IDS

Responsive and flexible
IDS offer national coverage via 9 regional branches, with support offered by a central distribution centre in Nuneaton. The IDS customer base covers a wide variety of sectors including kitchen and furniture manufacturing, shopfitters, joiners, builders, flooring retailers and kitchen studios.

The constantly evolving product portfolio is sourced from leading global suppliers and is driven largely by the latest market trends.

The majority of trade orders come in by phone. Operators are allowed to negotiate price within the accepted margins set on the system. John Sheffield, IT Support Manager at IDS, commented ‘Maginus gives sales staff visibility of stock across branches, orders coming in and customer history. Access to data is key to providing a flexible and responsive service to our customers.’

Rapidly changing business requirements
Operating in a fast moving industry means that the requirements of the business change quickly. John Sheffield says ‘the Maginus product has proved very flexible. The Staff at Maginus can usually help us manage our requirements within the standard product. This flexibility means we can react to the requirements of the business very quickly.’

Management control
IDS use the alerts built into Maginus to control the business. This ensures relevant personnel across all the departments are warned of situations outside the expected routine. Because all the relevant information is available staff can immediately take appropriate action.

Supply Chain Logistics
Customer service is very important and IDS offer 24-48 hour delivery on the majority of stock items. To achieve this despatch notes are printed every hour for deliveries due next day. Orders are picked per customer and then sorted into delivery route.

Getting goods out of the door is only part of the equation. It is equally important to pick quickly and accurately.

The warehouses now use pick locations, which has improved stock control and warehouse organisation. In certain circumstances the storage issues with some products had proved difficult with their previous system but Maginus is able to control pick locations with ease. Sam Mycock, IT HelpDesk Manager comments, ‘Maginus gives us far greater stock visibility across the business and it has contributed towards a reduction in stock days on many of our product lines.’

To complete the cycle, customers sign despatch notes on delivery. The despatch notes are scanned and attached to the relevant order in Maginus. A copy of the signed despatch note can be emailed to the customer as proof of delivery.

Data manipulation made easy
Accurate data and the ability to make changes to the system are an important factor in system efficiency and accuracy. IDS have taken the Maginus dataload tool, which allows data to be taken from the Oracle database, manipulated and easily reloaded. IDS have used this tool to standardise data, such as addresses, brought over from their old system. It was also used to change pick locations during the warehouse reorganisation. This has reduced errors, reduced the time taken and therefore reduced cost. As John Sheffield commented ‘The dataload tool is invaluable. It has allowed us to do things we would never have considered in the past’.

Smooth incorporation of new company
In mid 2003, IDS acquired the business of Boards Leeds Ltd, trading as BCL. John Sheffield and his team were able to set up the new warehouses and users themselves, with relatively little help from Maginus staff. Sam Mycock, Help Desk Manager at IDS says ‘the acquisition went really smoothly and Maginus staff helped considerably during the planning process. Maginus gave us the ability to transfer BCL data immediately to ensure a seamless transfer of operation.’

Management Information
IDS utilise sophisticated management information tools. Cognos Powerplay gives visibility to data across the system. Several Powerplay cubes are updated each night and distributed to each IDS depot, providing each individual branch a management reporting facility. In the future it is planned that branches will have access to this information over the internet.

Organisation, key to a successful relationship
IDS have found that good organisational practice is key to getting the most out of the system and the relationship with Maginus. Trainers move between the branches ensuring best practice is maintained throughout the company. They also feed back requirements from the branches to HO. Each branch also has a ‘super user’ and all requirements, problems and new features are facilitated through them. John Sheffield commented ‘One of the keys to the success of the system is the structure we have for communication with Maginus and within the business, which keeps everything under control.’

Cost Reductions
Maginus has increased efficiencies and reduced costs throughout the business. But as John Sheffield concluded ‘the major cost saving with Maginus is achieved because it is a package solution. When we have a new business requirement it can usually be handled in Maginus and doesn’t cost us anything!’