How Knafs Saved 60 Hours a Month and Gained More Data Visibility with Luminous

When Ben and Athena Peterson launched their knife company Knafs full-time in 2022, they labeled it an “iterative rocket launch.” With sturdy, high-performance knives, knife maintenance tools, 3D prints, and merchandise, Knafs quickly found customers who raved about their products. However, their systems for on-the-shelf inventory management did not allow the company to strategize for growth. 

Small businesses in their early stages rely on manual processes. One study found that 84 percent of small businesses use manual processes, while 69 percent still track data in Excel. These might be great short-term solutions, but they get in the way of expanding–something Knafs, with more than 150 products, plans on doing over time.

Initially, Knafs used the following manual tools for its business:

• Emails for orders
• Excel spreadsheets
• Two inventory management platforms

Peterson outlined the issues he experienced with the systems the business initially relied on. When it came to kitting shipments and purchasing orders, Peterson stated that his old systems “were not the greatest.” As the business and the products offered grew, Knafs needed more transparent access to data. However, Peterson and the Knafs employees struggled to get the visibility they needed regarding bigger orders, thanks to outdated management tools and multiple Excel spreadsheets. 

“Part of the challenge with our dealers,” said Peterson, “is everything is managed via email.” When dealers order, the process muddies the Shopify data. “Now you’re trying to extract dealer orders from D2C orders, and we want to clean up that data,” Peterson explained.

Luminous, an inventory tracking and management software, allows the Petersons to shift from spreadsheets and multiple data sources to an all-in-one report. This feature allows them to forecast inventory better, preventing overstock or shortages. 

Furthermore, Luminous helped Knafs take the work of two different platforms and put it all into one spot. The team attested that they no longer had to memorize warehouse locations but could instead track assembly orders and bills of materials using Luminous.

The Petersons and their employees embraced Luminous and the solutions it provided. They found that the inventory management software helped to shave 13 hours off their work week, a 15 percent savings in time and effort. Furthermore, they loved the tool's possibilities and felt inspired to plan to grow. 

“Our catalog is pretty simple. But I think as we add more products, it [Luminous] will become more critical,” said Ben. 

Other benefits include:

• Data Visibility
• Efficiency
• Customer Support

All-In-One Reporting Capabilities

For Knafs, Luminous kept track of Amazon and Shopify numbers simultaneously, helping them see all the data in one place. “If we have that now, it puts us in a better place for the future,” said Peterson.

Luminous helped extract all the data from the various spreadsheets so that employees didn’t have to manually update numbers as they went along. No one has to go looking in folders or files to find a spreadsheet that might have been previously overlooked. 

Saving Time

Any business will agree–cutting down on time spent in inventory management means there is more time for other crucial aspects of growing and scaling. Peterson mentioned that Luminous helped Knafs to spend 15 percent less time on inventory. Some of this change had to do with the fact that before, Knafs managed assembly orders manually. Now, Luminous has automated these orders. 

Premium Support & Feature Requests

Peterson mentioned that during the implementation of the new system, Luminous offered full, hands-on support in a way that other services did not. The company was “highly available and highly helpful” and could often be found on-site in Knaf’s warehouse. 

Peterson also appreciated the personalized services his company received. Luminous was more than willing to accommodate specific feature requests, such as customer relations management (CRM). Overall, the customer support “was awesome” and helped the small business to make the most of its new software. 

For a growing business like Knafs, automating manual tasks and having full visibility into data saved time and effort in creating new strategies. When Knafs invested in Luminous, the Petersons began to see even more possibilities in the future and couldn’t wait to expand. 

If you’re bogged down in processes and spreadsheets and want to get back to running your business, Schedule a call today for a demo!