Self-made to enterprise: how CELLTREAT’s Business Growth has been supported by strategic IT
CELLTREAT has grown from humble beginnings to become an enterprise-grade operation
Rich and Shirley Happell, owners of laboratory products supply company CELLTREAT Scientific Products, bootstrapped the company’s beginnings. Their resourcefulness had taken the company far.
And with each success comes new challenges, so about ten years ago CELLTREAT reached out to Bryley Systems. The laboratory products supply company was moving ten miles north to Pepperell. Fittingly CELLTREAT’s relationship with Bryley began with a modest ask – for Bryley to move their existing network and set it up again at their new offices.
Early days
CELLTREAT and Bryley’s histories and trajectories were similar. Both organizations had undergone rapid growth and were located in commercial spaces they continued to outgrow (it wasn’t long into the CELLTREAT-Bryley relationship that CELLTREAT outgrew its Pepperell location). It was true for both CELLTREAT and Bryley that as other building tenants left, both businesses took over whatever was available of the newly-emptied spaces.
So when Bryley was originally approached by Shirley and Rich, Bryley related to their independent, lean mentality. They were gaining ground in their market, in part, from keeping a wise control of expenses. So some of the earliest work entrusted to Bryley was to train their own people on good data-management practices, like a procedure for backing-up files, how to maintain strong password protection and controlling user permissions in Active Directory.
Barcoding
When CELLTREAT took over more space at their Pepperell location they decided it was time to integrate barcoding for inventory-tracking. Their inclination was to see if this function could be added to their accounting software. CELLTREAT asked Bryley to see if it was feasible to get the accounting program to also generate inventory barcodes. Bryley ‘s CEO Garin Livingstone explained that to build this custom solution would also mean a reliance on whoever is doing the coding for the life of that process. Bryley alternatively proposed that CELLTREAT outfit its operations with a comprehensive CRM (Customer Relationship Manager software) that included a barcoded inventory control module. CELLTREAT weighed their options and had Bryley help the company get up-and-running with the CRM with inventory system.
Growing together
With sustained growth, including acquisitions, CELLTREAT found that it became less than ideal to have its employees, including management, wear the multiple hats of running the business and trying to meet the various IT needs. So the Happells did their due diligence and interviewed several IT companies to outsource CELLTREAT’s IT. CELLTREAT came to the conclusion that it had liked the work Bryley had done and so expanded the relationship with Bryley, asking Bryley to manage the company’s IT. In the current relationship CELLTREAT receives operational continuity – dealing with or worrying about computer issues is off their plate– for an agreed-upon price which CELLTREAT can budget.
Moving to the Cloud
CELLTREAT’s growth meant its needs expanded, too. Among its acquisitions in 2022 the company purchased VistaLab Technologies a New York-based laboratory equipment design operation that would remain in New York. How do you keep employees at different facilities on the same page?
Bryley COO Anna Darlagiannis-Livingstone said, “Based on their projections, we gave them a plan of what to implement when, and what to phase-out when that was going to support CELLTREAT’s growth.”
Among Bryley’s recommendations was that CELLTREAT, given its multiple facilities, adopt a model of working based around Microsoft 365 and the cloud implementation of Active Directory. These products are not only available anywhere, but are made to scale with an organization’s needs.
Achieving continuous and ongoing warehouse connectivity
When CELLTREAT moved into its new, expansive – over 100,000-square-foot – headquarters in Ayer, Mass, CELLTREAT’s management decided it was time to invest in an enterprise-grade automated inventory-control system.
Regarding wifi coverage to support the inventory-tracking, the Happells asked Garin for recommendations, who recommended a Cisco Meraki solution that he said, “is best-in-class and dependable and has great manufacturer support.” Meraki is the reliable connectivity used in critical-deployment situations like in hospitals. CELLTREAT’s management elected to have Bryley design and install a Cisco-Meraki wifi system that kept its inventory scanners reliably communicating with CELLTREAT’s database software.
“We completed a site survey,” Garin said, “and designed an implementation that would be able to support their employees and give them the tech to be able to expand in both inventory and physical space.”
While Meraki’s architecture brings sophisticated tech solutions to some typically-seen wifi pitfalls, a large warehouse still requires expertise and intervention.
The implementation has transformed wifi from a potential business liability into a competitive advantage while enabling Rich, Shirley and the CELLTREAT team to focus on the business growth which, as we’ve seen, they’re doing so well.
Small beginnings
Through their wits and bootstrap approach, Rich and Shirley Happell successfully built CELLTREAT Scientific Products into a thriving laboratory equipment supply company. As the business grew and made acquisitions, it faced new challenges that required professional IT support.
When the company relocated to Pepperell about ten years ago, CELLTREAT chose to enlist the help of Bryley Systems with the straightforward task of relocating and reinstalling their existing network at a new facility. This partnership marked the beginning of a relationship that would evolve along with CELLTREAT’s continued growth and technological needs.
