T. Quality
Foodservice wholesaler, T. Quality, has reported significant performance improvements across a range of activities following its investment in an 80 user Accord system. With the system now fully bedded in the company is looking to build on these improvements through the implementation of additional Accord functionality, including ecommerce and Warehouse Management.
The Challenge
The growth of the company from being a single-site warehouse operation to a multi-depot, nationwide organisation necessitated their continual investment in IT to be able to integrate and control activities across the whole business. The existing system had been in use for many years and was effectively a generic solution with a heavily bespoke front end. This was restricting the company’s growth and restraining both future sales growth and business efficiency. After evaluating the options T Quality took the strategic decision to invest in a specialist foodservice solution rather than try to redevelop its existing solution.
The Solution
Following a review of various systems on the market, T. Quality opted for our Accord Wholesale Business (ERP) System because they felt it would meet their needs for a multi-depot, Telesales-led foodservice solution. The main reasons for selecting Accord were that it appeared to be a good functional fit, with excellent Purchasing and Telesales features. They were also impressed with our clear understanding of their market sector and business procedures.
The system was introduced across all depots over a period of ten months, with on-site training being given by our team. The system went live over the course of a weekend to avoid any disruption to normal trading. To avoid dual running with the existing system and allow the company to make the best use of the Accord system from ‘day one’, data was extracted from the existing system over that weekend and converted onto Accord.
The Results
T. Quality has since realised significant benefits across their purchasing and sales operations. The operations staff at each depot now have full control over the timing and production of picking/loading sheets, which has resulted in increased efficiency within each depot.
The Accord purchase order processing functionality has led to greater accuracy in determining order quantities and balancing orders, and has, therefore, reduced the occurrence of products being ‘Out of Stock’ at the time of sale.
Accord Telesales has led to increased efficiency within the two T. Quality Call Centres, giving them greater control over the daily management of calls, and more timely and accurate information. Particularly in relation to the turnover against budgeted targets. “This has allowed us to grow turnover through, for example, cross-selling and up-selling, and also helped us identify areas of weakness. Average order value has increased by over 10% since the introduction of Accord“ says Eric Scott.
The Future
Having now fully settled its initial Accord implementation, and with the introduction of necessary enhancements to the Ledgers functionality, T. Quality is looking to evaluate and take advantage of additional Accord modules such as XML EDI Processing, Warehouse Management, Intrastat and Packaging Waste. Together with the introduction of enhanced printing and document management facilities to be provided via a partnership with EFS Technology.
Eric Scott concluded “The system is now really delivering the benefits we anticipated. It has given us better control and is helping us to grow the business efficiently. We now feel confident about implementing additional modules to build on this progress, further improve our customer service and increase our market share.”