ICEE, a service provider in the communications industry, has selected Standard ERP, a fully integrated financials, job costing and stock management software system from HansaWorld. The order for Standard ERP is valued in excess of £20,000, with implementation and support being managed by software reseller, Countdown Systems.
Standard ERP was chosen to replace an accounting package, which only offered a DOS-based job costing module, in a bid to run the communications business more efficiently with tighter control over operational costs, and to ensure the company is able to meet the industry standards required for ISO 9000 certification. This is a key requirement for ICEE because it installs, commissions & provides product solutions for a number of blue-chip companies & network providers on an international scale.
Paul Harris, founder and Managing Director of ICEE, explains, “Being able to demonstrate our ability to consistently provide services that meet our customers' requirements and our own industry regulations ensures that we enhance customer satisfaction and secure further business. The ISO 9000 quality standard is a benchmark for our organization and in order to consistently achieve this, we needed to implement new IT systems at the core of our business operations.”
He continues, “The main challenge we faced was finding a single, integrated product that would provide us with real-time information to support our business activities, including financials, job costing and stock management, rather than having to use a mix of bolt-on applications from different software authors. [Standard ERP] is a well proven, international business management product and it was the only solution in this price category that could offer the level of functionality that we were looking for within a single database.”
The job costing functionality of Standard ERP was key in the selection process for the communications company. ICEE opens job records to keep track of customer orders and associated costs, including materials and employee expenses, while incorporating the time spent on each job. Many of these jobs are open for several years, with customers continuously increasing or changing their orders, which means that ICEE requires a very detailed breakdown of this information.
“A key priority was to be able to control and identify cost and have the ability to drill down to a very detailed level and with [Standard ERP] we are able to achieve this. The software has a very user-friendly interface, which makes the process of keeping information up-to-date very simple.”
Paul Harris | Founder and Managing Director of ICEE
The stock management module within Standard ERP also provides ICEE with detailed stock analyses and history, enabling tight quality control while assisting in the management of intelligent purchasing of parts and components from an array of suppliers.
Commenting on the service provided by software reseller, Countdown Systems, Harris says, “I have been very pleased with the level of customer-responsive support we have received from Countdown Systems. They have taken the time to understand our business and have therefore been able to show us how to utilize [Standard ERP] to best suit our needs.”
"[Standard ERP] has really improved the way we manage our business information and ensures that we can meet the ISO 9000 quality standard. As an integrated product, HansaWorld offers us a ubiquitous selection of business applications and it has the scope and flexibility to suit our future requirements as we continue to expand.”
