Five Seconds to Insight: R.E. Purvis & Associates Traded Microsoft Dynamics GP for NetSuite

Escaping the End-of-Life Cycle

For decades, R.E. Purvis relied on Microsoft Dynamics GP, formerly Great Plains. Over time, the system was heavily customized to support the company’s complex distribution workflows, from purchasing and sales to inventory, warehouse management, and EDI. But the more customized the system became, the harder it was to adapt and the cracks were starting to show in everyday operations.

Reporting had become slow, disconnected, and heavily manual. Purchasing, sales, and inventory data often had to be pulled separately, exported into spreadsheets, and stitched together outside the system. Pat would regularly start a report, leave his desk to make calls or check in with the warehouse, and return later once it finally finished processing.

At the same time, the pressure to modernize was growing. Microsoft announced plans to phase out Dynamics GP support by 2029, signaling to R.E. Purvis that it was time to move away from an aging, highly customized environment. Their outside support partner also planned to stop supporting the platform, turning what had been a growing frustration into a business-critical decision.

“In our old system, getting a clear picture of our inventory meant a lot of manual clicks and a long wait for the report. In NetSuite, that same insight takes five seconds.”

-Pat Schwartz, Supply Chain Manager

The Plative Partnership: A Collaborative Transformation

After a year-long search, R.E. Purvis chose NetSuite. What stood out was how tailored the evaluation felt. Rather than delivering a generic presentation, the NetSuite team took time to understand how R.E. Purvis worked and what the business needed from its next ERP.

Plative joined the project to help turn that vision into a working system. The implementation involved more than moving data from one ERP to another. R.E. Purvis needed NetSuite to connect with its existing warehouse management system, which had been in place for roughly 20 years, as well as its EDI tools. The company also moved from on-premise servers toward a more cloud-connected environment.

The team used the migration as an opportunity to clean house. R.E. Purvis reviewed roughly 38,000 part numbers and purged about 15,000 inactive items before moving into NetSuite. They also cleaned up old contacts and brought forward 12 months of transaction history for trend analysis in NetSuite Analytics Warehouse.

Plative helped coordinate the moving pieces, keep the project on track, and guide department leaders through testing across purchasing, customer service, warehouse operations, and more.

“I’m so glad that we didn’t try to do it on our own. Plative was there to keep us on track.”

-Pat Schwartz, Supply Chain Manager

Stability and Speed on Day One

The results were immediate. Reports that once took minutes now run in seconds. Pat no longer has to leave his desk while the system processes. More importantly, the team can now connect purchasing, sales, and inventory data inside NetSuite instead of exporting everything into spreadsheets.

The go-live was just as important as the speed improvements. R.E. Purvis shut down midweek, completed final migration steps, and went live the following Monday. The team entered orders, shipped orders, and billed orders from day one.

“We entered orders. We shipped orders. We billed orders. We were functional on day one.”

-Pat Schwartz, Supply Chain Manager