In early 2022, Zone & Co acquired Fast Four. Please be aware that any prior mentions of Fast Four, including the content below, now pertain to the unified entity.
Inspired by a documentary which outlined the damage caused by single-use plastics, Merijn Everaarts launched Dopper in 2010 to ‘empower people to choose reusable over single-use water bottles to protect our world’s water sources.’ To-date, the business has prevented 60+ million tons of plastic from entering our oceans, and whilst their bottles are undoubtedly what they are most commonly known for, don’t you dare refer to them as ‘a water bottle company.
Bottling the Secret to Success: How Fast Four Helps Dopper to Drive Change
About Dopper
Operating as a social enterprise, Dopper invests heavily in awareness, education, infrastructure and delivery of sustainable, water-focused projects across the globe. On a mission to change the mind-set of individuals and businesses alike, the organisation is at the forefront of a new-wave of businesses which are growing with a real focus on ethical, socio, and environmental sustainability at the core of everything they do.
The Challenge – Why Review & Implement a New ERP?
Like many businesses, Dopper relied on an on-premise ERP solution to manage financials and day-to-day operations, whilst a number of third party apps, spreadsheets and manual processes had been added over the years to address specific needs.
In 2016, as the business prepared for the next phase of their growth, which centered around international expansion, a new system was identified as a priority to simplify omni-channel operations, improve visibility of key data and ensure compliance with new international territories.
At Dopper, things move fast and we needed a system, and a partner, to not only keep up with us, but to actively drive us forward.
Laurens van Woerkom, IT & Processes Project Manager at Dopper explains: “We needed a system which would not cripple the business with complexity, or a lengthy implementation. At Dopper, things move fast and we needed a system, and a partner, to not only keep up with us, but to actively drive us forward. We looked at all the usual suspects and NetSuite stood out for a few reasons. Namely, how comprehensive the stock and order processing functionality was as part of the core financial system, but also, how configurable the system was alongside its ability to manage multiple companies, currencies, languages and legislations as standard, within one single interface.
Implementing the Solution
“Fast Four were also just brilliant from the first time we met them. To be honest, we placed an extremely tight deadline on our go-live and rather than over-promising, or running for the hills, they explained what was involved, what was required from our side, and worked tirelessly to get us what we needed to start.
Since going live they have continually assisted us to expand our use of the system and evolve the ways in which we can improve our business. It’s refreshing to work with a supplier who is open, honest, invested in your project and able to actually advise you on what to do, rather than just doing what you ask them to.”
The Outcome: smart growth
Since implementing NetSuite, Dopper has continued to grow sales and revenue exponentially without increasing operational headcount. The business’ use of NetSuite has also been pivotal to their strategic international expansion by allowing them to quickly open and analyse performance in new territories including Belgium, German and the UK, without the need for a massive investment in new, disparate, and regionalized technology.
Our business is all about doing what is right, and we need our people to be at the centre of that. You can’t get that if people are tied up manually entering data all day.
Laurens continues: “The thing we love about NetSuite is how easily things flow through our organization. Look at us! Our business is all about doing what is right, and we need our people to be at the centre of that. You can’t get that if people are tied up manually entering data all day. Every day we look to make things better, and NetSuite along with Fast Four enables us to do that. I can’t think of a time when Fast Four have had to say ‘no’ to us, even better, they often come up with a better way of doing what we’re asking because of the questions they ask.”
The Partnership
Jurian van Maanen, Director of Sales and Marketing at Fast Four says: “Dopper is a perfect example of the kind of businesses we love to work with – innovative, growing, people-centric and internationally focussed. You can see this from our own business structure as well as our customer base including the likes of Komrads and Secrid.
“In the same way Dopper don’t identify as just ‘a water bottle company’, we are not just ‘a software reseller’, we are a partner who assists companies to grow by unlocking the power of technology. In today’s world, businesses need to be omni-channel, international, and importantly, they need to be fast in order to grow. Customers require a platform which can help them identify new opportunities, and then also adapt to take advantage of them in real-time. This is what NetSuite offers, it is why we became the first partner in Benelux in 2012, and we look forward to continuing to grow with Dopper.
“As a side note, we also love their product and message! Everyone in our company, including a few suppliers now have branded Dopper bottles on their desk, so hopefully we are also doing our bit for the environment!”
