Apera Instruments is a leading manufacturer of scientific water analysis instruments, serving customers in over 50 countries. With operations spanning from production in Shanghai to distribution in the United States, the company needed a centralized system to manage inventory, orders, and fulfillment efficiently. As demand grew across Amazon, direct-to-consumer, and international B2B channels, Apera sought a solution that could scale with their growth while simplifying complex logistics. After evaluating several options, including NetSuite and CIN7, Apera selected Fishbowl to bring order to their global operations. They also leveraged Zoey’s integration with Fishbowl to fuel growth by enabling B2B online ordering, account management, and streamlined sales workflows.

The Challenge

Apera Instruments, a global manufacturer and distributor of scientific water testing instruments, needed a reliable inventory and order management system to keep pace with rapid growth. Their team was handling orders from Amazon, B2B distributors, and international clients, all while managing manufacturing and shipping operations split between the U.S. and China. Before Fishbowl, Apera relied on a collection of disconnected tools and manual processes to manage everything from order entry to inventory tracking. This caused delays, errors, and growing frustration as the company scaled. Simon Xiao, Operations Manager, explained, “We were at a point where NetSuite and CIN7 were on the table, but we chose Fishbowl because the pricing was better and we heard good things about the customer support.”

The Solution

Apera implemented Fishbowl Manufacturing and Fishbowl Commerce in 2021. Fishbowl now serves as the hub for their manufacturing, order fulfillment, and inventory management operations across the U.S. and China. Fishbowl Commerce connects Apera’s Amazon orders directly into Fishbowl, significantly reducing manual entry and fulfillment errors. “Fishbowl Commerce has been working well,” Simon said. “It helped us automate what was previously a very manual process.” They’re also integrating Fishbowl with ZOEY | A Complete Solution for B2B Sales & Business Automation, a B2B sales and e-commerce automation platform that will allow distributors to place orders and view available inventory. Zoey excels in enabling businesses to create customized portals for buyers, offering features like customer-specific pricing, bulk ordering, and flexible payment terms. With built-in quoting, order management, and sales rep tools, Zoey simplifies the B2B buying process and supports both self-service and sales-assisted workflows. Simon commented, “Fishbowl and Zoey combined together provide a powerful B2B solution for our business. We couldn’t scale our business without these solutions working together in perfect sync.”

The Results

Since implementing Fishbowl, Apera has seen a significant boost in operational efficiency:

  • Improved Order Fulfillment: Amazon orders flow directly into Fishbowl, eliminating manual re-entry and reducing human error.
  • Better Inventory Accuracy: With Fishbowl and Zoey syncing inventory data, their international team now has real-time inventory visibility.
  • Streamlined Shipping: Shipping labels can now be printed directly from TC21 scanners, saving valuable time. They use ShipStation for label generation, though Simon noted they plan to explore Fishbowl’s Ship Express integration in the future.
  • Scalable B2B: Fishbowl and Zoey work together to provide the needed functionality to scale Apera’s distribution needs.

Looking Ahead

Apera is excited to continue optimizing their operational workflows with Fishbowl while continuing to leverage key integrations with Fishbowl Commerce and Zoey. They are positioned to scale the business as demand for their product grows.

“Fishbowl has allowed us to build a scalable system,” Simon reflected. “It’s not perfect, and we’ve had some bumps along the way, but it’s flexible and powerful enough to meet our needs. The team has been responsive, and that makes a big difference.”