Royal Paper is a leading U.S. manufacturer of paper products, operating at scale across multiple sites. Four years ago, Royal Paper expanded operations to the east coast, creating a larger, more complex organization. This transition highlighted logistical and operational challenges that required innovative solutions to maintain efficiency and control costs.
| Before Quickbase | With Quickbase |
| Fragmented manual processes | Centralized, automated digital workflows |
| Inefficient logistics tracking | Real-time shipment and inventory visibility |
| Siloed departmental operations | Integrated cross-site performance management |
| Time-consuming reporting | Instant, actionable business insights |
The Challenges
Before implementing Quickbase, Royal Paper managed its logistics using multiple tools that weren’t integrated. Truck scheduling and shipment management were coordinated using data exports from their ERP to Excel, which were then shared among the team. While this approach worked, it required significant manual effort. "Manually updating spreadsheets for every shipment, printing out Shipping Orders, and distributing them took time and left room for inconsistencies," said Danny Salgado, Director of IT at Royal Paper, who was simultaneously leading the implementation of a new ERP solution.
As the company grew—adding more sites, employees, and shipments—streamlining operations became a priority. Coordination often relied on email, making real-time updates challenging. This occasionally led to inefficiencies, such as last-minute shipment adjustments or miscommunications at the docks. By implementing Quickbase, Royal Paper was able to enhance visibility, improve coordination, and reduce manual workloads, ensuring a more seamless logistics process.
The Quickbase Solution
Quickbase’s ability to align with Royal Paper’s technology integration was vital as they implemented their new ERP system. The company developed several impactful applications tailored to its specific needs:
Logistics Management App
- The logistics app is the cornerstone of Royal Paper’s operations, streamlining truck scheduling, shipping, and receiving. Initially built for the east coast, this app was expanded to support multi-site operations after the merger. It enables real-time tracking of shipments, provides visibility into truck statuses, and allows for efficient root-cause analysis of delays.
- "This app is used daily by about 40 people, with over 75 users in total. It replaced fragmented processes with full visibility from the shop floor to the app,” Danny shared.
Inventory Management App
- The inventory app provides real-time insights into warehouse stock across multiple locations. It groups data by region (east and west) and includes critical metrics such as quantities on hand, shipping schedules, and production needs.
- "This app has been a game-changer for our planning team. They can now review inventory data in seconds and schedule production accordingly,” Danny said.
Production Tracking App
- This app tracks machine downtime and productivity metrics, providing a comprehensive view of operational efficiency. Production data is entered into Quickbase daily, and reports are generated to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies.
- "Before Quickbase, each site tracked downtime individually. It was challenging to get a comprehensive view across locations. Now, leadership has real-time access to daily, weekly, and monthly reports to target systemic issues more effectively. This has helped drive a 10% increase in efficiency,” Danny emphasized.
- In the future, Danny plans to take production tracking to the next level by ingesting real-time data from the paper machines by integrating Quickbase with Redzone, a connected solution already in place at Royal Paper. Redzone monitors production line activity and delivers performance data 24/7. This integration will provide deeper insights to drive efficiency.
Sales Insights App
- Integrates with Royal Paper’s ERP system to track on-time and in-full (OTIF) delivery metrics, providing real-time visibility into order performance, fulfillment rates, and delays.
- Interactive dashboards help teams identify supply chain disruptions and root causes, such as supplier availability issues and capacity constraints, enabling proactive problem-solving and improved business efficiency.
- Users can filter data by division, customer, and time period to track year-over-year performance.
Human Resources Tools
- Quickbase has also been leveraged for HR processes, including managing employee records, and tracking compliance requirements. These tools have helped standardize operations across the merged organization.
Results and ROI
The adoption of Quickbase has delivered measurable benefits across Royal Paper’s operations:
- Cost Savings: Royal Paper achieved $1.3 million in annual freight savings over the last 3 years through Quickbase by centralizing teams, reducing carrier fees, and optimizing freight carrier selection. Reducing shipment errors also cut operational costs significantly.
- Efficiency Gains: The production tracking app alone has driven a 10% increase in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) by identifying and resolving downtime causes.
- Logistics savings: By automating the logistics process on the west coast, Royal Paper was able to re-deploy three full-time employees to other strategic tasks, saving about $150K per year.
- Process Improvements: Visibility and accountability have improved across departments, from logistics to customer service, enabling real-time data-driven decision-making, allowing the ability to pivot at a moment’s notice, maximizing the value of production across the enterprise.
A Culture of Continuous Innovation
Royal Paper’s Quickbase journey is marked by continuous app development to address evolving needs. "Whenever there's a need, we just build it. Over 20 years, we've developed more than 50 apps, each solving a unique challenge,” Salgado explained.
Recent projects include:
- A multi-site iteration of the logistics app with enhanced features like pipelines for shipping and receiving.
- Exploration of integrating machine data from sensors to enable predictive maintenance and deeper analytics.
What’s Next
Royal Paper has big plans for expanding Quickbase’s impact in 2025. These plans include:
- Implementation of a product development app and product costing app
- IT consolidation, including phasing out redundant and less effective solutions, including spreadsheet
- Master Document Management
- Tracking quality and continuous improvement
- Machine data ingestion using Quickbase
Quickbase has transformed Royal Paper’s operations, replacing inefficient, manual processes with automated, scalable solutions. By streamlining logistics, tracking production, and enhancing visibility, Quickbase has not only improved operational efficiency but also positioned the company for sustained growth.
"Quickbase tells a full story—from the shop floor to the top floor. It’s a game-changer.”
Royal Paper’s success highlights the power of Quickbase to enable innovation, improve efficiency, and drive measurable business results.
