In a fast-paced consumer goods landscape, where innovation, exceptional customer service and efficient inventory management are the cornerstones of success, COYO, the renowned coconut yoghurt brand, has thrived with the support of Fishbowl inventory management software. This partnership has revolutionized COYO’s operations, marking a remarkable journey towards efficiency, growth, and market leadership.

COYO, headquartered on the Sunshine Coast, first implemented Fishbowl during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic, a period marked by erratic shifts in demand and supply. Facing several business challenges that necessitated a robust inventory management solution, COYO found the answers they were seeking in the Fishbowl inventory management software solution.

One of COYO’s key challenges was to move away from spreadsheets, which often resulted in stock outages or excessive stock levels. Sandra Gosling, COYO co-founder emphasized this issue, stating, “Prior to Fishbowl, COYO were having stock shortages, every one to two weeks. I can’t really remember how we functioned without Fishbowl. I do remember a lot of spreadsheets. And it was very, very difficult to see where the errors were happening. Fishbowl solved those problems for us.”

Additionally, traceability for compliance was a critical factor.

“Fishbowl has positively impacted the company really by centralising all of our information,” Gosling emphasized. “It’s very, very important for us. If we have an issue with the product, time is of the essence to get that information out to the market to solve the issue. And we’ve got, I think four hours, something ridiculously small like that to do that. In the system we were running prior to Fishbowl, that was a problem. Now that can be done in a quick 90 minutes.”

Though the transition wasn’t without challenges, COYO received exceptional personalised support during installation and onboarding. Over time, the organisation witnessed a significant transformation.

“Fishbowl provided great support but it was hard at first. The change management piece was significant. You know, getting people to endorse and use the new system, but then all of a sudden, things started to happen and here we are!” Mrs. Gosling recalls.

According to Simon Jupe, Fishbowl APAC Managing Director, “Implementation of inventory management software can be a transformative process for businesses of all sizes, but once businesses get past the initial change management piece and staff start becoming avid adopters of the new solution that’s when businesses can effectively streamline and optimise operations, reduce costs, and boost profitability.”

“All of a sudden the business has real-time visibility into their inventory levels, locations, and stock movements. With information in real-time, companies can make truly informed purchasing, restocking, and order fulfillment decisions. This visibility helps prevent stockouts, overstocking, associated costs, and customer dissatisfaction.” Mr Jupe said.‍

“Since implementing Fishbowl, COYO has experienced substantial gains in efficiency and workflow improvement,” says Mrs. Gosling. “With Fishbowl, you get instant visibility, you can trace everything back; it’s been a game changer!’”‍

The implementation of Fishbowl has seamlessly amalgamated COYO’s various departments, fostering cohesiveness. Gosling enthused, “Fishbowl’s impact extends beyond inventory management. It has emerged as an invaluable asset to our entire organization. Sales, logistics, production, finance—we now operate as a unified whole. It has been an immense boon, not to mention the environmentally conscious shift away from mountains of paper.”

Furthermore, COYO has also achieved significant improvements in cost management. Christine Buckley, Systems Accountant at COYO, explained, “You can only work out product costs based on what you know. With Fishbowl, you have the visibility to see everything and very quickly calculate individual product costs.”‍

Moreover, Fishbowl’s audit function has provided COYO with full visibility into their operations. Christine shared her experience, stating, “Before Fishbowl, we’d write off inventory and never really know where we were at. Now with the Fishbowl audit function, we have full visibility of who’s doing what & why and we can trace everything really easily.”

George Turner, COYO’s accomplished Production Manager, celebrated the astronomical gains in productivity facilitated by Fishbowl: “Fishbowl has roughly halved the time it takes to plan our week’s production, and we can achieve the production in at least half the amount of time previously required!”‍

Turner also extolled Fishbowl’s contribution to order placement efficiency: “Now with Fishbowl, we can have so much confidence in placing orders. What used to take us 1-2 days, with Fishbowl we can now achieve in just 2-3 hours!”‍

COYO’s remarkable journey, powered by their partnership with Fishbowl, is a testament to the transformative power of innovative inventory management solutions. The company’s commitment to delivering exceptional coconut-based products remains unwavering, and their success story continues to inspire others in the industry.