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Sage
Enterprise helps aluminium company to shine |
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Client profile
Family-run aluminium company J E Eltherington & Son is one of
the UK’s largest independent aluminium companies, with over 40 years’
experience in the stockholding and fabrication of sheet and extrusions,
and in manufacturing transport body kits.
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“We are able to keep our total cost of ownership low,
whilst ensuring that our staff have access to the right
tools to enable them to maximise productivity.”
Keith Billinge
Finance Director
J E Eltherington & Son |
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It is also a major producer of PVCu windows and doors for the caravan
and portable building industry.
The company is based in Hull and has 160 employees.
The challenge
J E Eltherington & Son had long experience of using solutions
from Sage Enterprise and upgraded from Sage CS/3 on UNIX to Sage Enterprise,
and were able to take advantage of the Windows 2000 environment.
The new powerful functionality available in the developments from
Sage Enterprise Solutions with seamless integration to the web and
Microsoft Office 2000 would mean the business critical solutions would
be future proofed.
At the same time, the company was looking for a low-cost method of
upgrading its software.
A further business objective was to enhance the sales and marketing
functions and gain greater control over leads and opportunities.
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| Solution
summary |
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| Sage software: |
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Sage Enterprise – Finance/Distribution/ Manufacturing modules |
| Operating system: |
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Windows® 2000 |
| Database: |
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Microsoft® SQL Server 7 database |
| Hardware: |
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Windows terminals and PCs |
| No. of users: |
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48 |
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The solution
The solution developed for J E Eltherington & Son introduced thin
client technology, which off-loads work from the user device, working
with Windows 2000 Terminal Services. This approach was combined with
using PCs where appropriate. Key components of the solution were as
follows:
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Sage Enterprise, running on Windows 2000 and SQL
Server 7 database |
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Pivotal Corporation’s eRelationship 2000 CRM and
eBusiness solution, also running on Windows 2000 |
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Integration links between Sage Enterprise and
the Pivotal software in the areas of customer information, contact
details, orders and products |
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29 Acer thin client Windows terminals, running
some or all of the following: Office 2000 (including Outlook
2000), Sage Enterprise, Zetafax fax software and Internet Explorer
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PCs running Sage Enterprise and Office 2000 |
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Specially developed forms for purchase orders,
statements etc, linking Sage Enterprise and Zetafax |
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Tailored Visual Basic scripts, which bring live
stock enquiry information both to the desktops of sales, purchasing
and trade counter staff, and to the public web site |
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Integrated Datalinx Warehouse Management barcoding
technology |
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Powerful Sage Business Alerts controlling the internal Purchase Order Requisition, Authorisation Process and automatic eMail of customer orders to suppliers |
The benefits
The Sage Enterprise-based solution has delivered major business benefits
to J E Eltherington & Son.
These include reduced cost of ownership, increased user productivity,
improved service to customers, integrated sales and marketing, and
better management information.
Sage Business Alerts offers a complete management tool, enabling quick and easy order acknowledgement, and providing additional users with the empowerment to take orders to specified rules-based authorisation levels.
Through thin client technology, employees have access to the latest
32-bit technology of Sage Enterprise and Office 2000, without an upgrade
to expensive PCs being needed. There are longer-term overhead savings,
too, as administration and support requirements are reduced.
Further cost reductions have been made by integrating Sage Enterprise
and Pivotal, with company-wide data integrity, increased data accuracy
and reduced need for duplication.
Staff can work more efficiently using Office 2000 and Sage GUI clients,
which can be customised to suit the requirements of each user. In
addition, the specially tailored Visual Basic solution means that
sales, purchasing and trade counter staff receive stock, purchase
order and sales history information in real time directly on their
desktops, enabling them to be more proactive and to offer enhanced
service to customers.
They can also fax purchase orders, statements etc. directly from within
Sage Enterprise, using the integrated Zetafax functionality.
The company’s website allows customers to check stock levels online,
any time of the day or night, through integration with the Sage Enterprise
system. Web use can also be monitored, through a tailored Proxy Server
solution.
Through its open architecture, Sage Enterprise integrates seamlessly
with Pivotal. This means that data is taken from Sage Enterprise to
measure the success of marketing campaigns, giving increased visibility
and automation to all marketing activities.
The integrated barcoding solution gives greater visibility and control
of stock levels. Further knowledge management benefits have been realised
through integration of the back office (Sage Enterprise) and front
office (Pivotal) systems.
In conclusion, the ability to provide a fully integrated solution
through the use of Sage Enterprise means the company is more integrated
as a business and able to function more effectively.
The future
Commenting on the success of the Sage solution, Keith Billinge, J
E Eltherington & Son’s Finance Director, says, “We can see clear
benefits for our organisation in adopting the latest Windows 2000
Server and Sage Enterprise technology. In enabling access to Sage
Enterprise and Office 2000 from Windows terminals, we are able to
keep our total cost of ownership low, whilst ensuring that our staff
have access to the right tools to enable them to maximise productivity.”
But the solution not only met the company’s immediate requirements,
it ensured that a robust platform was in place to enable future expansion.
J E Eltherington & Son is now developing its eBusiness further,
with the addition of Sage Web Enterprise, especially Web Procurement.
This will help to reduce transaction costs, simplify supplier management
and automate purchasing.
For more details on the solution provided for J E Eltherington &
Son, please contact Sage Enterprise Solutions on 0845 600 5999 (UK
only) or +44 (0) 118 927 0100.
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