Ether NDE chose Lakeview’s Cloud based ERP product ‘LV’ to bring all their business data into the one place and produce management reports easily and in real-time.  By opting for the Lakeview SAAS model it has allowed Ether NDE to have a fully integrated system at a fixed monthly cost without the need for investment in new hardware.

Ether NDE were experiencing difficulties with business data being held in spreadsheets. The implementation of Lakeview’s LV will bring all their business data together, and provide management reporting tools in real-time, which will promote better decision making.  By having a fully integrated system with financials it has also reduced the external costs associated with bookkeepers and accountants.

About Ether NDE
Ether NDE design and repair electrical probes and meters at its factory and office premises based in Harpenden, Hertfordshire with an international client base. Ether NDE in addition to their own products also represents selected international manufacturers of electromagnetic test equipment and accessories.

VISIT: www.ethernde.com

Author: Angela Kennedy, Marketing

Technorati Tags: cloud erp, ether NDE, saas

Power Travellers is the latest new business win for Lakeview, boasting a unique market presence within the travel goods industry with products that allow you to charge mobile devices using solar energy.

About Power Travellers

Powertraveller Ltd is dedicated to designing, developing and manufacturing award-winning portable chargers for all your mobile devices.

Because we’re passionate about the products we sell, here at Powertraveller™ we design, develop and test to destruction our products to ensure that you get the best deal on the market and for the right price.

Visit: https://powertraveller.com

Author: Angela Kennedy, Marketing

Technorati Tags: LV ERP

BAKO distribute many well known food & beverage brands, as well as their own label value range of baking products from their warehouse and distribution facility in Wimbledon. With a modern fleet of temperature-controlled vehicles, BAKO boast a very impressive set up.

BAKO invests into Lakeview’s LV ERP product to facilitate remote working and better manage supplier performance and produce trends.

About BAKO London and SouthEast

From its base in Wimbledon, South West London Bako London and SouthEast offers the food industry an outstanding combination of competitive prices plus the exceptional customer service only a local company can provide.

Launched over 50 years ago as a regional buying co-operative, we later joined with four other bakery co-operatives to form BAKO UK.

Today our customers enjoy the combined purchasing power, logistics and resources of one of the largest nationwide distributors to the food industry.

Visit: callbakolondon.com

Author: Angela Kennedy, Marketing

Technorati Tags: Bako, food customer, LV ERP

The Fastener Centre (TFC) is one of Europe’s largest suppliers of fastening products to engineering and industrial businesses. TFC will be implementing Lakeview’s latest LV ERP solution in Germany plus 5 UK locations with a total of 75 users.

About The Fastener Centre (TFC)

TFC Europe Ltd is one of the leading suppliers of technical fastener components to industry, with an unrivalled reputation for delivering innovative products, supply solutions, and exemplary service, to help customers achieve breakthroughs in product development and productivity.

Visit: www.tfc.eu.com

Author: Angela Kennedy, Marketing for Lakeview Computers Ltd

Technorati Tags: cloud erp, LV ERP, mobile ERP, the fasterner centre

Given the extended period of economic uncertainty UK business leaders have come to a typically stoic British conclusion – we must press on and restart investment for growth.

UK business leaders and entrepreneurs cannot wait for the European Union to resolve its issues but instead have to show leadership. What is clear is that there needs to be financial options readily available for investment in business. With the banks still reluctant to offer support to SME’s it’s down to savvy suppliers to offer financial options.

Here at Lakeview we offer our market leading ‘LV ERP’ software and services through a number of finance options:

1. Buy the right to use ‘LV ERP’ for as long as you choose
2. Take advantage of attractive leasing options tailored specifically for your needs
3. Rent ‘LV ERP’ on a per user per month basis, as a lower cost entry point for your investment

These financial options are available regardless of whether you want your ERP solution to:

1. Reside on your IT infrastructure on your premises
2. Be hosted on ‘The Cloud

Either way we are able to evaluate, advise and implement the best solution for your business.

So, the choice is yours to make the investment in your next generation ERP system in a way that best suits your business finance, and delivers the business growth and cost savings to meet the business case.

About Lakeview

Lakeview are authors of ERP solutions providing outstanding levels of customer service to UK SME’s for over 25 years.

Find out more

To find out more please phone us on 0208 303 3329 or email info@lakeview.co.uk.

Or visit: www.lakeview.co.uk

Author: Mark Greatrex, CEO of Lakeview Computers Ltd

Technorati Tags: cloud erp, finance ERP, lease ERP, LV ERP, pricing ERP, rental ERP

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

Darcy Spillcare Manufacture boasts 75 Years of innovation, manufacturing, service and supply within the spill care industry.

Today, Darcy uses Lakeview to manage and run their business software and hardware o deliver clarity, sales visibility and efficiency to their daily operations.

Here’s a snippet of the letter from Paul Goff, Financial Director, Darcy Products Ltd to Lakeview:

“Right from the start (and this order has taken a long time to materialise!) Lakeview’s Engineering team has had Darcy and our ongoing IT issues at the foremost of it’s actions, culminating in a proposal that not only just simply replaced old servers but gives Darcy a great stride forward in significant IT improvement’s and as I am sure you will understand within a good budget.

The installation itself overall again was managed very well. We always anticipated that there would be teething issues which is inevitable, but any that arose were dealt with promptly which is all we could ask,

One issue in particular which actually was nothing due to Lakeview was one of our two internet lines failed only a week into our new offices at Kent. Thankfully we had two which I believe was David Beattie’s (Lakeview’s Deputy Engineering Manager) suggestion in the first place. The significance of this was that David immediately suggested how to ensure we still got emails in as this was on the line that failed and then deal with all our VPN users, re-setting them on the working internet line.

I cannot emphasise enough, the failed broadband line was down for about a week and had we not been able to receive emails this would have been disastrous for Darcy but thankfully due to the redundancy planned for IT this did not materialise.

I am now very pleased to report that the IT at our offices in Kent works brilliantly with all reporting fantastic speed, so more output from our staff then!

To find out more about Darcy visit: http://www.darcy.co.uk/

Technorati Tags: case study, hardware, Lakeview engineering, spillcare

Cloud computing or ‘Cloud’ is fast becoming a buzz word for us all, it is a platform that offers many benefits to many businesses, but it is still in its infancy particularly in the UK SME marketplace.

We have all witnessed an unprecedented global financial meltdown and a recession, companies within every industry are looking for cost savings. I think it fair to say, gone are the days businesses invest large amounts of capital in servers and thanks to the Cloud this is fast becoming a reality.

So, we look at some risks and trade-offs with Mark Greatrex, CEO of Lakeview Computers and contributor to the UKERP Twitter.

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility (like the electricity grid) over a network (typically the Internet).

Extract taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

What are the major benefits of cloud computing for you?

Our client base consists of small to medium sized businesses within manufacturing, distribution and wholesale marketplaces.

For us, ‘Cloud computing’ facilitates the delivery of our enterprise solution (LV) in a new way, via the web, with different pricing structures and gives businesses the ability to scale up and down easily. For some businesses a Cloud model will be attractive on a pay per user basis, for others it’s about removing large up front hardware costs, it gives business owners choice.

The Key benefits for Cloud based ERP

• Allows a faster evolution of the ERP solution and its ROI
• Requires a minimal capital outlay
• Minimal operational and maintenance cost
• Fewer IT resources needed, with easier implementation and integration path

These significant benefits are driving business owners and executives to look at the way they are currently doing business in a proactive effort to make cost savings and to stay competitive within their market place.

What do you see as the risks and trade-offs of a Cloud platform?

The key risks and issues of Cloud are:

• Security concerns of outsourcing business confidential data
• Performance & reliability of the infrastructure, particularly the connection to/from the SME’s business locations
• Willingness & capability of your software suppliers to provide an integrated solution in the Cloud
• Nervousness over relinquishing control of your IT resources to parties unknown!

The good news is that all of these risks and issues can be mitigated and concerns allayed.

Should my business adopt a Cloud platform?

Once all of your concerns have been addressed it comes down to a business decision based on cost. It should be easy to quantify the cost savings to your business of not having to replace IT hardware and associated software and having to employ IT staff to manage your infrastructure.

With the right supplier and contract the annual cost of cloud should be predictable and so your return on investment should be straightforward to calculate.

Cloud is now moving from early adoption by technology enthusiasts and now becomes attractive to those of you who are pragmatic buyers.

Authors: Angela Kennedy, Marketing and Mark Greatrex, CEO, Lakeview Computers Ltd

LV: Taking ERP mobile

Technorati Tags: cloud computing, cloud erp, LV

The finance function is ultimately responsible for ensuring the financial health of the business.  In the current economic climate, with restricted lending from high street banks, limited economic growth and cost pressures reducing operating profits, controlling the working capital of a business is becoming more critical.

Customers who pay slowly often do so as a means to support their own working capital and it is always a difficult subject to chase for payment.  However, it is important to remember your terms of business and that you have only incurred costs and used the working capital of the company until you receive payment from your customer.

George McDonough, FD, Lakeview Computers Ltd

To reduce the chances of a customer compromising your cash flow it is important to ensure your credit control processes are streamlined and automated where possible.  This can be achieved by:

1.     Using Technology.  Sending invoices by email will help reduce the time it takes for invoices to be processed and will provide a trail.  Invoices cannot ‘get lost in the post’ and you will know if an email has not been delivered!  Additionally, encouraging customers to pay by BACS will prevent cheques from being lost and taking additional time to clear the banking system.

2.    Ensuring Customers have received your invoice.  Your credit control processes should be sufficient to check customers have a copy of the invoice and that the invoice has been processed for payment.  It is better to be aware of any queries a customer has with approving the invoice before it is overdue.

3.    Understanding your Customer:  Regular credit checks should be performed to ensure your customer is able to pay for the goods you are supplying.  This should be factored into your credit control processes and the credit terms you are willing to provide.  You should ensure you are aware of the customers who consistently exceed their credit terms, dispute invoices and generally pay late.

4.    Enforcing your terms of business:  Your customers have probably signed up to your terms of business and you should ensure these are enforced.  A customer may have a reason for payment to be late, but consistent late payment will require action.  Ensure you have a good dialogue with customers and that they are aware their account will be placed “on stop”, the consequences of this and also how they can make payment.

5.    Communicating internally:  All your employees should have an understanding of the credit control procedures.  Existing customers should have credit limits and credit terms that are adhered to, and sales should only be accepted where the customer has the ability to pay.  Before you receive payment from your customer, the sale has cost you time and money and has used up your resources which could be better spent elsewhere.  Accounts which have been placed on ‘stop’ should be communicated within your organisation.

Stay tuned!

This is the first of two blog posts by George McDonough focused on making debt collection a company wide concern. The next in this series is due for publication next week.

Author: George McDonough, Finance Director of Lakeview Computers Ltd

Founded in 2005, Natural Balance Foods is already establishing a strong franchise in the UK for its range of healthy cereal bars and flavour-infused raisin snacks in national grocery and healthfood chains.  Today, its major Nakd and Trek brands can be found in the wholefoods and fast-expanding ‘free from’ sections of Tesco, Waitrose, Asda and Sainsbury’s, for example, as well as Boots, Holland & Barrett and independent specialist health food outlets.

Yet in successfully meeting this growing demand for healthier products, Natural Balance Foods has had to meet the challenge of managing rapid growth.  “As a start-up we initially piggy-backed a custom-built ERP system built for a sister company operating in a very different Internet environment, together with spreadsheets and a financial accounting software solution,” says co-founder, Greg Combs.

However, this came under increasing strain as the business rapidly expanded and it became clear that the company needed an integrated solution which would manage the end-to-end process, from receipt of orders through to delivery and invoicing with minimum manual intervention.  Additionally, the replacement system had to enable product full traceability and multiple warehouse inventory reporting..

“In selecting a Lakeview system, we recognised it had the essential flexibility and scalability to meet the current and future demands of our business and our customers,” he confirms.  “This has proved without doubt to be the right decision, as we now have the perfect springboard for taking the business on to the next phase of its exciting growth.”

Technorati Tags: case study, food & beverage erp, food erp, natural balance, organic food erp