Intact Software has helped to drive 15 per cent business growth for distributor of electrical engineering and fluid control products Scattergood and Johnson.
Scattergood and Johnson currently employs approximately 100 people across six branches. With a portfolio of more than 35,000 products the company is dependent on the quality of its processes and systems to ensure the smooth operation of their business.
Business Challenge
The operational demands of an increasingly wide-ranging stock catalogue and a growing distribution network were putting immense pressure on Scattergood and Johnson’s previous process management systems.
The company decided that to remain competitive, it was necessary to invest in a new pro-active system to drive forward future growth. For 20 years, the company had relied on a number of isolated process management systems, maintained and updated by an in-house team of software developers. This in-house approach had served the company well, but Scattergood and Johnson now wanted to replace it with a single, integrated business management software solution that would accommodate all aspects of financials, commercials, stock control, customer relationship management and business intelligence.
“We felt we needed something more to support our plans for future growth and diversification,” said Robert Hargreaves,CEO, Scattergood and Johnson. “We wanted a solution that would dramatically increase our productivity, efficiency, inter-departmental communication and processes; and which could be scaled-up without the need for continued investment in additional software. We spent extensive time researching a solution and looking in detail at a number of options that, we concluded, simply did not fulfil all of our requirements. In the end it was a customer recommendation that led to the Intact Software solution.”
Solution
“Our experience with other vendors had taught us that the actual software on offer was in some ways less important than the quality of the supplier, its people, and its track record in delivering solutions that worked,” continued Hargreaves. “So we set great store by a personal recommendation. We have, however, been overwhelmed by the extreme quality of a solution that is Intact iQ, and the effect it has had in the strengthening and growth of our processes and business”
Intact Software’s experts realised quickly that the ideal solution for Scattergood and Johnson was its next generation software platform for mid-sized businesses, Intact iQ, which was at that stage still in the pre-launch phase.
Intact iQ includes features and functionality normally only associated with enterprise level software. It is designed to work pro-actively with existing business processes, can be tailored to fulfil customer’s process needs and requirements and is developed to infinitely grow seamlessly alongside a company’s expansion, never needing to be replaced. This makes it ideal for a business with well-embedded internal processes and continued future growth potential.
Intact Software proposed the solution to Scattergood and Johnson who, after some initial reviews and testing, committed to implementing Intact iQ. Scattergood and Johnson allocated 24 months to fully develop and implement Intact iQ. It took Intact Software only 50% of this allocated time and Intact iQ was fully installed and operational in less than 13 months. In that time smooth transition of all processes was completed and all users fully trained and operational in Intact iQ. All of this was completed with minimum disruption to the company’s on-going business.
“It was a complete success,” said Hargreaves. “The speed and simplicity of implementation saved us a great deal of time and money. Intact iQ delivered on all its promises. The fact that it can be moulded to replicate existing processes means that employees were subjected to minimal stress and disruption. User interfaces were designed to resemble the ones they were comfortable with, with improved commands and processes. This not only meant that employees were happier, it also meant that they readily embraced the change and were able to remain efficient and productive throughout what is often a stressful and resource-draining time for a business.”
The evidence of this can be seen in the fact that Scattergood and Johnson maintained its 800 orders-a-day processing level throughout the pre-implementation, implementation and launch phases; with the business growing by 15% during the period. Intact iQ has played a critical part in the seamless integration and improved processes at Scattergood and Johnson and will continue to play a central role in the company’s ambitious growth and expansion plans moving forward.
