Case Study1 - Construction Suppliers I.T. Implementation
The Requirement
The primary strategy was to increase company revenue and thus profitability by embracing information technology. At the time, the company employed totally manual systems from Stock Control through to Sales Statements. These systems were working well, but provided little in the form of control or reporting capabilities for the business.
The company had approximately 500 customers working within the construction industry which could be segregated into a number of different categories including the Building and Civil Engineering sectors. The company’s stock profile numbered approximately 1100 items, which could be further defined and categorized into different product groups.
An important criteria for the selection process, was the ability to reference customers across a number of different categories and products across a number of different groups, in order to successfully understand the nature and direction of the different market sectors through analysis reporting.
Contribution and profitability by product and product group was further identified as an important factor, together with an ability to store multiple delivery addresses for individual customers. Concerns were raised regarding the warehouse and trade counter staff. Any selected system would need to be simple for them to operate in order to avoid issues during and after implementation and provide “fail safe” messages prior to the task being actioned.
The Proposal
Based upon the criteria specified, Link Systems selected the Dimensions product from Access Accounting Ltd. as the most appropriate offering within their accounting software product portfolio.
Over the last 10 years, Access has gained an unrivalled reputation for innovation and excellence in this area.
Their use of true 32-bit technology makes their product range suitable for all Windows platforms (including Microsoft Office), and their use of industry standard databases and open system architecture provides an almost unlimited potential for reporting and integration with 3rd party applications. In addition, in order to capitalise further on the integration technology utilised within Access Dimensions, email and fax software was proposed, to enable a flexible suite of administrative tools to be deployed, together with a full suite of Microsoft Office for every PC workstation which enabled the company to dispense with traditional typewriters in use at that time.
The Solution
Link offered a complete solution from provision of the network cabling to the appropriate hardware and software required. The concept was to provide a comprehensive technical solution which would enable and assist growth to meet its anticipated business targets.
An implementation plan was designed and agreed, based upon the recommended solution and then delivered within two months. The plan was broken into discreet stages each of which were installed and tested prior to the next phase commencing.
Stage one comprised a full site survey, to identify the appropriate cabling system and cable routes required to satisfy the pre-existing workstation locations.
The appropriate hardware requirements were evaluated, agreed and delivered on completion of the wiring system. Link engineers set up the hardware and commissioned the network and file servers. Full protection for the servers was achieved by providing a UPS system together with a comprehensive data back up and disaster recovery facility. Network wide virus protection and internet firewalls were installed to provide maximum security for the system and the company as a whole.
Basic information for the accounting system such as Customer and Supplier records, Stock records and Nominal Chart of Accounts were identified and ported into an SQL database for the Access Dimensions system. A full copy of the system was set up to enable staff to commence training and familiarisation on the new system.
This was a necessary step as the operational procedures in use within the company were to be significantly changed. An 8 day Training schedule was drawn up, agreed and delivered to all users to ensure a good knowledge and understanding of the system prior to “going live”. The comprehensive analysis options which the Dimensions system provides were reviewed and set up to enable timely business reporting to be supported.
The documentation required for the new system was customised to portray a corporate style, featuring logo’s, and resulting in a modern and professional appearance. These changes can be easily altered in the future to reflect any image changes that may be required.
At all times Link Systems have been on hand to provide support and training as well as technical advice. This has been delivered by review meetings, on site support, telephone support and the use of an on line link which enables speedy resolution of any problems which have arisen.
The Outcome
Implementation of Access Dimensions has resulted in significant benefit to the operation in the following areas:
On the Sales Side:
Improved management of the sales inventory reducing the capital needed to support the stock level.
Improved credit control due to the on line real time updating of Customer records.
The sales operation has been improved with timely information, enabling keener pricing and the ability to structure deals to suit each sales opportunity.
On the purchasing side:
Staff can now identify where purchases are required and obtain better cost analysis as well as stock level information and turnover figures.
Pricing data can be changed easily to reflect market trends.
Profitability by stock lines is standard within the Dimensions reporting suite and now forms part of the day to day analysis for the management team.
On the management side:
Reporting by stock lines, product groups, and sales person is available on demand.
Banking transactions are easily dealt with and reconciled.
Nominal reports on profit and overall management information are now extracted with ease and can be passed on to other systems such as spreadsheets.
These benefits have all been achieved with the first stage of the project.
Quote from the company's Finance & Operations Director
When we first considered computerised accounts, our major investor recommended that we exercise tremendous caution, as from their experience, it could be a recipe for disaster. Link Systems and Access Dimensions have proved them wrong.
When Link Systems first implemented Access Dimensions, I drew up a plan of my targeted achievements over a 3 year period. 6 months into this plan, we have achieved 90% of the target. This can be directly attributed to the way in which Link have listened to our needs, planned their implementation, and delivered them on time.
What is more impressive however is that we are currently 25% up on our sales forecast, and our debtors are lower than they have ever been before. Both of these factors can be directly attributed to the analysis available to us through Dimensions.
Update – 2007
Since the initial implementation, the client has opened two further stock holding depots, 1 in Sheffield and 1 in central London. Both depots are linked to the head office via a virtual private network.
The number of stock items has increased 3 fold to 3,500
The Outcome
The company’s turnover has increased by 75% since 2004.
