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Ben & Jerry's
Keeping Cool
If you're an ice cream fan -- and who isn't? -- you know Ben &
Jerry's. The Vermont-based manufacturer of ice cream, frozen yogurt
and sorbet is widely known for its array of imaginatively-named,
imaginatively-conceived flavors as well as for its support of
positive social action through philanthropy. And chances are you'll
also recognize Ben & Jerry's for its fun, distinctive packaging
and graphic design.
Keeping track of those design elements is part of Lisa Wernhoff's
job. She's the Ben & Jerry's archivist -- or, as she puts it,
the "Keeper o' Stuff." When the marketing department wants to know
what was in a particular ad, when the design staff remembers using
an element that was particularly interesting -- but can't think of
exactly where it was used -- Lisa's the one they ask. "When we
first started using FileMaker Pro it was really for our department
to have a sense of order and organization," she explains. "We hated
spending time trying to find something such as 'what job did we use
that Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough or New York Super Fudge Chunk®
cone for?'."
Those were the days before widespread use of the Internet, and if
the marketing people wanted some piece of information, finding it
could be a challenge. "In the early '90s the Marketing and Design
departments were keeping track of all data via WordPerfect lists or
Excel spreadsheets," Lisa recalls. "But neither was very
searchable. We really needed to have something where we could look
up pieces of information without searching 27 pages in a
binder."
A database system was the obvious solution -- but what software to
choose? It had to be powerful and flexible -- but it also needed a
short learning curve. "Our Information Services Group had chosen
another database," Lisa continues, "but after six weeks of weekly
training sessions, only one person passed the final exam. They
decided we needed something more user-friendly, and chose FileMaker
Pro."
That was ten years ago -- and now, FileMaker Pro is an
indispensable tool in Lisa's office. "By using FileMaker Pro we can
find what we're looking for almost instantly," she declares. "Other
departments expect instant information -- we can look up the answer
to their question in FileMaker Pro while they are on the phone or
standing at our desks."
Lisa's currently using 5 FileMaker databases -- the smallest, a
database of vendors used by the Marketing and Design department
contains over 540 records. The largest is a database of each design
job the department has done -- containing over 10,000 records. All
that information is accessible in an instant.
No more scrambling, no more searching, no more getting hot under
the collar trying to find that one specific bit of information.
With FileMaker Pro, Lisa's office is always cool -- just like Ben
& Jerry's® ice cream itself.
Contact information
Contact Info for Customer:Lisa Wernhoff
Keeper of Stuff/Archivist
802-846-1500
lisaW@benjerry.com
Filemaker Contact:
Kevin Mallon
Public Relations Manager
FileMaker Inc.
408-987-7227
kevin_mallon@filemaker.com
http://www.filemaker.com
- The busy Marketing and Design Department at Ben & Jerry's keeps its cool, thanks to the organizing power of FileMaker Pro.
- Food/Beverage
- Medium-Large Business