Commercial Plastics Recycling Case Study
Founded in 1996, Commercial Plastics Recycling has been a trusted full-service recycler of post-industrial and post-consumer plastic scrap. They specialize in buying, processing, and selling plastics, sourcing materials both domestically and internationally from private and public sellers. In an effort to streamline operations, CPR initially developed a custom Microsoft Access database to track inventory and manage workflows. However, as the business grew, maintaining the homegrown system became increasingly inefficient, time-consuming and difficult to scale. Recognizing the need for a more robust solution, CPR set out to find a platform that could better support their expanding operations.
Outgrowing an outdated homegrown solution
As CPR looked for alternatives, they initially hired someone experienced with accounting software to determine whether integrating their Microsoft Access database with QuickBooks could accurately track their inventory and financials. However, they quickly realized that while this approach addressed some of their needs, it still fell short of all their requirements, lacking the necessary features to effectively manage their plastics recycling business. While researching more comprehensive solutions, Dave Hovey, Chief Financial Officer at Commercial Plastics Recycling, came across cieTrade— a platform specifically designed for plastics recyclers. Intrigued by its capabilities, he decided to take a closer look. “After a few demos, I thought, ‘Wow, this is perfect!’ and immediately saw its potential to handle everything we needed.” Confident in the solution, CPR brought in their plant manager to oversee the transition and make the switch to a more robust and scalable system.
Eliminating manual inventory calculations
Accurately tracking inventory financials is essential to effectively running a profitable plastics recycling business However, before switching to cieTrade, this process was tedious and time-consuming for CPR. According to Hovey, completing just the inventory portion of their balance sheet took at least half a day each month. The challenge was ensuring that all of their inventory reflected its true cost, accounting for all incurred expenses while also providing an up-to-date view of what they had on hand. With cieTrade, this became effortless. The platform’s landed-cost inventory model automatically capitalizes non-material costs such as freight, converting and commission expenses into finished goods, eliminating the need for error-prone manual calculations. “cieTrade handles all of the cost allocations for me. It’s always there and accounted for in real-time so I can get the results without all of the extra, unecessary work,” Hovey explains.
Accurate COGS and real-time profitability insights
With an accurate inventory valuation in place, CPR also gained better insight into their cost of goods sold (COGS) and overall profitability. Previously, non-material expenses were recorded separately from purchase prices, requiring manual compilation into inventoriable costs— an inefficient process that often led to overlooked expenses and financial inaccuracies. Without a clear picture of actual costs, evaluating margins was difficult. cieTrade transformed this process by tracking all of these expenses and calculating the sum internally, automatically applying the final COGS of their inventory to each shipment and providing real-time gross profit visibility on each transaction. “It’s almost impossible to compare how we calculated COGS before to how it’s done now,” says Hovey. “Now we always have an updated, accurate reflection of how our material costs impact gross profit and where we stand financially.”
Improved financial reporting with increased data visibility
Relying on a homegrown system left CPR with limited visibility into their financial data and business performance. Their Microsoft Access database only provided basic reports with no-drill down capabilities, forcing their team to spend hours manually sifting through spreadsheets or performing extensive calculations anytime they needed to dig deeper into their data.“With Access, you basically had what you had. If you wanted to look at something from a certain date, you had to hope you saved it somewhere— usually in an Excel file,” Hovey recalls. However, implementing cieTrade made financial reporting significantly more efficient. The platform’s specialized reports and inquiries delivered instant access to key insights, making it easy to quickly identify trends, such as which sales had the highest margins. Multi-level drill-down filters allowed the team to analyze historical data, track quarterly profits and compare financial performance across different time periods— something that couldn’t be easily done before.
“With cieTrade, what we used to spend a lot of time on, we now spend minimal time on and have a much higher confidence level that we have good, accurate data.”
Commercial Plastics Recycling’s transition from a homegrown Microsoft Access database to cieTrade has enabled them to streamline their operations and achieve a higher level of efficiency. By automating key processes such as inventory tracking, cost of goods sold (COGS) calculations and financial reporting, CPR has saved valuable time and eliminated costly errors. The switch to cieTrade not only provided a more accurate reflection of inventory and financials but also improved visibility into profitability and financial trends. As a result, CPR is now better equipped to make data-driven decisions, enhance profitability and continue growing their business.
Company
Commercial Plastics Recycling is dedicated to “giving new life to recycled plastics.” With plants in Florida and Mississippi, they provide a range of services from plastics shredding, grinding and pulverization to metal separation and screening, testing and quality control, railcar and bulk truck unloading, re-packaging and more.
Headquarters
Tampa, FL
Industry
Plastics Recycling
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