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Case study - Ideal Workwear & Washrooms Ideal hit the ground running with Datafile
With customers waiting to place orders on its first day of trading, Ideal Workwear & Washroom Solutions had to be up and running without a hitch. Datafile was the only software able to meet Ideal's four page list of requirements and four months later, Ideal is set to turnover £1 million in its first year. The system has run smoothly with minimal training, been tailored to suit Ideal's customers and in 2008, the company will add an e-commerce front end. Very few new companies start life with customers like Topps Tiles, Warburtons and Robert McBrides ready to place orders at 9am on their first day, but this was the challenge that faced Ideal Workwear & Washroom Solutions in October 2007. In the competitive world of workwear and janitorial supplies, products need to arrive with customers within 48 hours. The management team needed a flexible, easy-to-use sales order processing system integrated with:
The directors had the advantage over 20 years of experience in the business, so they knew exactly how they wanted the new company to operate, what accounting support it needed and what management information they needed access to. Complete business management Armed with a comprehensive list of requirements for the system, MD Mark Starr and Operations Director Mark Booth, began to research their options. It quickly became clear that rather than just accounting software, the new company needed a complete business management system. MD, Mark Starr, explains: “As a new company, we had to keep costs low so we looked at off-the-shelf accounting packages like Sage at first. Sage was too rigid and just couldn't fit with the way our business worked. We didn't feel comfortable with their support arrangements either.” He continues: “I have previous experience of Intellect and SAP but we discounted them as well because they're very operator driven. You have to understand the way the software works and be pretty computer literate which just wouldn't have suited the way we work at Ideal. All our people would be using the system at some point – from putting in orders to printing delivery notes to running stock reports.” Datafile was on the short list because both directors had come across the software in previous roles. Although it was beyond the budgeted price, other options were falling short of requirements so in August 2007, Ideal decided to take a closer look.
Put through its paces During a lengthy and productive meeting, Ideal put the Datafile software through its paces and quickly found out that it could be tailored it to the way they wanted to work. It could handle transactions from order through despatch to invoice and credit control. It was fully integrated with stock and physical stock, and the reports they wanted were easy to generate. The number of ticks on Ideal's list of requirements started going up and by the end of the meeting, Mark and Mark were satisfied that they'd found the system they needed. Now the race was on to install it, load it and train their people on Datafile before 1 st October. A month before Ideal opened its doors for trading, Datafile installed Datafile Premier on Ideal's server and helped them to input over 2,000 stock items in just two days. Company stationery was set up including delivery notes and invoice templates. In fact, Ideal has no printed stationery apart from business cards; the whole of the company's paperwork is set up and printed from Datafile. There was only time for 1 – 2 days training for Ideal's six staff so Datafile provided on-site support to the company for the days immediately before and after Ideal's first day of trading. Smooth first day Operations Director, Mark Booth, was pleased with the result: “All things considered, it went pretty smoothly on 1 st October. We brought all the stock into the warehouse the day before and we were putting orders through on the first morning. “In our business, stock has to be despatched within 48 hours, so there was no time to waste. The system produces picking lists, delivery notes and invoices and we just got on with it.” Ideal also had to think ahead. Some of its major customers such as Anchor Security, Navitas, Robert McBrides and Topps Tiles have branches throughout the UK . Their Head Offices need one consolidated invoice at the end of the month showing what each store manager has ordered, the total amount payable, etc. Previously, this process had to be done painstakingly by hand, but Datafile was able to configure Datafile Premier to produce a single invoice, saving valuable time and reducing errors. Four months later, Ideal's Datafile system has already processed over 700 purchase invoices, 800 sales invoices and over 2,200 delivery notes. All reporting and management reporting is produced from the system, stock valuation and stock control reports, P&L, and when the time comes, the end of year accounts. Operations Director, Mark Booth , explains: “If we didn't have Datafile, we couldn't trade. It's efficient, requires minimal training and we were able to start processing orders on day one. The six of us have needed very little training and the support we get from Datafile is great. If we need help with a report, we don't have to log a request and wait for days. Often Datafile can dial in, show us how to do it on the screen and then leave us to it.” Another major step
The Datafile system will produce the order, picking list and delivery note ready for the stock to be despatched, as usual. Monthly invoices, consolidated invoices and reports will also be handled in the normal way. As well as the improved service for its customers, another advantage for Ideal is that it will not need to key in web orders; that will be done by the customer as the order is placed. Mark Starr sums it up: “We've worked in the washroom supplies industry for 24 years and used various software but Datafile is definitely the best. It works the way we want to. It's quick, intuitive to use, easy to navigate and we're still finding out more about what it can do! “There's nothing we can't get out of the Datafile software and we definitely couldn't have started this business without it.” Product: Datafile Premier Datafile Premier Applications:
Company: Ideal Workwear & Washroom Solutions Ltd |
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Ideal's Datafile system is set to take another major step in 2008. At present, customers order mainly by email or fax, but Ideal is planning an e-commerce front end. Customers will have their own logon to Ideal's website to be able to place orders direct, including access to their special prices file so that they receive the same discounts online.