How J.P. Cooke Company built a fully integrated manufacturing system with Method CRM & Alef Team

The breaking point that sparked business transformation

What started with a corrupt QuickBooks file, resulted in a complete business transformation for Julie Bluvas: fully customized workflows and integrations with tools that would save her days worth of time each week at J.P. Cooke Company.

Before Method CRM, Julie Bluvas struggled with corrupted QuickBooks files. 

She was no stranger to the lengthy and frustrating process that would ensue once a file got too large, and unfortunately, this happened far too frequently, cutting into her regular duties at J.P. Cooke Company.

Julie is one of four family members who run J.P. Cooke, a rubber stamp and markings manufacturer, based out of Omaha, Nebraska.

“It was like Groundhog’s Day of Misery over and over again,” she said. 

Each time the file hit a certain size, she’d brace herself for the inevitable: calling in a QuickBooks specialist to clean up the chaos yet again.

Then came the breaking point: a grueling 36-hour marathon to fix one corrupted file.

“I had finally had enough,” she said. “We don’t make a ton of changes, which is why we’ve always been successful, I think, over all these generations, but we needed to make a change.”

Julie’s QuickBooks specialist offered her a solution, connecting her to Method partner Marwan Dajani, of Alef Team Business Solutions.

After listening to the challenges she was facing, Marwan said recommending Method was a no-brainer.

And thus, the transformation began.

By migrating to QuickBooks Online and introducing Method CRM, Marwan was able to automate key processes for J.P. Cooke Company, including WooCommerce orders, sales tax calculations, and shipping through integrations with TaxCloud and ShipRush. This approach resulted in a substantial reduction in manual work, faster operations, and a more efficient and organized business overall.

The history: J.P. Cooke Company

Founded in 1887 and carried forward by four generations of family leadership, J.P. Cooke Company has shifted from being an office-supply manufacturer to specializing in custom marking solutions. Today, the company sells rubber stamps, engravings, stencils, inks, and metal tags to retailers and wholesalers.

About: Marwan Dajani of Alef Team Business Solutions

A former Method CRM employee turned partner, Marwan has more than a decade of experience as a Method developer and customizer. Through his company, Alef Team Business Solutions, he helps businesses like J.P. Cooke Company by building customized solutions to simplify their day-to-day operations and assist in their growth.

The challenge: Broken files, paper piles, and hours lost to inefficiencies

Apart from corrupted files, J.P. Cooke Company was dealing with a number of other inefficiencies before implementing Method. Their typical sales process was lengthy and time-consuming, which drained valuable time. 

Cumbersome order processing

Every week, J.P. Cooke’s sales orders required hours of manual labor. Orders came in through various channels: sales reps would take orders via phone or catalog, while online orders for customized metal tags would arrive directly from their WooCommerce site.

Once an order was placed, sales reps would enter the information manually into QuickBooks Desktop, while WooCommerce orders would be sent directly to Julie’s email and would require her to free up time each week to enter them.

This process meant that Julie spent Thursdays and Fridays entering orders, which not only consumed a significant portion of her work week but also resulted in delays of up to a week in order fulfillment for some customers.

Manual manufacturing and shipping processes

Once an order was entered into the system, a manufacturing copy would be printed out and added to a physical folder. Employees would regularly come by the office to collect these folders, taking them to the factory to begin the work.

After the orders were shipped, employees would then return the necessary shipping tickets back to the office so a sales rep could update the sales orders.

The entire process was paper-heavy, time-consuming, and prone to errors. As Marwan learned the ins and outs of the business’ day-to-day operations, he was able to make further recommendations that contributed to better processes and higher efficiency.

The solution: Method-QuickBooks sync and automated workflows

QuickBooks migration and Method sync

After learning about J.P. Cooke’s corrupt QuickBooks files, the first task on Marwan’s list was to migrate their accounting data to QuickBooks Online (a cloud-based solution) and integrate the software with Method CRM.

Marwan recalls his first conversation about J.P. Cooke when he was asked the best way to take the heavy lifting out of QuickBooks. 

“Immediately I thought of Method, being the best sync on the market,” he said, speaking of Method’s real-time, two-way sync. 

But after the migration, there was one aspect of QuickBooks Desktop that Julie didn’t want to part with. After switching to QuickBooks Online, she lost the statement set up she preferred, which was offered by QuickBooks Desktop. 

Marwan was on the case. He was able to rebuild this set up with Method, which allowed Julie to get statement breakdowns by customer type.

Once Marwan solved J.P. Cooke’s issue with corrupt QuickBooks files, he moved on to tackle a number of other day-to-day inefficiencies.

“Working with J.P. Cooke has been very rewarding … because a lot of what we’ve done is very hard to replicate,” Marwan added.

WooCommerce orders

Julie was spending up to two full days a week manually entering WooCommerce orders into QuickBooks. Marwan knew that couldn’t continue. By integrating WooCommerce with Method, he automated the process, ensuring orders were imported directly into the system. He also added an auto-generated report to go out every morning so Julie no longer had to worry about manually tracking orders.

ShipRush Integration

Marwan also built an API connector that allows J.P. Cooke to automatically send the manufacturing copy of a sales order to ShipRush—the software their shipping company uses to provide real-time shipping rates. This integration helps the factory immediately see what’s on order, what needs to be shipped, and all related details, keeping everything organized from the start.

Once the shipping department processes the order, ShipRush returns the tracking number, shipping weight, costs, and other important information. All of this flows directly back into Method automatically.

TaxCloud API for sales tax

Sales tax had been a major pain point for Julie. She used to rely upon QuickBooks to calculate sales tax, which would require her to manually file for each state. This could take up to a whole day’s worth of time. 

She decided she wanted to work with TaxCloud to free up this time and Marwan was able to build an API to allow her to do that.

Commissions calculator

Prior to Method, J.P. Cooke used a third-party site for sales rep commissions. The process was slow, requiring manual data imports. Marwan developed a custom commissions program, allowing them to cancel the other subscription.

Sales orders

Marwan customized sales orders, packing splits and invoices, tailored for retailers and wholesalers with different needs.

Sales rep reports

J.P. Cooke’s sales reps are independent contractors responsible for collecting their own receivables, but that process is time consuming. Marwan was able to customize unpaid invoice reports that J.P. Cooke sends each rep to speed up the process. 

The results: An upgraded order and accounting process

Since implementing Method, J.P. Cooke has seen a positive shift in how it manages its WooCommerce orders and accounting processes, cutting down on the unnecessary time and manual effort required to complete regular tasks. The impact is clear.

“It’s been very seamless,” Julie said of her process working with Marwan and Method CRM. “It’s taken away a lot of worries about the day to day—about files going corrupt or servers breaking down. It’s just taken all that off my plate.”

Faster order fulfillment

What once took up to a week to fulfill now happens in just two hours. This significant time reduction has improved the entire order process, increasing efficiency across the board.

Quick tax calculations

With automated tax calculations, the company no longer spends hours manually filing taxes for each state. This change saves a full day’s worth of time every time tax filing is due, freeing up time for Julie to focus on other important tasks.

No more corrupt QuickBooks files

Method’s integration with QuickBooks has entirely eliminated the occurrence of corrupt files. The once stressful and time-consuming process is a thing of the past. 

More efficient shipping process

With the ShipRush API, sales reps have all necessary shipping information on their fingertips in real time, eliminating the back and forth using physical tickets. 

A better, faster receivables process

With automated workflows and better visibility into outstanding payments, the company has drastically improved its receivables process.

Customer data always accessible

With Method, customer information is readily available, ensuring that employees can provide quick, personalized service every time. Julie summed it up perfectly:

“Method has been a great product to work with for our company,” she concluded. “I would recommend Marwan to anybody who has any interest in Method because every company is different. I like that he saw that and he never tried to fit us into one specific box.”