Easier trading with K8 SBE - Beccles Tile Centre Ltd

A powerful new computer system may seem daunting for a family business that’s relied heavily on paperwork for years. However, after implementing ADP Commercial Systems’ K8-Small Business Edition, the company has improved the selling process, is closely tracking stock, and can easily adjust margins.

Beccles Tile Centre Ltd was founded by Gerry Thurston. Since joined by his wife Julie and their son David, the specialist Suffolk-based company now employs 12 staff. An extensive range of tiles and bathrooms are on display in a retail showroom with a 20,000 square foot warehouse nearby.

The accounts system previously used by Beccles Tile Centre Ltd had been in place since the late 1990s. A quotation system also helped with sales. “All we ever used to record in the accounts was a daily sales total. If there were mistakes on adding up a sales order, it was never picked up,” says Julie.

Things were little better with stock control and it was also difficult to keep prices updated. As the warehouse is five minutes walk from the shop, there were constant phone calls between them.

“We weren’t really controlling the stock,” says Julie “Once a year we would do a full stock-take which meant manually checking all the supplier invoices.”

Sales recording was limited to paper copies for customer, warehouse, and shop. Written quotations and purchase orders were also filed. If the price list was not quickly updated in line with supplier changes, margins were undermined and good sales opportunities missed.

 

New Way Forward

The main objective for change was to introduce tight online stock control while managing pricing and discounts yet not lose the advantages of an accounting system. That also meant easy online access from the shop, warehouse, and home along with new laser-printed documents for a better company image.

After looking at several solutions, ADP Commercial Systems’ K8-Small Business Edition seemed the ideal answer. An affordable business management system, that offered the right functionality. Also, ADP were recommended by another tile supplier who couldn’t praise them highly enough,” says Julie.

ADP’s attitude proved refreshingly different with a good appreciation of the business requirements. Backed by 30-years of experience, K8-SBE is a software solution for distributors, wholesalers, merchants, and retailers.

“ADP were very good with the demonstration and they weren’t pushy,” says Julie. “It seemed easy enough to do everything and there was future potential too.”

The new system was implemented in July 2008. ADP consultants installed K8-SBE on new hardware and imported data from their existing system, while Beccles Tile staff entered details of thousands of stock items. Although K8-SBE’s graphical user interface is intuitive, a short training programme helped the users quickly grasp the essentials.

“ The training was good and the system is very easy to use,” Says Julie. “ADP’s support afterwards has been excellent.”

 

Trigger Stock Control

The ADP K8-SBE trading system offers fast processing of price enquiries, quotes, sales, and purchasing. What is she most impressed by? “Probably to see the stock, how much we paid for it, and when we last bought it - and what we’re selling it for now.”

Running on a secure central database, K8-SBE manages core operations, enhances business agility, streamlines activities, and creates an efficient working environment. It’s easy for anyone to make a sale (K8-SBE even calculates area tile quantities) or to detect pricing issues.

“We’ve had a few instances of supplier invoices where they have charged us retail. We wouldn’t have picked this up before,” says Julie. “For basic trading, ADP K8-SBE is very easy for our staff to use.”

The days of tediously searching paperwork are over. K8-SBE’s intelligent search engine means products, customers, and suppliers - plus associated transactions - are quickly accessible. Integrated soft form printing makes all documents look professional while warehouse picking notes ensure rapid order fulfilment.

“I can do everything online from home that I can do in the showroom apart from serve customers,” Explained Julie.

ADP K8-SBE has proved functionally relevant to this niche business, enabling the company to trade efficiently. Integrated accounts allow instant financial postings which saves much time while creditor and debtor reports help plan cash flow. Employees can easily find business information, drilling into the detail and printing out reports. And precise margin control is a welcome bonus in a recession.

Julie explains “You can look at a product and see how much we paid for it. You can then discount but make sure you’re making an acceptable profit, “Julie continued.” We now monitor stock and quickly make decisions to go down to a certain stock level. Thanks to ADP technology, this small business will continue to thrive.”

Project Summary

Beccles Tile Centre Ltd needed to replace its financial ledgers and a quotation package with a new trading system offering tight stock control. Having reviewed the market, it decided to install ADP K8-Small Business Edition. With the help of ADP consultants, the project was successfully completed and all staff trained.

ADP K8-SBE now handles the company’s day-to-day trading needs, manages stock, and provides integrated financial ledgers. As the trading information builds up in the new system, Beccles Tile will make greater use of standard reports for comprehensive business analysis and decision support.