Getting the most out of your software

Arthur Duffy, managing director of Progressive Solutions, suggests the best ways to optimise your software

Enterprise management systems, distribution software, business management solutions, call them what you will; the tools available today to help us manage our business are highly sophisticated and packed with functionality we didn't even realise we needed.

It's a far cry from the glorified invoicing systems many timber companies were using a decade ago, which were bought off the shelf, plugged in, and did what we expected them to and no more.

It's different now – today's computer systems are designed to touch every part of an operation – sales, purchasing, stock control, pricing, customer relationships, marketing and business intelligence. Choosing the right system and managing the implementation effectively is a real challenge, particularly in an environment as unique as the timber industry, and particularly if the system is going to deliver benefits across every level of the operation.

Even choosing who should choose the system can be tricky. It's logical to appoint a team with representatives from every department but this can lead to power struggles between IT managers and directors, and internal conflicts when team members are only focused on their own areas of interest.

Those ultimately given the role of system specifier should, however, be mindful of one thing – the correct choice of supplier is absolutely crucial if true business benefits are going to be achieved.

Software is integral to every business process, including stocktaking The ability to deal with a supplier who understands your business and the industry is as important as identifying system features and functionality. These are people with whom you are going to build a long-term relationship and they will need to understand what your long-term business goals are so they can suggest processes – and deliver the technology – to help you achieve them.

Statistics tell us that companies often only use between 10-25% of their system's functionality. I believe the supplier's role is to get users straight to that level and then to keep pushing them further and further beyond it.

System architecture is another crucial consideration. Today it's increasingly important for a computer system to be able to integrate and interface with other applications and, if you don't have a system with an 'open' architecture, you're going to have problems importing and exporting data from elsewhere.

Whereas it used to be common for one provider to supply one system which did everything, today the trend is towards using a core system which links seamlessly with all the market-leading ancillaries, such as vehicle tracking systems and so on.

"To enjoy serious business benefits, companies will need to revisit
their business processes and make decisions over change."

The time it takes to implement the chosen system should not be underestimated – in fact some companies find it quite traumatic! This is more common when those responsible for putting the system in are key people in the organisation, and it's a constant trade-off between managing the implementation and running the business.

To enjoy serious business benefits, companies will need to revisit their business processes and make decisions over change. Straightforward improvements such as increasing the number of product groups for sales analysis means that someone will have to sit down and define what those new groups should be.

Having more data stored about products and customers means that suddenly there is more management information available than ever before and, unless you have worked out what you want to do with it at the outset and have reporting processes in place, the amount of information will be overwhelming and its potential to provide business intelligence will be wasted.

"Our software can handle this information, but can you?"

We sometimes have to say to customers, in the nicest possible way, "our software can handle this information, but can you?". Part of our role as a supplier is to help customers identify what they are looking for and create new business processes so they can find it. Often this means changing the way they have always done things.

We install systems with a view to supporting the customer over the long term as the system evolves. Once it was the norm to simply replace your system every five, seven or ten years. Today, once everything is in place with internal operations, I see the role of supplier as being constantly proactive and helping the customer push the system out further.

The timber industry is unique and its history means there are fragmented processes and trading idiosyncrasies not found anywhere else. Generic software bought off the shelf simply won't deliver when it's time for a business to move to the next level. Finding a specialist supplier who is in tune with your business goals is the only way to get there.

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Testimonials

"Implementation was achieved with absolutely no disruption to day-to-day trading. It was a joy! I'm working proactively with the system and having bisTrack doing much of our admin for us."

Scott Anderson, FD, Woodbridge Timber
"We saw benefits straight away, particularly with the time we saved on monthly stock takes and sourcing information for management reports."

Nigel Williams, Chairman, Premier Forest Products
"There’s no doubt that bisTrack is a good tool. We’ve a fantastic record for growth and we’re getting a lot out of bisTrack now, particularly over the control of our business."

Mike MacLellan, MD, GPH Builders Merchant
"Stock counting is one of the best facilities in bisTrack ever. Stock counting across multiple locations is effortless with multiple entries of the same product. Entering a count is even easier. Counting 10,000 lines used to take two of us 4 days. This time it was 8 hours."
"The decision to go with bisTrack was based on the relationship we were developing with the Progressive team, a confidence in deliverability and their aggressive approach to overall cost."

Stephen Mulhall, FD, McMahon
"We helped ourselves by getting bisTrack on board quickly and painlessly while business was slow, so we won't have disruption as we start to implement a very aggressive three year strategic plan."

Neil Fuller, Managing Director, Alsford Timber
"bisTrack is an excellent piece of software and getting better. Their approach to meeting our needs is excellent. eBusiness is not going to be big for another 12 months but PSI are there already, which means we’re ahead. They're very open to ideas and keep getting better at turnaround."

Adam Myers, Beesley & Fildes
"I was working with 2.7 in our test environment and looking at all the work you have done. Just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate all you do to make this a great technology partnership."

Brian King, Lumber USA
"We chose bisTrack because we needed to move on to the next generation of software."

Stephen Fairbairn, MD, Henry Alty
"With bisTrack we now have real-time information on our profitability, which allows us to continually optimise and make decisions on our business plan."

Stuart Hall, General Manager, Lawcris Panel Products
"We chose bisTrack because we needed to move on to the next generation of software."

Stephen Fairbairn, MD, Henry Alty
"We looked at several systems, but most of them were using the same out-of-date technology as the system we were replacing!"

Rodney Scoles, Director, T Brewer & Co
"There’s no doubt that bisTrack is a good tool. We’ve a fantastic record for growth and we’re getting a lot out of bisTrack now, particularly over the control of our business."

Mike MacLellan, MD, GPH Builders Merchant
"bisTrack was a big investment for us but it's the best change we've ever made. We've grown so much over the last four or five years, we simply couldn't have carried on using a manual system."

Gerwyn Thomas, partner, TL Thomas (builders' merchant)
"I can export information into Excel by right-clicking and manipulate it to my heart's content."
"We saw benefits straight away, particularly with the time we saved on monthly stock takes and sourcing information for management reports."

Nigel Williams, Chairman, Premier Forest Products
"Inventory accuracy is higher because everyone is more focused and our staff can see the benefit of getting it right."

Ian Murchie, Operations Director, Howie Forest Products
"We chose bisTrack because we needed to move on to the next generation of software."

Stephen Fairbairn, MD, Henry Alty
"We were drowning in paper and, as a business turning over £2.2 million, the time had come for us to invest in business management software."

David Biddle, MD, Huntingdon Timber & Roofing
"It was obvious the company was being held back by the limitations of the old system."

Operations Director, CF Anderson
"Implementation was achieved with absolutely no disruption to day-to-day trading. It was a joy! I'm working proactively with the system and having bisTrack doing much of our admin for us."

Scott Anderson, FD, Woodbridge Timber
"Inventory accuracy is higher because everyone is more focused and our staff can see the benefit of getting it right."

Ian Murchie, Operations Director, Howie Forest Products
"Our staff have margin figures right in front of them now, so they're much more aware of the profit they are making."

Robert Blumsom, Blumsom Fine Timber
"We improved net margin by 3% within 6 weeks of going live on bisTrack."

Payne Timber
"Once we started building up information we could trust, we started seeing real benefits. If stock accuracy was the main benefit, then quality of management information was next."

Peter Kerr, FD, Palmer Timber
"bisTrack is a terrific system and its potential is incredibly exciting. I have absolutely no regrets over choosing bisTrack and great confidence that we have something we can build on."

David Bryan, Director, Ridgeons
"We have a responsibility to the environment. That’s why we’re trying to lower our carbon footprint. We introduced e-commerce, cut down on paper receipts & are introducing electronic billing for customers."

Director, building materials supplier
"The time was right for a change of software at Alsford's and we selected bisTrack from a shortlist of three. The key criteria was 'business fit'. We wanted a Microsoft Windows, intuitive solution which would best serve our claim to be 'The Timber Experts' in all our 20 branches."

Neil Fuller, MD, Alsford Timber
"The great thing is we can always export information to Excel and produce any report we need — such as aged debt by sales rep, or a bespoke exposure report, which assesses potential credit risk & protects us."

Damien Cosgrove, Credit Control Mgr, Noyeks Newmans
“Hargeaves are ideally placed to take advantage of the offer – whilst we plan to continue using e-Xact to update our product file we also want much better control over special product sales and purchases."

Gordon Rothwell, James Hargreaves MD
"The time was right for a change of software at Alsford's and we selected bisTrack from a shortlist of three. The key criteria was 'business fit'. We wanted a Microsoft Windows, intuitive solution which would best serve our claim to be 'The Timber Experts' in all our 20 branches."

Neil Fuller, MD, Alsford Timber
"Good customer service is easier to achieve with good IT to back up our staff. bisTrack gives provides an efficient system for dealing with customers. Good management tools enable us to concentrate our efforts in the right direction."

David Dunmow, Group FD, James Latham plc
"The reporting capabilities of bisTrack really help the sales department answer day to day enquiries. It gives them instant access to information about purchasing volumes and when timber is due to come in."

Wayne Abrams, Project Leader, Arbor Forest Products
"One reason we chose Progressive was because their team was so approachable. It wasn’t just because the software was better. We really felt we could work with them.”

Director, Ridgeons
"We chose bisTrack because we needed to move on to the next generation of software."

Stephen Fairbairn, MD, Henry Alty
“A member of our buying group told us about bisTrack, although we looked at four or five other software packages. Key factors in the eventual selection of bisTrack were its SQL platform and our confidence in the people we dealt with.”

Gordon Rothwell, James Hargreaves (Plumbers Merch)
"With bisTrack we now have real-time information on our profitability, which allows us to continually optimise and make decisions on our business plan."

Stuart Hall, General Manager, Lawcris Panel Products
"We looked at several systems, but most of them were using the same out-of-date technology as the system we were replacing!"

Rodney Scoles, Director, T Brewer & Co
"Performance across the system is continuously enhanced too. Since our last release, finding products is now significantly faster ...by up to 30%."

Gary Brookshaw, Product Director, Progressive Solutions
"Our relationship with PSI has been transformed this year. This is due almost entirely to having an Account Manager as a single point of contact, who knows our system and our business."

Eric Jones, IT Manager, Alsford Timber
"One reason we chose Progressive was because their team was so approachable. It wasn’t just because the software was better. We really felt we could work with them.”

Director, Ridgeons
"The decision to go with bisTrack was based on the relationship we were developing with the Progressive team, a confidence in deliverability and their aggressive approach to overall cost."

Stephen Mulhall, FD, McMahon
"bisTrack is a terrific system and its potential is incredibly exciting. I have absolutely no regrets over choosing bisTrack and great confidence that we have something we can build on."

David Bryan, Director, Ridgeons
"The time was right for a change of software at Alsford's and we selected bisTrack from a shortlist of three. The key criteria was 'business fit'. We wanted a Microsoft Windows, intuitive solution which would best serve our claim to be 'The Timber Experts' in all our 20 branches."

Neil Fuller, MD, Alsford Timber
"bisTrack is an excellent piece of software and getting better. Their approach to meeting our needs is excellent. eBusiness is not going to be big for another 12 months but PSI are there already, which means we’re ahead. They're very open to ideas and keep getting better at turnaround."

Adam Myers, Beesley & Fildes
"It's a very nicely laid out system with easy to follow structural menus and taskpads which, even if I haven't used a particular function before, I find relatively simple to complete."

Chris Pratt, Pratts Timber and Builders Merchants Ltd
"We were drowning in paper and, as a business turning over £2.2 million, the time had come for us to invest in business management software."

David Biddle, MD, Huntingdon Timber & Roofing
"Good customer service is easier to achieve with good IT to back up our staff. bisTrack gives provides an efficient system for dealing with customers. Good management tools enable us to concentrate our efforts in the right direction."

David Dunmow, Group FD, James Latham plc
"We looked at several systems, but most of them were using the same out-of-date technology as the system we were replacing!"

Rodney Scoles, Director, T Brewer & Co
"bisTrack is a terrific system and its potential is incredibly exciting. I have absolutely no regrets over choosing bisTrack and great confidence that we have something we can build on."

David Bryan, Director, Ridgeons
"The great thing is we can always export information to Excel and produce any report we need — such as aged debt by sales rep, or a bespoke exposure report, which assesses potential credit risk & protects us."

Damien Cosgrove, Credit Control Mgr, Noyeks Newmans
"I'm happy bisTrack will grow with us. If we find we need something which isn't already incorporated, I'm confident Progressive will work with us to fill the gap."

Operations Director, CF Anderson
"We spent a long time evaluating several systems and I'm confident that bisTrack is the best available."

Andrew Laver, Arnold Laver Timberworld
"Our real differential is not in software features, it's in our relationships with customers. How we work with them and how we can make an effective difference. You need the staff and the expertise to be able to do that."

Arthur Duffy, managing director, Progressive Solutions
"To stand out from the crowd, you need great customer service. Really great customer service."

Progressive Solutions' guest blog, Builders Merchants Journal
"I'm convinced there's no other system that can deliver better what we need. Apart from its Windows architecture and its powerful functionality, it now has ten years of development behind it."

Peter Buttle, Buttle plc