CASTOR FIRM PUTS WHEELS IN MOTION TO GO GLOBAL

With 40 years under his belt supplying 2,600 product lines to everyone from hospitals and caterers to steel fabricators and energy companies, there isn’t a lot Frank Fitzpatrick doesn’t know about castors, industrial wheels and adjustable feet.

Now thanks to Business Link’s support, Leicester’s Ross Handling can get its plans for foreign trading off the ground by securing funding which has helped it buy more efficient systems to cope with the increase in business it expects from selling abroad via the web.

It’s Frank’s daughter Louise Horne who is helping the company mastermind its new direction. She explained: “We’ve grown very steadily in the past resisting the temptation to expand too quickly, but because of our knowledge of this very niche industry and the market potential, now is a good time to get the right infrastructure in place.”

Roll out
Before upgrading its systems though, there’s no way the company could have even contemplated the move with its old-fashioned, largely paper-based processes.

“The grant we accessed through Business Link, has acted as a huge incentive to kick start our three-stage development plan. The next step is to convert our web presence into an e-commerce site and then get it translated and hosted internationally,” said Louise.

“We were living in the Dark Ages with our internal processes. If a customer rang up to place an order, for example, we’d have to run into the warehouse and ask if a particular product was in stock – hardly the model of efficiency. We weren’t very green either, relying heavily on printed records and invoicing.”

Ross Handling needed to spend £20,000 on state-of-the art software to modernise its operation and accommodate the potential increase in orders expected, as well as upgrading its computers and server.

Louise added: “I ran into a Business Link Adviser at an event I was attending. She visited us and carried out a Business Health Check. The Business Link Health Check gave me an excellent overview of my business and showed me the new directions that I could take the company in and gave me the confidence to go through with my future plans.”

“We were told that we would be eligible to apply for funding that secured us £7,500 towards our total outlay. Without this aid, we would have just gone for a slight upgrade rather than a system with the capacity to accommodate long-term growth.”

Instant payback
After three painstaking months of inputting all its data onto the new system, including long days and weekend working, it went live on 1 April 2009 and already the investment is reaping visible paybacks.

Louise said: “I didn’t see much of my children for a while – loading on the information was a mammoth task as none of the product and price details were computerised. We also had to key in details of all of our 16,000 customers.

“But already we’re seeing massive savings. At month end, for example, we’re saving at least two days on the time previously taken to generate statements and invoices as this is now fully automated and many customers now receive these electronically.”

Louise says that the new system has also improved her team’s professionalism on the phone as they now have all the stock information available at the press of a button. “I don’t think the software suppliers we used could believe their eyes when they saw the antiquated systems we were working with!

“The grant also helped pay for training for our staff who were desperate to master the new systems and make their lives easier.

Ross Handling’s Business Link Adviser also referred the company to the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) for pointers on how they could streamline their shop floor set up.

“The business has moved three times in the past to buy it more room, so we’re always tight for space. The MAS practitioner who looked at the layout of our storage and distribution areas was really clued up – very quick to identify some easy, no costs ways of saving us square footage. Sometimes you just need a fresh pair of objective eyes.”

All systems go
Ross is already a well-established, nationwide name in its field, so adding
e-commerce functionality to its website will also help the company process orders more quickly and provide the right platform to market itself on an international stage.

“Our Business Link Adviser has also told us about funding we might be able to tap into to make the necessary changes to our website, so the idea is to have this in place within the year,” said Louise.

“We’ll then look at getting the website translated into several key languages before arranging international web hosting.

“Our adviser also pointed us in the direction of UKTI and I’ve already attended a few of their courses and got a bundle of information about the ins and outs of exporting abroad, so we’re fully briefed when we’re ready to start worldwide trading.

UKTI provides business opportunities, expert trade advice and support to UK-based companies wishing to grow their business overseas.

“It just goes to show that there’s a whole raft of support out there for a small, family company likes ours – it’s was just that we didn’t know about it,” added Louise.

Louise Horne’s top tips for overhauling your IT systems:

• Don’t under estimate the time commitment you’ll need to set aside and thoroughly research the software options available – shopping around gave us enough insight and knowledge to end up with a package fully customised to our individual needs
• Make Business Link your first port of call (Tel 0845 058 6644)  – their Business Link Advisers provide access to real solutions on all aspects of running a business, much of which is free – from identifying grants currently available to referring you to specialist advice for your industry sector
• Sell the benefits of the new system to your staff as having them on board from the outset will make implementation a lot easier

• Make sure the software provider is able to offer you full software and hardware support. You will really need it in the first few weeks after going live

• Once the new system is live, think about other ways it can help the business and whether it’s achieving its original objective

Email: sales@rosshandling.co.uk
Website: www.rosshandling.co.uk

For further information about this story, please contact:
David Polkey  MIED  MCIPR
PR and Communications Manager
Business Link East Midlands
email: david.polkey@businesslinkem.co.uk ; telephone: 01332 826 359

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