Merchant businesses of all sizes are looking to make the most out of their business software solutions in a drive towards improved efficiencies and maximising competitive advantage. PBM reports on Lakeside Timber’s implementation of the K8 system from Kerridge Commercial Systems.
A smaller, family-run merchant, Lakeside Timber was established in 1989 by Del Peters and is currently managed by his son Lee. Operating from a modern showroom in Gillingham it supplies a huge range of timber, sheet materials, decking, doors, windows and tools to customers across the Medway area and has developed a particular expertise in the supply of loft conversion products.
The firm has eight full time employees as well as two apprentices. Business is split fairly evenly between retail and trade customers, with many of the trade account holders having dealt with Lakeside since the company started.
“As we’re a small, family run business, we have a great relationship with our customers because we know most of them well,” explained Lee. “They trade with us as we can compete on price with the big nationals and our staff offer a great service and are all highly trained in the products we sell.”
A Fisher Price toy till(!) eventually made way for some early business management software which in turn has only recently been upgraded to K8, Kerridge Commercial Systems’ a modern ERP system.
Lee said: “Our incumbent provider had informed us that it was no longer supporting our software at about the same time we realised it was time to upgrade to a more modern system. We needed more functionality around business intelligence and accurate visibility of stock.
“I looked at one other solution before choosing K8. Cost was a factor in my decision but not the only one — I was more impressed with the attitude of the K8 sales team and the quality of their demonstration.”
The software is suitable for firms in the builders’ and timber merchant industry of all types and sizes, including those with less than 20 users, to provide all the required functionality around sales, purchasing, stock control and accounting. Especially relevant for companies similar in size to Lakeside Timber, KCS asserts that set up can be implemented very quickly and with minimal training for users.
Lee and his team are already said to be benefitting from the detailed reporting capabilities provided by K8 when they check their live business performance figures at the end of each day. And, once implementation is fully completed, they’ll be able to quickly and confidently answer customer enquiries without having to go and physically look at what’s available out in the yard.
“Being able to send out invoices and statements directly from K8 by email has made this job much quicker and easier,” added Lee. “I used to have to print them out and put them in the post! Our customers have also told me that this is more convenient for them too. I’m also looking forward to further time saving benefits when implementation is complete — including automatic ordering when minimum stock levels are reached.”
New direction for KCS Professional Services Group
Camilla Lardner has recently been promoted to the role of Professional Services Group (PSG) Director at KCS. She has already been with the business since July 2018 following 12 years in Application Delivery Services at IBM and her background in project delivery and passion for continuous improvement will mark the start of a new direction for PSG, with a strong emphasis on excellent customer service and experience.
In her previous role as Project Delivery Director, she focused on expanding the governance and control of projects in order to provide more repeated successful implementations and her first few months as Director of PSG has seen this inward focus continue. Camilla says her attention is now turning to the integration of best practices from multiple teams and solutions, which in turn will increase the value of KCS’ services for customers during the implementation stage and beyond.
Under her direction, PSG is said to be redefining the way in which it puts customers live. This has involved standardising approaches to implementing core functionality, creating a more agile way of dovetailing configuration with training, and giving clearer recommendations on how system features should be layered and added to in the months after a go-live.
Camilla explained: “PSG is a department that everyone can, and should, benefit from. Getting implementation right from the outset is imperative, as this sets customers up for a positive journey with KCS. My intention is to shift from being wholly reactive to our customers’ demands towards proactively identifying the value-added services we know they will benefit from.”
She continued: “We have already built strong relationships with a number of our customers who benefit from consultancy input on a regular basis. The sophistication of our systems brings great potential, and untapping that potential in the most efficient way is something our consultants should help our customers with in the months, even years, after a go-live.”
Similarly, a key goal is to provide a more responsive ‘ad-hoc consultancy service’ for customers looking to make smaller changes to their system in a more efficient and effective way.
To download a guide to builders’ merchant software from the KCS website, visit https://info.kerridgecs.com/receive-a-free-k8-brochure
