Micronet Systems provides franchise IT solutions to Amber stone, tile and hard floor franchises

When faced with a need for better inventory management, improved customer service and reduced operational costs, Amber turned to Micronet Systems to provide integrated franchise IT solutions.

Since deploying a pilot program at its Seaforth store, Amber has worked closely with Micronet Systems to institute its franchise IT solutions, streamlining business processes and improving overall business efficiency.

Queensland State Manager for Amber Group Australia, John Schrooten says that “Micronet enabled Amber to make a generational change. It has given us the flexibility we needed to meet the ever changing nature of our business and has grown with the demands and sophistication of our operations.”

Amber had previously been using outdated, Windows-based warehouse computer systems, with manual orders being phoned or faxed through by sales people.

With over 28 franchise stores located across NSW, the ACT and South Eastern Queensland, the company needed better efficiency at retail point of sale, and looked to Micronet’s Franchise Solution to fully integrate retail POS systems with back-end warehouse, wholesale and accounting systems.

Micronet franchise IT solutions have now eliminated all paper-based processes at store level.

Amber also needed to improve inventory management systems at its Prospect warehouse, and by fully integrating wholesale and retail operations Micronet franchise IT solutions have been able to provide full supply chain visibility with a paperless inter-company trading system and a centralised inventory master file.

“We needed a solution that could handle our unique industry business processes without moving to a fully custom written software package. Micronet’s solution was flexible enough to incorporate our changes and cost effective to support over the long term,” Mr. Schrooten says.

Centralising the company’s product database has allowed Amber to efficiently handle product variations, an important advantage when dealing with the small differences in shade and texture of natural stone products.

In addition, customer purchase orders can be automatically converted to pieces or boxes per metre. This reduces order error rates and improves the operation of shipping functions.

Customisable reporting tools supplied with franchise IT solutions from Micronet enable Amber to quickly make decisions on sales and product promotions, customer buying patterns and long term trend analysis

This has saved considerable manpower and analysis time, Mr. Schrooten says, noting that “Amber’s head office can see live store sales data, reporting back useful benchmarking results and jumping on anything that is looking out of the ordinary. In the past we waited weeks to analyse these trends and stores spent hours doing end of day sales roll ups.”

Micronet uses a secure, centrally hosted environment to manage Amber’s network and server infrastructure, and centrally hosts software components and the company’s data warehouse.

This removes much of the IT cost and complexity, allowing franchise owners run their own business systems online without the need to install networks or maintain software in store.