Rankin USA, a North Carolina-based supplier of components with expertise in parts from European manufacturers, was facing growing complexity in its operations. Managing over 100,000 unique SKUs, consolidating overseas shipments, and offering long payment terms to customers placed immense pressure on their lean operations team.

The Challenge

Their legacy setup—built around QuickBooks Desktop—wasn’t keeping up. “We were doing our best with QuickBooks, but tracking inventory, assemblies, and returns was difficult,” said Josh Sugg, Vice President of Operations. “It got to a point where we needed a more structured system.”

The Solution

Fishbowl became the operational backbone Rankin was looking for. The integration with QuickBooks Desktop helped unify inventory and accounting, giving their team real-time visibility and reducing redundant work between departments. “Our accounting and warehouse teams used to work in silos. Fishbowl brought that together,” Josh shared.

The company also integrated Salesforce, their CRM platform, with Fishbowl to streamline B2B order management. Orders flow directly from Salesforce into Fishbowl, eliminating double entry and speeding up fulfillment. “We’re relationship-driven, and Salesforce is key to that. Fishbowl makes sure what the customer sees actually happens on the floor,” he said.

Fishbowl’s manufacturing module helped Rankin improve efficiency on custom builds like cable assemblies and pneumatic cylinders—areas that were tough to manage in QuickBooks alone. Returns, assemblies, and RMAs became streamlined with Fishbowl’s process control features.

The Results

Since implementing Fishbowl, Rankin has gained tighter control over its inventory and operations without adding headcount. “Fishbowl lets us plan better and execute faster,” said Josh.

To address cash flow challenges from overseas lead times and extended customer payment terms, Rankin also partnered with Creditfy, a Fishbowl financing partner. “Creditfy helped us fund incoming inventory months ahead of when we’d see revenue,” Josh noted. “It’s really unlocked growth and let us take on larger orders with confidence.” Additionally, josh stated, “Knowing that they (Creditfy) were partnered with Fishbowl gave us confidence in knowing they were a financing partner we could trust.”

What’s Next

With Fishbowl in place and Creditfy helping bridge cash flow gaps, Rankin is poised to scale without compromising efficiency. They’re building toward more automation, better integration, and deeper inventory visibility across all channels.

“Fishbowl gave us the structure we needed,” Josh said. “We’re working smarter now—and preparing for bigger things ahead.”