client case studies

North Yorkshire Timber | Rembrand Timber | Hopping Softwood Products | G.E. Robinson

rembrand timber - moving forward with UNISTRIP

Worried about the impact of moving to a new computer system? Concerned about the leap from manual procedures to a computerised business? The experience of Rembrand Timber shows that with a professional and experienced company like Ten~25 Software, implementing a new system can prove to be a generative leap forward.

Founded in 1982, Rembrand Timber is one of Scotland's foremost Timber Importers and Merchants, delivering high quality timber, sheet materials and joinery products from around the world through its network of local depots and its lorry fleet. With an annual turnover of more than £20 million, Rembrand Timber is a growing business with new interests in door set manufacture and laminated products.

Before purchasing UniSTRIP in the spring of 2002, Rembrand Timber was run almost entirely on manual systems. The installation of a modern computer system had become a necessity, and Rembrand Timber looked carefully at the market before deciding on a package from Ten~25 Software. Rembrand's first priority was to achieve full Sales and Purchase Order Processing: as well as better customer service, the sales team now benefits from detailed customer information and analysis, with most popular products identified for each customer. The impact of an integrated system has not just affected the staff: previously, the Managing Director George Low would take the invoices home every evening to check them. Today, UniSTRIP processes more than 5,000 invoices a month, and produces Exception Reports to pinpoint any anomalous prices.

Where UniSTRIP has impacted most significantly in the business is in the rapid expansion of Rembrand Timber's interests over the past few years. This month Rembrand Timber will open their 11th branch, and it will be integrated into their central systems from the word go. The ease of implementation of UniSTRIP has meant that all eleven branches have been rolled out within the space of 16 months, and the process will continue with 2 or 3 new branches to open this year. Jeff Low acknowledges that this growth could not have been possible without UniSTRIP: "It is much easier to expand our business in this way with an integrated system; with benefits such as universal pricing structure, everybody is now singing off the same hymn sheet."

With full stock control being brought in across the branches, the movement of stock through the business is now controlled and recorded in a way not possible before. Take Inter-Branch Transfers, for example, as Jeff Low explains: "Where a depot would requisition stock, it used to be done by FAX. Now everything is handled internally, with the onus taken off the managers - UniSTRIP will even show balances for what is still to come from any IBT."

UniSTRIP has brought in crucial cost savings as well. The computer links between branches save on phone calls and faxes, and the integrated accounts has significantly reduced the need for staff to manually input invoices. Future plans for the system include automated faxing of documents such as statements directly from the system, further reducing paper costs. With the new depots, and the achievement of full stock control at each branch, the future is looking bright for Rembrand Timber and UniSTRIP. If you are looking to update your current computer network, or convert from manual systems, please contact us for more information.