Agricultural machines manufacturer to reap rewards of new system

The company says it selected Access Supply Chain software to replace a mix of ageing Unix-based accounts and manufacturing packages, spreadsheets and a Microsoft Access database for customer information. “Our existing software was becoming obsolete and we reached a point where we knew we had to change,” explains Andrew Mountain, director and grandson of the founder. “But that wasn’t the only reason to look for something better: we’ve also started to take on more subcontract fabrication work and needed a way to manage that more efficiently, plus we had two separate customer databases, Microsoft and Unix, with no way of linking the two.” And he adds: “In terms of functionality, the Access Supply Chain system offers everything we need and more. What’s more, it offers terrific value for money, not just in upfront cost, but for ongoing maintenance and support. That’s crucial to a business like ours.” Mountain says that a particular attraction was Access Supply Chain’s 10-stage implementation plan. “We were very impressed by this. When our existing system was installed about 10 years ago, the implementation totally disrupted the business,” he says. “I firmly believe you have to spend time to ensure the implementation is right. Access Supply Chain’s people are really switched on to that part of the process. “We are really looking forward to it. The new system will make a huge difference in terms of greater efficiency – one system running the whole business, instead of several that don’t link together. And the aspect that will really make it fly is CRM [customer relationship management]. We will be able to integrate the customer databases into one, and that will enable us to see up-to-date contract data, prospective customer information and much more.”