The National Flag Company

About The National Flag Company

The National Flag Company was looking for a major upgrade that would help them communicate in the shop better, log profit margins, and track employee time. According to the general manager, Artie Schaller, the company does a lot of custom manufacturing jobs and they had no way of tracking their orders. After doing some research, they found that the E2 Web-based Shop System was a good fit for their shop.

In the old system, National Flag wasn’t tracking any of their jobs or costs. Today they can track inventory and see where they are making or losing money on jobs. According to Schaller, “having all the data being tracked throughout the whole order is great; I can’t really explain how much of an improvement it is.” National Flag’s production process is much more efficient now that orders are easily moving through E2’s modules from estimating to shipping. The E2 Shop System allows them to communicate better between their shop’s departments.

Previously, National Flag was in charge of backing up their data manually and had to pay a fee for that on top of hosting the data on their own server. There was some initial hesitation to switch, but this uncertainty was eased because of the solid security and potential to save money in the long run.
One big improvement with the E2 Web-based Shop System is the ability to work remotely in any place with an internet connection. They were able to use the mobile capabilities while on a business trip in Kansas City recently. Then, they could get online and check in on job statuses and the day-to-day from across the country. Choosing a SaaS product made sense for National Flag because they did not want to buy a new server to host their data.

Schaller and his team took advantage of several different training methods when learning how to use E2 to improve the function of their shop. They started with online classes, did a couple of phone-in classes, and logged on to the Shoptech Community when looking for answers to their questions. They were able to divide up the training by department, such as accounting, shipping, and receiving. Shoptech’s training options helped ensure the whole shop wasn’t down at one given time while learning the system. When it comes to getting familiar with the system Schaller said, “The ease of the system is great, every different module being the exact same setup, once you figure out one, you know what you’re getting into on the next one.”

Tradition and history are important to the people at The National Flag Company. For the most part, they have been making flags the same way they made them in the 1950s. This year marks the company’s 150th anniversary and also a time for major upgrades to the office, factory, and their image. Implementing the E2 Web-based Shop System has been the biggest improvement so far that has made for a more efficient and profitable shop floor.