Richfield Trading's shift to smarter operations with Zoho Creator

The company

Founded in 2014, Richfield Trading is a UAE-based trading and logistics company specializing in plastic polymer raw materials. Co-founded by Joey De Busser and Nick Salim, the company has scaled from a $2 million investment to a turnover exceeding half a billion. Richfield serves a wide range of industries by supplying polymer materials that form the basis for products across manufacturing and packaging.

The challenges

As Richfield scaled, reliance on Excel sheets and manual planning created roadblocks across departments.

• Inefficient processes: Sales, procurement, and delivery schedules were managed separately in spreadsheets, which slowed down decision-making.
• Time-consuming paperwork: Even generating a single document could take up more than half an hour, leaving employees exhausted after preparing just a handful in a day.
• Limited shipment visibility: Tracking inbound and outbound shipments lacked real-time accuracy, which made customer communication difficult.
• Financial complexity: Reconciling purchase orders, invoices, and payments manually delayed financial reporting.
• Scalability concerns: Managing growing customer demand became increasingly challenging without an integrated system.

The solution

Richfield partnered with Nurture Spark to build a Zoho-powered ecosystem, with Zoho Creator at the core. The solution addressed both operational issues and scalability needs.

Building an operations hub in Zoho Creator

• A custom-built order management system now logs polymer purchase orders, supplier details, and client contracts in one place.
• Automated workflows have replaced manual planning, reducing dependency on Excel.
• A centralized dashboard gives real-time visibility into stock levels, order fulfillment, and delivery planning.

In addition, Richfield used other Zoho products to track projects, manage invoices and expenses, and handle tax reporting. This helped the teams stay aligned and gave management a clear view of both operations and finances.

Integration with GoComet

To improve logistics, Richfield integrated Creator with GoComet for shipment tracking.

• Container locations, ETAs, and customs clearance updates flow directly into Zoho Creator dashboards.
• Both logistics teams and customers can access this real-time visibility.

Benefits and ROI

The transformation Richfield Trading had was significant, with measurable improvements across efficiency, accuracy, and scale.

• Efficiency gains: Automating planning and order management reduced processing time by nearly 80%, freeing teams from tedious manual updates.
• Shipment transparency: Live tracking boosted customers' trust and improved communication.
• Financial accuracy: Automated syncing between Creator and other Zoho products cut reconciliation time by up to 90% and eliminated errors caused by spreadsheets.
• Improved collaboration: Teams across sales, procurement, and logistics worked together more effectively using project tracking linked with Creator.
• Scalability: The new system enabled Richfield to handle up to five times more orders without adding extra headcount.

By transitioning from 10–15 massive spreadsheets (some with over 250 columns) to an integrated Creator-led system, Richfield unlocked the ability to scale sustainably while keeping operations lean.

Looking forward

Richfield continues to see Zoho Creator as central to its growth. With an internal team and Nurture Spark’s ongoing support, the company plans to expand Creator apps across HR, payroll, and appraisals—areas already touched by other Zoho products.