IIS help SAP Business One customer “take full advantage of the deployment”

When your business is expanding, you need tight control over data and processes. That was the case for Advanced Ventilation Ltd., the exclusive installer in the United Kingdom for domestic ventilation units manufactured by Nuaire. As Advanced Ventilation received more and more orders from Nuaire – and began pursuing new business opportunities – it recognized the limits of its existing business software.

“We were struggling to run our operations efficiently because we were relying on manual processes to manage our data,” explains Jamie McCann, managing director for Advanced Ventilation.

Advanced Ventilation was impressed by the success of other small and midsize companies using SAP Business One. It also liked the fact that the solution could be tailored to address its unique requirements. “We decided to implement SAP Business One 8.8 so we could take advantage of new innovations such as embedded analytics from the SAP Business Objects portfolio,” explains McCann.

For implementation, the company opted to work with Intelligent Information Systems (IIS) Ltd., a local SAP partner experienced with SAP Business One.
McCann appreciated the level of involvement of IIS employees. “By fostering relationships with people throughout our organisation to truly understand our needs, IIS helped us develop and implement the best solution. Moreover, it made us aware of functionality we didn’t know existed, enabling us to take full advantage of the deployment,” explains McCann.
In six months, the company went live with SAP Business One. Now the software is being used by employees in both company divisions.

Because SAP Crystal Reports® software is integrated into SAP Business One 8.8,
Advanced Ventilation employees can access rich graphic reports and forms.

“In the past we based many of our decisions on gut feeling. Because SAP Business One provides access to up-to-the-minute financial information, including cash flow, we can make more informed decisions about our business. Plus we have the control over our finances and planning needed to effectively deploy new companies,” says McCann.

“SAP Business One provides us quick and accurate insight into project status, which helps us stay on track and ultimately boosts customer satisfaction.”
Jamie McCann, Managing Director, Advanced Ventilation Ltd.

SAP AG Case Study

To find out more about Intelligent Information Systems, SAP Business One and read other customer success stories visit www.beabetterbusiness.co.uk or www.beabetterbusiness.ie

Torelli contemplates the benefits of SAP!

Torelli is a Boutique Bicycle Company manufacturing premium bicycles, frames, parts and accessories. They are the first company to have their SAP Business One implementation and corresponding business transformation tracked and documented by Information Week.

In a video blog posted this week, Torelli’s Product Design Manager Christian Feldhake describes how with the company’s new ERP implementation, a simple thing like offering a customer free shipping on a product would actually become, well … simple.

When asked by a colleague whether it was okay to extend a free shipping promotion on a phone order, Feldhake explains that currently, only CEO Todd Linscott can authorise the offer on those particular products in question, and the chief executive was off-site at the time, visiting customers. So for the time being, no discount, and consequently, no sale.

But that is all about to change, Feldhake says, thanks to the technology makeover Torelli is receiving this month, courtesy of SAP and Navigator Business Solutions.

"With the new software we're going to have from SAP, we'll be able to go in and put a limit on the amount of discounts, or set predetermined discounts in the software," Feldhake says, taking a break from packing up bike frames to ship out to Torelli's dealer network. As a result, “The salesperson, or the customer directly over the phone, will be able to answer those questions without having to go to higher management.”

That kind of empowerment means that everyone at this small company — and even the customers themselves — will have the information at their fingertips to close deals, and thereby help Torelli meet its goals for success.

Source: Information Week

Follow a SAP Business One implementation and business transformation

A Boutique Bicycle Company, Torelli Bicycle, will be the first company to have their SAP Business One implementation and business transformation tracked and documented in the first of a series by Information Week.

The entire process – from planning and business process mapping, to go-live, to the company’s first experiences using its new software – is being documented by InformationWeek over the next few weeks as part of its "SMB Location Makeover" series, co-sponsored by SAP AG (NYSE: SAP). This implementation is being supported by SAP channel partner Navigator Business Solutions.

InformationWeek will follow the transformation at Torelli step by step via weekly updates, blogs, videos, interviews and feature stories. To help streamline business processes, pave the way for future growth, and help focus more on its core business and customers, the bike-maker is implementing the SAP® Business One application.

Torelli Bicycle, now entering its 30th year in business, runs a frame-building operation, in which it designs and builds custom road bikes and frames for professional racers and biking enthusiasts, as well as a parts and accessory business. The small shop of four full-time employees has experienced consistent growth, but its current computing systems and business processes were not keeping pace. The solution will help Torelli integrate its entire business across financials, sales, customer relationships, inventory and operations.

The InformationWeek documentation of Torelli Bicycle’s implementation is the first in a real-time, multimedia series that will showcase real-world technology deployments of enterprise resource planning (ERP) offerings to small and midsize businesses (SMBs). To follow in Torelli’s tracks as it plans, implements and runs SAP Business One, visit InformationWeek SMB On Location Makeover.

Source: SAP AG

Motivate your staff with SAP B1! Another SME to realise the benefits.

Small toy business Jellycat has implemented an SAP application to integrate its business functions.

SAP's SME-specific Business One package will automate the company's processes and provide financial reporting.

Danny Olive, finance director at Jellycat, said, "We needed a comprehensive, integrated and scalable solution to help us continue our business success."

This follows a push by SAP to expand its offering into the SME market. Jim Hageman Snabe, co-chief executive officer of the firm, said the company had made recent inroads into the sector.

He said: "Reaching more than 100,000 customers is a testament to the inroads we have made in expanding our volume business and our success in the SME segment."

SAP's current ERP and business software for small to medium businesses includes:

Business One
BusinessByDesign
Business All-in-One
BusinessObjects
NetWeaver
Crystal Reports®
Xcelsius®

Each of the SAP SME products has been developed to encourage better management of business processes, providing business owners and managers with insight and information into revenue draining processes and the solutions to streamline them. In a similar way to its large scale ERP products, SAP's SME products helps business owners and managers drive efficiency throughout their entire organisation.

Providing such training to employees also helps them visualise the link between their roles and the success of the business, clarifying the communication channels which SAP initiates. Through SAP, SME owners and managers can empower their employees to contribute to the future success of the organisation.

Sources: Ezine Articles and Computer Weekly