Clarkes of Walsham
Before Using Intact
Proud of the valued service they provide both their trade and counter customers alike, Clarkes, found themselves compelled to upgrade their ageing software when support for their system was ending. Its significant limitations where also hampering everything they tried to do and future plans of becoming paperless weren’t accommodated.
With such an investment of time and money, the team at Clarkes conducted a vast search for their perfect-fit ERP software, intent on finding a solution that would match their bespoke set of processes and ways of doing things.
Pain points
- Outdated Software: Clarkes of Walsham faced the challenge of using an outdated software system, which was no longer supported and had significant limitations.
- Inflexibility of Previous System: The previous software lacked the flexibility to accommodate Clarkes' bespoke processes.
- Manual Processes and Limited Visibility: The reliance on manual processes, such as using Excel for production orders and lacking visibility into certain aspects of their business.
- Inability to Integrate E-commerce: The old system was unable to integrate with an e-commerce platform.
After Intact iQ
For Clarkes, selecting Intact iQ meant not having to change everything to suit the new software. It had the flexibility to cater for most of their process and how they did them, but in a modern way.
According to Tom Skevington, Company Accountant,
“We couldn’t see this as an option with other software packages.”
Naturally, upgrading from a 22-year-old system was a huge undertaking for all involved but even in this transitional stage of going live, staff have noticed how quickly they can do their jobs. And for the business, it means a better way of doing things.
Tom notes that,
“Every feature was an upgrade of what we had previously. There isn’t a single process that hasn’t been positively impacted by Intact iQ. And as a result, we have become more efficient and productive, and we’ve reduced costs significantly”.
As the company’s system administrator Tom added,
‘It’s so easy to change things, like add in a column. And even by knowing this simple process, the rest of the system works in a similar manner, including the form designer. It’s great you don’t need any coding and we know that if we need things done that we can’t do, a consultant can help us without requiring developer input”.
On their implementation, Tom notes,
“From the outset, all the way through and even after our go-live, our implementation was nothing short of exceptional. Everything went smoothly, and I think that was largely due to the good relationship we built up with our consultant and project managers. I can’t speak highly enough of our consultant”.
Looking to the future
Tom and his team will look to implement the mobile warehouse solution, and in particular mobile yard ordering, to help them better serve their customers. This module will, in time, enable them to keep paper processes as limited as possible.
They will also go live with their integrated ecommerce site, something they were unable to achieve on their old system; saving a lot of admin time looking at what’s been sold on the website.
With little visibility to the production side of their business, the Intact works ordering processing module will, for the first time, let everyone see what the production side sees and reduce the number of manual processes they do in Excel.
To conclude
Clarke’s Intact iQ consultant, Simon McCarthy, adds,
“From early on, Clarke’s enthusiasm for Intact iQ was clear to see and working with their project’s team, Tom and Nicola, was an absolute pleasure. They worked tirelessly with me to push Intact iQ to its full potential and completely absorbed themselves in the project. As a consultant, it is very rewarding to work with such an engaged team and to see the benefits iQ provides a business. I wish them every success in the future with Intact iQ as the driving force”.
Updated December 2022
Since receiving this customer testimonial, Clarkes of Walsham continued to work closely with our in-house team for 9 months after their system went live. This ‘optimisation phase’ has played a crucial role in helping the company fully leverage their Intact iQ system.
Tom Skevington of Clarkes of Walsham talks here about the impact the optimisation phase has had on their business.
“We had a very successful implementation and go-live period; the cooperation with our consultant was excellent throughout. We decided to move to the optimisation phase and never looked back. The support remained at the highest level from pre go-live to post go-live, thanks to the optimisation team. This proved vital in giving our employees the support and confidence to get the best out of Intact iQ.”
Further information
At Intact, our unique post go-live optimisation phase focuses on ensuring a smooth transition and successful adoption of your Intact iQ software. Delivered over 6-, 9-, or 12-months, a dedicated team provide ongoing support and guidance to you and your team to empower you to maximise the full potential of your new system.
Through this process, your team will become more confident, comfortable, and self-sufficient in using Intact iQ, significantly improving your ERP ROI lead time. If you’d like to find out more about this crucial phase in the success of your ERP implementation, click here.
Key benefits
- Improved Efficiency and Productivity: With Intact iQ, Clarkes experienced significant improvements in efficiency and productivity across their operations. Staff noticed a marked increase in the speed of completing tasks, leading to overall time savings.
- Flexibility and Customisation: Intact iQ provided the flexibility and customisation capabilities that allowed Clarkes to tailor the software to their specific processes and requirements, rather than having to conform to rigid system constraints.
- Streamlined Operations: The implementation of Intact iQ streamlined various processes, such as order processing and warehouse management, reducing manual efforts and improving accuracy.
- Enhanced Support and Collaboration: Clarkes received exceptional support from their consultant and project managers throughout the implementation and optimisation phases.