Amber Tiles wanted a simple system giving its franchisees better data visibility, says Simon Hayes.
Franchised operations are notoriously difficult when it comes to introducing technology. They are geographically dispersed, have a range of different hardware platforms and are run by owner-operators who have different views on the value of technology.
So, if your average franchisor is cautious about deploying software to make running business easier, imagine what went through the minds of executives at Amber Tiles when they went back to the market for the third time in search of a suitable package.
Moving from a totally manual system through two failed systems, Amber wanted a simple interface that would allow its 35 stores to run everything from point-of-sale to accounts and ordering, linked via a network to the company’s warehouses and head office in Sydney.
The company, which bills itself as Australia’s largest
hard-flooring company, supplies retail clients, architects and tradesmen through stores in Sydney, regional NSW, the ACT, and Queensland.
Managing director Ron Geekie says the company’s previous experience with computing had not been positive. “We had two attempts before this one,” he says.
“We could use it ourselves, but it was impossible to use it in stores. We were looking for something that was off-the-shelf, but adaptable to our business.” Although the manual system was accurate, it was extremely time-consuming.
“On a sale weekend, which happens three times a year, the volume of sales is four times that of any other weekend,” he says. “It took franchisees up to four hours at the end of each sales day to cost the invoices, determine the profits and organise banking.
“Suppliers would hold information over us. They had the data in their system and knew we didn’t have the same level of visuality.”
Amber acquired Micronet Advantage Suite, which specialises in wiring up franchise operations. The system is entirely outsourced, sitting on Micronet’s servers, with SAN storage.
The product includes point-of-sale, distribution, creditor’s ledger and general ledger as well as access to e-business and CRM tools.
Amber stores run IBM thin clients as their sales counters, connected to the Micronet system via ADSL or ISDN lines, and continue to run PCs in the back office to give them access to other applications such as the Microsoft Office suite. Information systems manager John Schrooten says the phased introduction had won franchisee support.
“Obviously we needed the support of the franchisees to get their staff through (the training) and to see it was worthwhile,” he said. Franchisees have seen the sales process simplified and staff are able to use a single screen to sell available products and order out-of-stock products from wholesalers.
Franchisees, the majority of who outsource their day-to-day bookkeeping, also get regular updates on sales to different product lines, and far more detailed information than they received previously.
“At the end of each month, we now receive indicative profit and loss statements within days,” Schrooten says.
The ProblemWorking its way through a manual system and two unsuccessful information technology systems, Amber Tiles was looking for a simple-to-use system that would give it better visibility of its stock and sales.
The ProcessThe company implemented a hosted software package from Micronet that allows its franchisees to input and access store data through thin clients.
The Result
Franchisees and company management receive profit and loss statements with days, much faster than previously, and have a better idea if stock levels and demand.
10-Jul-2007