CED builds growth with Solarsoft ERP software

Ian Burridge, joint managing director at CED, explains that using Solarsoft's xVP solution, the company can now easily view all of its sales orders, stock levels and haulage costs in one central location. That, he says, provides all the information needed to run the business' six UK sites efficiently and to minimise operating costs – certainly far better than its previous order processing system, which was very old and unsupported. Commenting on the choice of Solarsfot, Burridge says: "We were already aware of Solarsoft, but wanted to investigate the market in depth to see what other products and solutions were available." And he continues: "However, it quickly became clear that Solarsoft was the best ERP solution for our business, because of its ease of use, broad functionality and proven track record in the builders' merchant market." Burridge says that, while the functionality required by CED was largely provided in the standard ERP suite, due to some of its business complexities, a few modifications did have to be made. "We needed some bespoke functionality, such as the automatic addition of haulage costs to our sales order lines," explains Burridge. "Solarsoft delivered on all these areas, ensuring that the changes were integrated fully into the standard software, to ensure seamless future upgrades. In short, what could have been a difficult implementation process was completed smoothly and effectively, without any major problems," he adds. And speaking of the resulting business improvements, he says: "As a distributor, haulage costs are a critical part of our business… With xVP, we can now access in-depth information on each individual order and monitor all costs at a much more detailed level. "Although we have only just gone live with the Solarsoft system, we are very confident of the benefits we will achieve… We are really happy with our decision to implement the Solarsoft ERP solution and we look forward to a long-lasting business partnership."