For our customers and prospects alike we promote and support a ‘Bespoke as standard’ ethos. This is our guarantee that all modifications to the software are included into the core product ‘as standard’.

How do we do this?

This is managed by having a single set of source code, by designing solutions as generic as possible and by switching features on by means of control flags.

The ‘Bespoke as standard’ commitment enables easy upgrades to the latest version of your Lakeview (LV or LM) software and to take advantage of new features as they are released.

To find out more

Call us on 0208 303 3329 or email info@lakeview.co.uk

Or visit: www.lakeview.co.uk

Author: Angela Kennedy, Marketing, Lakeview

Technorati Tags: lakeview erp

We believe our business proposition is absolutely unique amongst suppliers of ERP software.

We are one of a few independent software authors directly supplying ERP systems to UK based SME businesses.

Lakeview has been providing business software solutions to UK SME’s for over 25 years, and understands the needs of both customers and the demands of trading from within the UK.

Our passion is to deliver excellent business software with an outstanding level of service. When customers contact us with a ‘how do I do this?’ or ‘what am I doing wrong?’ question, we don’t turn them away, or suggest spending on training or consulting. We take the time to find a solution and our customers constantly comment favourably on our service and often recommend us to others.

Introducing LV: Lakeview’s latest ERP product

Built using the latest, proven Microsoft technologies LV is proving to be the feature rich business software solution that Lakeview is renowned for.

LV ERP can be deployed

• On premise
• In The Cloud
• Or on any mobile device or tablet

LV also boasts

1. An App that allows you to create and update transactions as well as enquire across the system.
2. A full set of API’s for business and database interfaces enabling web shops and third party products to be easily integrated in real time.

In summary

Lakeview provide end-to-end software solutions to UK SME’s: Delivering solutions that are second to none in terms of features, support and technology and offered with an unwavering level of service.

Our largest source of customer acquisition comes from existing customer recommendations, together with previous Lakeview users moving company and introducing us. This speaks volumes…

Visit and download

More about LV: www.lakeview.co.uk/lv

Download LV to your mobile: iTunes App Store

LV on YouTube: http://youtu.be/daVj_SLYdtM

To find out more

Call us on 0208 303 3329 or email info@lakeview.co.uk

Author: Mark Greatrex, CEO, Lakeview

Technorati Tags: ERP on your mobile, LV ERP, mobile ERP

You maybe aware that Sage has announced termination of support for Sage Line 100 on September 30th 2012. This means no further development of the product beyond that date, no new releases and no changes for any taxation or legal requirements. This effectively renders the product unusable the next time there is a legal or fiscal change.

We have heard instances of Sage resellers not informing their customers and other resellers claiming they can support and develop Line 100 past this date (they can’t.)

Here at Lakeview our approach to product life cycles is very different to Sage and just about every other ERP author. Put simply we do not end life products and we do not force customers into buying an upgrade. Line 200 is sold as a natural evolution from Line 100 but in fact is a new piece of software. This is the opportunity for you to consider alternates.

Our Lakeview LM product has been providing customer with accounting and ERP functionality for over 25 years (longer than Line 100 has been in existence!) LM is still supported and developed with many of our customers still happily running their business very effectively on LM.

Two years ago we launched our LV product range which offers the rich functionality within LM plus all the latest Microsoft, Internet, Apple and mobile technologies. An increasing number of LM customers have taken the smooth upgrade path to LV based on their own decision and business benefits. Equally many Sage customers have migrated to Lakeview as the cost and disruption of moving to us is comparable or indeed less than moving to Line 200 but with much more benefits.

Lakeview LV also offers a fully functional mobile version that can work on any smart phone, tablet, iPad, iPhone, netbook, in fact any device that can connect to the Internet! This enables remote sales teams, executives and remote employees to access the system anytime anywhere.

As a UK author we also offer a completely unique proposition known as ‘Bespoke As Standard’. This means that we will modify the software to meet any needs that are specific to your business and we will guarantee that it will be included in the standard product. This enables a very smooth and painless upgrade to future releases – to our knowledge; nobody else in the UK offers this!

To find out more

Please email us on info@lakeview.co.uk or call us on 0845 388 3329.

Alternatively

Visit our website, download our LV App from iTunes or our LV brochure here.

Author: Mark Greatrex, CEO of Lakeview Computers Ltd

Technorati Tags: alternative to sage, good alternative to sage, sage erp, sage line 100, sage line 100 end, sage replacement

OVERVIEW

Established in 1979, Esher-based baked products manufacturer The Cookie Man supplies supermarkets such as Co-op, Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrison and Waitrose. It‟s a highly competitive industry, driven by a continual need to improve productivity, cut costs, and reduce wastage.

In late 2010, The Cookie Man responded by launching an initiative to drive manufacturing efficiency, greater visibility, control and lean processes on the manufacturing shop floor. To achieve this, the company decided that it would augment its Lakeview ERP system—with which it was otherwise delighted—with a specialist „add on‟ package focused upon providing detailed management and visibility for factory-centric operations.

“As an ERP system, Lakeview did everything we wanted,” says The Cookie Man‟s general manager Jayson Scheib. “But we needed to monitor manufacturing operations at a more granular level of detail in order to drive manufacturing performance higher.”

Download the full story about Cookie Man’s Manufacturing success working in partnership with Lakeview ERP and Mestec

CHALLENGE

And to try to get the desired level of visibility, the business had become reliant on a number of spreadsheets and paper-based systems, he explains. By 2010, Cookie Man had outgrown these dated methods which were onerous to manage, not to mention the frequent re-keying of data.

“We would spend hours entering data into paper forms, and then copying the information into the ERP system, checking records and trying to resolve conflicts and errors,” says Charles McIntosh, The Cookie Man‟s supply chain manager.

The business needed visibility of real-time shop-floor data to support lean activities to continue to drive cost out of the manufacturing process.

To read this case study in full

Visit: www.mestec.net/Download/TheCookieManCaseStudy.pdf

About Mestec’s Smart Box solution

A touch screen and barcode based factory focused solution, Mestec’s Manufacturing Smart Box system is designed to track, trace and report on key aspects of the entire production process … from goods receipt to despatch.

What’s more, the Mestec Manufacturing Smart Box has been designed from the ground up to complement existing ERP systems, and not to replace ERP functionality.

The Manufacturing Smart Box interface is a simple touch screen configured for a specific set of factory activities. Its simplicity means that minimal training is needed. Typically, the Mestec Manufacturing Smart Box system is specified, chosen and implemented by manufacturing management, and not the IT department.

The Manufacturing Smart Box is flexible and can be rapidly deployed into even complex and changing environments. This makes it ideal as an ERP companion, capturing key production information in real time whilst seamlessly interfacing to the corresponding company information systems.

With a typical payback of two months to one year, Mestec’s Manufacturing Smart Box systems are affordably-priced, and available on either a low-cost monthly subscription, or through one-time perpetual licences. And a typical initial improvement project delivers results in days or weeks, not months or years.

Visit: Mestec

Case study written by: Mestec

Technorati Tags: barcode solution, cookie man, manufacturing erp, manufacturing smart box system, mestec, smart box

“You want me to do what? What do I know about IT?”

Does this sound familiar to you?

In today’s busy SME environment when keeping costs and overheads to minimum jobs such as managing IT fall upon those who certainly are not experts when it comes to hardware or networks let alone the time in the day for such a large burden of responsibility.

Managing your IT needs to be built on the solid foundation of these four pillars:

• Delivering your current IT needs to ensure that it enables the business.
• Understanding and budgeting for your future needs, e.g. Mobile solutions, Cloud computing.
• Managing the IT resource whether they are internal or external.
• Risk management (security, compliance, business continuity)

Lakeview offers a full turnkey solution not only do we author, deliver and support our own ERP software but we also have our own dedicated team of engineers to build servers and desktop machines to requirement and fully manage the security and stable operation of your network.

So if the above responsibility falls to you in your role then why not pass that burden to Lakeview as a single source of supply and support for all your IT and business software needs. We have many MD’s and FD’s that will testify to the benefit and outstanding service of having Lakeview as your trusted IT partner.

Find out more

For more information regarding our hardware and network service contact us at info@lakeview.co.uk or visit: www.lakeview.co.uk

Technorati Tags: business continuity, compliance, erp, FD, Financial director, hardware, IT directors, IT software, mobile ERP, risk management, security

As software providers to the manufacturing industry this 60 minute BBC documentary shows just how Britain values high end manufacturing whilst encouraging China to manufacture goods in higher quantities.

Watch this documentary

Visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/Made_in_Britain_Episode_1

The better we get at manufacturing, the fewer people we need to do it, and therefore the more LEAN the business model. Angela Kennedy, Lakeview

Lakeview supports Britain with sector specific manufacturing software solutions

Brompton Bicycle is Britain’s biggest bike manufacturers, turning out 30,000 bikes a year and uses Lakeview sector specific software.

About this documentary

Who says we don’t make anything anymore?

In the first of a three-part series on how Britain pays its way in the world, Evan Davis busts the myths that we were wrong to let so much of our manufacturing go abroad, and that we have become a nation of shopkeepers, bankers and estate agents.

As Evan Davis flies in the world’s most revolutionary jet and drives one of the world’s fastest supercars, he discovers Britain still makes a lot it can be proud of. But post crash, he asks is it enough to meet the country’s bills.

Source: BBC iPlayer, Made In Britain

Related articles

Download: Your free guide to LEAN manufacturing

Lakeview: Business software for UK manufacturers

Manufacturing: Case studies that are Made In Britain

Technorati Tags: bromptons, ford, jaguar, Made in britain, manufacturing software, mcclaren, nissan

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/econo…

British manufacturing growth held at a record level in February and factory costs stayed near January’s survey high, suggesting price pressures are continuing to build.

The Markit/CIPS headline manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) stood at 61.5 in February, unchanged from a downwardly revised 61.5 in January. That was the highest since the survey began in January 1992 and above the consensus forecast of 61.

Signs of robust manufacturing growth and surging manufacturing costs could add to calls for the Bank of England to raise interest rates sooner rather than later to curb inflationary pressures.

Consumer price inflation is running at double the central bank’s 2pc target and is set to rise further, while interest rates have been at a record low of 0.5 percent since March 2009.

“Input cost and output price inflationary pressures remain elevated, which may raise a further eyebrow amongst the members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee,” said Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit.

The PMI’s input price sub-index’s reading of 83.7 was close to January’s revised survey high of 84.1 and was led by rising prices for raw materials such as cotton, energy and metals.

Source: The Telegraph

Technorati Tags: growth in manufacturing

Muda is the Japanese word for waste and the philosophy behind the Toyota Production System that in turn lead to the concepts of lean manufacturing, lean enterprise and the more mathematical six sigma.

The underlying principles can, and have been, extended well beyond production into all business areas from supply chain, logistics, procurement and even administration and systems. (such as ERP, document management and workflow.)

Click here to download your free advisory guide on Lean Business to understand a little more of these principles.

This guide explores how SME manufacturers can start to reap the benefits of modern methodologies such as lean manufacturing, TPS and Six Sigma. It examines the impact of ‘waste’ in manufacturing processes, and discusses the role of integrated business software in eliminating them.

Author: Mark Greatrex, CEO, Lakeview

Technorati Tags: advisory guide, lean business model, manufacturing

Wiltshire-based Doves Farm Foods is a specialist supplier of organic, fair trade and gluten-free flour and foods to both the retail and wholesale markets. For more than 20 years the company had relied on a basic book-keeping package, which had proved increasingly inadequate in meeting the needs of a successful, growing business.

Since installing a Lakeview system in 2004, Doves Farm Foods has doubled its turnover, without the need to increase its finance team. At the same time, the Lakeview solution’s manufacturing functionality has enabled the company to fully comply with the latest EU food regulations.

Challenge

“We recognised the need for a modern, integrated management information system which combined a comprehensive accounting package with full stock traceability,” says director of finance, Malcolm Squires. “At the same time, it needed to be able to scale with the growth aspirations of the business.”

Having looked at several options – and visited two existing Lakeview food industry customers – Doves Farm Foods found that Lakeview was the only provider who could satisfactorily meet both requirements.

“As a supplier of food ingredients and finished products, full stock traceability – from receipt of each ingredient, through batch manufacture to final distribution to the end-customer – was especially important,” he confirms.

Solution

The decision to go with Lakeview in mid-2004 proved especially timely as, within six months of installation, full traceability became obligatory under new EU legislation.

With implementation taking place at the end of the company’s financial year, Doves Farm Foods switched over to Lakeview without parallel running with the existing system.

“However, we did some testing off-line as the annual accounts were being completed and the Lakeview system proved flawless in delivering accurate financial results.”

Other departments have also benefited from Lakeview’s expanded reporting functionality. The ability to analyse sales and profitability by individual customer, product and product group has improved marketing and sales planning and pricing strategies. And, with the ability to access and manipulate data over any specified period, this has automated the process of analysing and reporting government returns on a calendar year basis, saving time and improving accuracy.

Results
In meeting the very specific accounting requirements of the food supply industry, Lakeview’s flexible pricing approach has delivered three further important benefits.

First, Doves Farm Foods’ previous accounting system required discounts to be set up on the system on a product-by-product basis: with Lakeview, by contrast, common discounts can be input by product group. “This was less problematic for large retailers carrying a restricted range,” says Squires, “but Lakeview saves us considerable inputting time in the case of those wholesale customers who take 100 or more of our products.”

Similarly, before implementing Lakeview, agreed pricing could only be set up as ‘list price less discount’, which had become increasingly cumbersome as Dove Farm Foods had moved to a system of net pricing with three quarters of its customers. Lakeview’s ability to price in both formats not only saves time but always presents accounting information in a customer-friendly format.

And, with a support team providing ‘prompt and highly responsive service’, Squires believes that, “Lakeview provides us with a flexible and scalable accounting and manufacturing support tool ideally geared to the needs of our business.”

Visit: Doves Farm Foods

Author: Angela Kennedy, Marketing, Lakeview Computers Ltd

Technorati Tags: Doves Farm Foods, food distributor, Food manufacturer, organic food specialist

Radley manufactures and imports high quality handbags, luggage and other leather goods for the UK wholesale and retail markets and has established strong brand awareness as a young, innovative and design-led manufacturer.

Six years ago it acquired an automated sales and purchase order processing and accounting solution from Lakeview, “which has proved successful as a ‘reliable engine room of the business’ ever since,” says IT director, Jack Paddison, who joined Radley in September 2006.

Challenge

The joint goal of Paddison and the new Lakeview post-MBO management team was for Lakeview to provide a level of service support to match the market-leading quality of the company’s product delivery.

“This would require the right customer-focused structure and processes and a recognition by all staff as to the part they must play in delivering a positive customer experience, every time,” says business development director, Chris Hems.

Paddison is equally pragmatic: “In achieving the service quality we wanted, we understood that effective communication had to be a two-way process.”

The significant improvements we have achieved have been down to one thing – communication

Solution

An initial series of face-to-face meetings was undertaken to establish the framework for an improved working relationship, with agreement that the key to success lay in improving customer access to relevant Lakeview specialists throughout the business.

The result of a more open dialogue has been to ensure that technical problems are dealt with swiftly and the adoption of a more proactive stance in looking at software developments to support Radley’s evolving and rapidly growing business.

An example of how this has developed can be seen in the area of management reporting and the ability to link to other Radley systems. As with any software developer, Lakeview continues to look at how to improve its software offering in response to the evolving requirements of its customers’ markets and, in particular, work is underway in developing increased functionality in these areas.

In the meantime however, Lakeview has been able to put the company in touch with a specialist software partner – together with reference customers – and then link the third-party solution to the existing Lakeview infrastructure, in order to provide a more immediate response to Radley’s specific reporting requirements.

At the same time, Paddison has found the Lakeview User Groups useful in helping to drive better service.

“They provide the opportunity to get a broader perspective, by discussing matters of common concern and interest,” he believes, “and supports Lakeview in maintaining a strong product and service support offering.”

Results

“We required an integrated solution which would manage our batch system for processing transactions efficiently and give us essential visibility of the entire sales order to invoicing process,” says Paddison. “In short, the Lakeview solution delivers what we want, in supporting the business in an undramatic yet effective way.

“And the value of this should not be underestimated, as we operate in a highly competitive market, supplying major retail outlets whose tough requirements demand that we maintain strong control of a supply chain in which many products are sourced from as far afield as India and the Far East.”

In addition, he is positive about the momentum which has been generated in the area of service delivery. “Unlike some larger competitors, Lakeview demonstrates a tangible level of commitment to our business. Quite simply, the significant improvements we have achieved have been down to one thing – communication.”

Visit: Radley & Co

Author: Angela Kennedy, Marketing, Lakeview Computers Ltd

Technorati Tags: Radley & co