Intact

Jones Business Systems

 

 

"We have changed the way we communicate to our lead suppliers, analyse customer transactions, structure telesales, generate reports, deal with credit control and manage our accounts.  All this is done efficiently and effectively in one easy to use package" - Sean Jones, Jones Business Systems.

Background

Jones Business Systems is a leading supplier of office supplies and equipment. Since their inception in 1983, by Sean Jones Senior, they have grown from strength to strength. They have progressed from selling cash registers, to also selling office supplies, office equipment, school & art supplies, POS and maintenance contracts serving retail and business to business customers. They now have 3 branches in Carlow (headquarters), Kilkenny and Waterford employing 33 staff.

The Challenges

Jones Business Systems decided to change their business software when their existing system, Vision, no longer met the needs of their company and changing times.  With inadequate customer history, Jones Business Systems struggled to analysis customer sales which affected their ability to up-sell. They were unable to tailor any reports to give them useful information. The system lacked any real-time sales analysis information and order status reports. With a significant increase in their support costs, Jones Business Systems decided to seek out a more suitable software solution for their growing business.

 

The Solution

The company investigated two packages specifically designed for the office supplies industry. Intact Software stood out with its proven track record, exceptional reporting abilities and capacity of the software to be tailored to suit their business requirements. 

By working closely with the management and staff of Jones Business Systems, Intact Software’s consultants and development team successfully satisfied all their business requirements. 

The Benefits

Overall, the Intact system has given Jones Business Systems the much needed insight into past, present and future business to help them make better decisions, faster.

According to Michael Condon, Managing Director of Jones Business Systems, some of the main benefits include;

• A more efficient and effective way to communicate with their lead suppliers.
• A very flexible and user friendly reporting structure.
• Customer’s sales/transaction history at a click.
• A structured telesales module.
• Exceptional data drill functionality.
• Increased sales and marketing capabilities using the CRM.
• Easy to use credit control features.
• The time saved using automated management  accounts.

 

See their full list of benefits below.

 

The Future

“So far, Intact has been a success with minor issues resolved.  The most exciting aspect of this project is the potential of the system we haven’t tapped into yet.  We expect greater performance enhancements and efficiencies to come.  We all love how easy and intuitive the system is.”  Michael Condon.

 

When asked how Intact has benefited their business since it's installation, Sean Jones, listed the following benefits?

 

• OpXML:  "This module allows us communicate with our lead suppliers. Purchase orders are sent electronically and stock is automatically confirmed and booked in. Invoices and credit notes match the goods in and are posted directly to the suppliers account. The module also stores our product catalogues.  All items are linked between suppliers and our purchasing system automatically flags where a cheaper version of a product is available if the order was placed with a different wholesaler".
• Customer Analysis:  "Intact allows our staff to analyse any customer’s sales / transaction history at a click. It easily displays previous purchases of a product or the purchase history of a customer which allows staff to pick items from the list as the new order. This means that when a customer calls in and says ‘do you know the paper I get?’, the staff have that detail in an instant in front of them with the last quantity ordered, the price paid and date last ordered".
• Ease of Use:  "Staff found the system easy to use and were up and running very quickly.  They found the process faster and simpler especially the split pack unit sales".
• Multi Branch Location:  "JBS run 3 branches in Carlow, Kilkenny and Waterford. Intact allows us to run each branch independently with our accounts department having control over all the activities in the group centrally.  Each of our branches can now check available stock in any other location or at the wholesalers at a single mouse click.  This prevents the over ordering of goods and reduce stock redundancy.  We can control our stock holding using the automatic purchase ordering system which orders just the quantity we need and transmits that order electronically to our wholesaler for just-in-time delivery that night". 
• Data drill:  "The data drill finally allows us to identify customers whose purchasing has slipped or customers who purchased a product type or class. For example, we use the data drill to identify people who have purchased HP lasers and can cross check it against people buying Toner cartridges".
• Telesales: "The telesales module is exactly what our telesales division needed to allow structured calling to customers on a periodic basis. Each customer is now programmed with the details of who is to call them how often and what time. The user simply logs in and is presented with a list of calls that must be made today. Management can clearly see in the reporting the number of calls made and the results of each call".
• CRM: "The CRM allows us to maintain details of all contacts in each company we deal with. Statement orders and quotes can be emailed directly to purchasing departments while invoices and statements can be automatically directed to accounts etc. The CRM also gives management a clear view of all contact with our customers and the actions taken at each contact".
• Credit Control Manager:  "Our credit control department are using the credit control facility to monitor cheques promised and to generate outstanding accounts due letters as required. This is an outsourced service and they find Intact’s credit module simpler and easier to use than any other system their clients have installed. Because the activity is live on Intact we can see at a glance the number of calls made and the results of those calls live in each clients file".
• E-commerce:  "We intend to use the integrated ecommerce module to allow our customers to place orders on line, check balances and reprint invoices. The sales orders will instantly appear in the live intact system and changes to the stock pricing and details are instantly visible on the web site".
• Electronic Banking:  "JBS collects a number of accounts by direct debit. Intact simplified the process by automatically calculating the balances due and creating the correct file type for our bank".
• Task Manager:  "Intact’s built in task manager allows the users to set reminders for themselves and others that are automatically displayed when the user logs in. The actions taken are managed and recorded so all staff can see when a problem has been dealt with or a quote sent etc".
• Management Accounts:  "Our management accounts are automatically created at month end saving several days of spreadsheet and manual work. Profit and loss for each department in the business is automatically calculated and displayed; Payroll is imported directly from our payroll reports saving ½ day per week in preparing and entering journals to the nominal ledger".
• Reporting:  "Intact allows us to generate relevant sales and order status reports in real time. The reporting structure is flexible and user friendly enough for us to create and run reports on any topic at any time".
• End of month:  "Our statements were faxed or emailed at a mouse click to our customers reducing our admin overheads and delivering statements exactly at end of month to our clients".
• Auditors:  "Our auditors are happier because unlike our previous system intact provides them with a complete debtors /creditors control backed up by relevant transaction reports and VAT analysis. Intact also allows us to post end of year corrections when they are delivered by the auditors and close off the previous year at a time to suite ourselves".
• Fixed Asset Register:  "The fixed asset register allows the accounts department to track all assets in the company for the remaining lease time and relevant depreciation. It also saves time each month by automatically posting the correct depreciation to the nominal ledger".

 

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