salesforce, Bosma needed not just an inventory management application, but one that was well-suited to be used by individuals who were blind or visually impaired.

Bosma has a robust operation with annual sales revenue of $100M and over 7,200 sales orders. The company manages a large warehouse (160,000 square feet) that receives 500,000 items that are picked, packed and shipped, while also managing two semi-trucks of product going out daily. Bosma also needed capabilities for refunds, donation items, and equipment management within an inventory management system. The platform needed to be robust, customizable, scalable, and most importantly, user friendly for assistive technology like screen readers and enhancement tools.

A big challenge was also upward mobility for blind individuals to advance in their organizations.

Ascent Solutions Extends Salesforce For Improved Visibility and Efficiency

After thoroughly vetting many technology providers, Bosma decided that Ascent Solutions extending Salesforce would accomplish these monumental goals. Bosma went live with Ascent ERP after substantial discussions, designs, tweaks, and diligent testing was done.

Bosma has been able to utilize the delivered technology solution to automate processes seamlessly to allow for quick changes, occasional one-off scenarios, as well as to track the life of a client or product from inception to completion. The improved visibility and efficiency also resulted in a huge increase in blind or visually impaired staff getting promotions and receiving advancement in management positions within the organization.

The organization continues to work closely with Ascent Solutions for various enhancements to stay consistent with market trends, as well as, specific user requirements. This constant collaboration now helps other nonprofits with their digital transformation journey on the Salesforce platform addressing their inventory management needs. Bosma provides exceptional warehousing capabilities with a 99% accuracy rate and has reduced picking errors by over 25%.

Learn More

View the Bosma Enterprises case study and visit their website to learn more about the company.