How a Member-Owned Financial Cooperative Cut Costs and Centralized Project Ops

Noah Callen, Solutions Developer; Elizabeth Hackett, Senior Project Manager; Chrissy Rossow, Senior Project Manager

$40K
saved by replacing Workfront
5+
teams consolidated under one structure
2
orgs synced on resourcing
“SmartSuite is $40,000 cheaper than our old solution—and it actually works. The relational database alone makes a world of difference.”
Noah Callen, Solutions Developer @ Mazuma Credit Union

Problem

Disconnected Workflows in a Growing Credit Union

A member-owned credit union with a long-standing commitment to community-focused financial services encountered growing challenges in streamlining internal operations to keep pace with increasing service demands. Behind the scenes, the organization was struggling with persistent inefficiencies in project and task management—largely due to the limitations of its existing platform, Adobe Workfront.

Initially implemented to serve both as a project management office (PMO) tool and help desk system, the platform became a bottleneck following Adobe’s acquisition. Teams found it clunky and poorly suited to the needs of enterprise and IT project workflows, describing it as more appropriate for marketing teams than for technical or operational use.

Project management practices became fragmented, with individual departments maintaining separate task lists and workflows. This lack of alignment led to synchronization issues, inconsistent resource tracking, and delays. The platform’s absence of relational database capabilities further limited the ability to create scalable automations or generate cohesive reports.

Ultimately, more time was spent troubleshooting and configuring the tool than using it to drive meaningful outcomes. These challenges prompted leadership to seek a more intuitive and flexible solution—one that could support cross-functional collaboration, adapt to technical needs, and scale alongside the credit union’s continued growth.

Q1

Solution

Unified Projects, Native Power

In mid-Q2, the member-owned credit union began implementing SmartSuite, completing the full migration by October. The team took a structured approach to the transition, centralizing project and task data from five different technology departments into unified SmartSuite solutions.

This effort included the development of custom automations to standardize task status fields, synchronize tables, and automate close dates—all achieved using SmartSuite’s native capabilities, without relying on external tools or APIs.

The solutions developer noted the advantages of SmartSuite’s relational database structure, which streamlined data linking and solution development across teams. A SmartSuite implementation specialist supported the rollout by guiding field mapping and structure consolidation across multiple task tables, ensuring the credit union could recreate essential workflows while aligning with the platform’s roadmap and upcoming features, such as the new resource scheduling view.

Q2

Result

Project Clarity with a Governance Fit

Switching to SmartSuite delivered immediate and measurable benefits for the member-owned credit union. The organization reported a $40,000 annual cost saving by replacing Workfront with SmartSuite. Beyond the financial impact, the team experienced significant improvements in visibility and workload planning.

SmartSuite’s centralized dashboards—paired with the upcoming resource management view—enabled PMO leads to quickly assess team capacity and forecast project demand across departments.

“We want to know who is overburdened or has the bandwidth for a new initiative. SmartSuite finally gives us that visibility,” said the senior project manager.

With the new system in place, teams are now equipped to manage projects more efficiently, report on cross-functional resourcing, and minimize manual effort. Most importantly, they’re doing so within a platform that supports both organizational growth and governance requirements.

Download Customer Story PDF
Solutions used

Customer

Credit Union – Midwest US

Industry

Finance

Team

Service

Region

North America

Company size

Mid-Market

Pain point

Siloed task tracking and manual project oversight

Products replaced

Adobe Workfront

About the company

A member-owned credit union supporting financial wellness and personal banking across the Kansas City area since 1948.

More Customer Stories

Manufacturing

Progettiamo Autonomia

20+

dashboards created for real-time role-based visibility

Read Story
Professional Services

BUCS Engineering

3

tools replaced: ClickUp, Airtable & Spreadsheets

Read Story
Professional Services

Analytic Vizion

Data & Technology Consultancy – North America

90%

of internal processes built in SmartSuite

Read Story
Finance

Apple Bank

5+

manual spreadsheets eliminated

Read Story
Education

UCLA Student Affairs

3x

faster onboarding and verification

Read Story
Health & Human Services

CryoFuture

1

centralized System to manage clinic data, inventory, and client interactions

Read Story
Finance

Canterbury Consulting

25%

increase in team efficiency by consolidation

Read Story
Education

F AIR

20+

workflows digitized for process optimization

Read Story
Restaurant / Food Services

Food Truck League

700+

food trucks actively managed nationwide

Read Story
Technology

MediaLab 3D Solutions

$40,000+

Saved Per year

Read Story
Manufacturing

Enablence Technologies

5 days

to full deployment

Read Story
Health Care

Waypoint Centre

4+

core processes all automated

Read Story
Professional Services

MGT (Layer3 Communications)

Cybersecurity – US

150+

projects managed seamlessly

Read Story
Restaurant / Food Services

Grupo AFAL

+$17,000

Saved On Dev Time

Read Story
Manufacturing

Andex Kitchens

1

unified workflow for CRM, design, and engineering

Read Story
Health Care

Parsons Counseling

1,500+

active client records

Read Story
Professional Services

Allforce

55%

task completion rate of AI-generated tasks

Read Story
Energy and Utilities

Weev

75%

reduction in form request bottlenecks

Read Story
Construction

Unicontrol

Team scaled 4.6x

using SmartSuite CRM

Read Story
Sports

CornholeATL

60+

leagues unified under one platform

Read Story
Manufacturing

Cryogenic Industrial Solutions

10s

of Hours Saved Per month

Read Story
Education

UCLA Anderson

250+

automations Per month

Read Story
Education

Georgetown University

4+

tools consolidated

Read Story
Professional Services

Acuity

100+

hours saved per month

Read Story
Health Care

Gillette Children's

Gillette Children's

8

tools consolidated, 3 fully retired

Read Story
Professional Services

ITC Germany Prod

100+

SOPs templated

Read Story
Education

Agape Christian Bar Prep

98%

faster plan generation

Read Story
Transportation

Quality Counts

10+

regional offices maintenance

Read Story
Art, Culture and Humanities

Collectie Overijssel

50%

fewer automations needed for process efficiency

Read Story
Government

Ville de Pincourt

100s

of Hours Saved Per month.

Read Story
Advertising Agency

SWAGBOX

3

major tools replaced with SmartSuite

Read Story
Consumer

Elegant Music Group

1,500+

events managed yearly with SmartSuite

Read Story
Energy and Utilities

Black Label Services

100+

SmartSuite users targeted by year-end

Read Story
Health Care

Brightways

12+

manual processes replaced

Read Story
Education

CEI

100+

school districts managed through SmartSuite

Read Story
Retail

Office Express

100%

CRM adoption across three divisions

Read Story
Health Care

BrigaCare

1,000

clients fully managed with a lean team

Read Story
Professional Services

Schock Group

200–300

projects annually centralized in SmartSuite

Read Story
Technology

Salesflow

90+

automations deployed across dev and commercial ops

Read Story
Construction

Lipps Electric

150+

projects streamlined across leadership

Read Story
Non-Profit

PlantBasedTreaty

100%

increase in operational transparency

Read Story
Restaurant / Food Services

Roadchef Projects

70%

reduction in email-based coordination

Read Story
Religious

Ratio Christi

70%+

faster reporting through SmartSuite dashboards

Read Story
Technology

WebPT

700+

Google Sheets replaced

Read Story
Marketing Agency

Active3D

$100K+

projected in annual productivity gains

Read Story
Automotive

So Cal Classic Car Storage

50%

faster response time

Read Story
Manufacturing

Digital Atelier

3x

faster project timeline updates

Read Story
Education

UPenn Dental CDE

10+

hours saved per event

Read Story
Education

AB Tech

50%+

reduction in manual data handling

Read Story
Technology

Push Button

Read Story
Professional Services

Lyneer

5+

tools replaced including Airtable and Zoho CRM

Read Story
Retail

260 Sample Sale

260 Sample Sale

12–20

events managed weekly via unified workflows

Read Story
Retail

Fashion Brand – US

Fashion Brand – US

75%

reduction in manual design handoff time

Read Story
Technology

Marketing Operations Agency – North America

Marketing Operations Agency – North America

5+

legacy tools streamlined into a single platform

Read Story
Technology

Logistics Tech Agency – Latin America

Logistics Tech Agency – Latin America

50%

faster logistics operations

Read Story
Technology

Security Integrator – North America

Security Integrator – North America

58%

revenue growth in one year

Read Story
Education

Engineering & Tax Consultancy – Midwest US

Engineering & Tax Consultancy – Midwest US

100%

reduction in manual PDF compiling

Read Story
Construction

Residential Builder – Southeast US

Residential Builder – Southeast US

4+

tools consolidated into SmartSuite

Read Story
Health & Human Services

Mental Health Nonprofit – North America

Mental Health Support Organization - North America

121+

students tracked across multiple scholarship programs

Read Story
Health Care

Health Plan Provider – North America

Health Plan Provider – North America

4 legacy tools replaced

legacy tools replaced

Read Story
Technology

Electronics Manufacturer – Global

Electronics Manufacturer – Global

30,000+

product records organized

Read Story
Technology

B2B SaaS Provider – US & APAC

B2B SaaS Provider – US & APAC

80%

reduction in duplicate data entry

Read Story
Other

Battery Distributor – US

Battery Distributor – US

8+

tools and processes consolidated

Read Story
Accounting

Accounting Firm – US

Accounting Firm – US

40+

active clients tracked with dynamic dashboards

Read Story
Manufacturing

Custom Manufacturing Provider – North America

Custom Manufacturing Provider – North America

3

disconnected systems unified

Read Story
Agriculture / Livestock

Seed Supplier – Southeast US

Seed Supplier – Southeast US

100%

dealer order workflows digitized

Read Story
Energy and Utilities

Sustainability Engineering Firm – Australia

Sustainability Engineering Firm – Australia

80%

reduction in manual CRM data entry

Read Story
Other

Waste Management Provider – US

Waste Management Provider – US

80%

reduction in manual data entry

Read Story
Professional Services

Insurance Services Firm – US

Insurance Services Firm – US

30+

users migrated from Airtable

Read Story
Accounting

Financial Consultant – US

Financial Consultant – US

5+

financial modules built for contractors

Read Story
Construction

Construction Firm – New Zealand

Construction Firm – New Zealand

CRM

built from scratch in SmartSuite

Read Story
Restaurant / Food Services

Convenience Retailer – US

Convenience Retailer – US

8,000+

product records managed

Read Story
Other

Medical Sciences Program – North America

Medical Sciences Program – North America

70+

administrative hours saved

Read Story
Professional Services

Professional Services Firm – North America

Professional Services Firm – North America

$150K

in auto-renewal errors now proactively prevented

Read Story
Health Care

Health Services Provider – Australia

Health Services Provider – Australia

200+

hours projected saved monthly

Read Story
Professional Services

Consulting Firm – US

Consulting Firm – US

40+

investor-backed projects centralized

Read Story
Other

Cybersecurity Firm – Europe

Cybersecurity Firm – Europe

40+

hours saved per compliance cycle

Read Story
Manufacturing

Electronics Manufacturer – US

Electronics Manufacturer – US

3

legacy tracking systems replaced

Read Story
Agriculture / Livestock

Livestock Software Provider – APAC

Livestock Software Provider – APAC

10–15 hours

saved weekly across sales team

Read Story
Finance

Financial Consulting Firm – North America

Financial Consulting Firm – North America

50%

faster case processing

Read Story
Technology

AI Security – North America

AI Security - North America

Key stability

concerns identified within 2–3 hours of testing

Read Story
Manufacturing

Custom Manufacturing Provider – Europe

Custom Manufacturing Provider – Europe

6+

departments onboarded company-wide

Read Story
Accounting

Outsourced Accounting Firm – North America

Outsourced Accounting Firm – North America

3

legacy tools replaced in one solution

Read Story
Education

Private University – Latin America

Private University – Latin America

70+

university leaders supported through dashboards

Read Story
Finance

Financial Services Provider – Europe

Financial Services Provider – Europe

100+

linked tables deployed for IT and audit visibility

Read Story
Health Care

Regional Healthcare Organization – U.S.

Regional Healthcare Organization – U.S.

75%

faster provider termination process

Read Story
Government

Prototyping Hub – India

Prototyping Hub – India

50%

faster task handoffs between departments

Read Story
Government

GovTech Provider – Local US

GovTech Provider – Local US

100%

visibility across client project statuses

Read Story
Professional Services

IT Consulting – Global

IT Consulting – Global

40+

Internal users onboarded

Read Story
Manufacturing

Distributor – Middle East

Distributor – Middle East

40+

team members painlessly onboarded

Read Story
Advertising Agency

Creative Agency – North America

Creative Agency – North America

75%

reduction in podcast episode processing time achieved through AI and automation

Read Story
Advertising Agency

Media Analytics – US

Media Analytics – US

8,000+

households supported through automation

Read Story
Professional Services

ERP Consultant – Intl

ERP Consultant – Intl

3+ systems

replaced with one platform

Read Story
Retail

Retailer – Saskatchewan

Retailer – Saskatchewan

1,500+

purchases tracked through SmartSuite

Read Story
Technology

Smart Home Tech – EU

Smart Home Tech – EU

5+

teams unified under one platform

Read Story
Finance

Financial Services – US

Financial Services – US

70%

reduction in manual assessment tracking

Read Story
Construction

Construction Firm – Canada

Construction Firm – Canada

48

solutions deployed across operations

Read Story
Professional Services

Productivity Tech – EU

Productivity Tech – EU

6,000+

contracts processed monthly

Read Story
Accounting

CPA Services – Southeast US

CPA Services – Southeast US

100%

full transition from Airtable to SmartSuite

Read Story
Health & Human Services

Legal Aid – NYC

Legal Aid – NYC

200+

users evaluated for scalable access

Read Story

Ready to Create Your Own Success Story?