CED Selects Solarsoft ERP Solution

Natural stone specialist implements Solarsoft to help maximise sales through easy access to information and improved reporting capabilities

Basingstoke, UK - 22 September 2011 - CED Ltd, one of the leading natural stone suppliers in the UK, has gone live with a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution from Solarsoft. Using Solarsoft's xVP solution, CED can easily view all of its sales orders, stock levels and haulage costs in one central location, providing the key information needed to run the business as efficiently as possible and keep its operating costs to a minimum.

Established for over 30 years, CED has six sites throughout the UK which were all previously running on a very old and unsupported order processing system. However, as the business continues to grow CED recognised that it would benefit from a modern ERP system specifically designed for the Builders' merchants market.

Ian Burridge, Joint Managing Director at CED explains, "Prior to implementing Solarsoft's system, we were running a very old order processing system and decided we needed to update our software to match the growing demands of our business. We were already aware of Solarsoft, but also wanted to investigate the market in more depth to see what other products and solutions were available. However, it quickly became clear that Solarsoft was the best ERP solution for our business because of its ease of use, broad functionality and proven track record in the Builders' merchant market."

Whilst the Solarsoft solution provided the additional functionality the company needed, due to the complex nature of CED's business, a few modifications had to be made to ensure a perfect business fit. Burridge continues, "Implementing a new ERP solution across all six of our sites was always going to be a complex process and we worked closely with the Solarsoft development team to ensure that the requirements of the whole business were met. We also needed some bespoke functionality such as the automatic addition of haulage costs to our sales order lines. Solarsoft delivered on all these areas, ensuring that the changes were integrated fully into the standard software to ensure seamless future upgrades. In short, what could have been a difficult implementation process was completed smoothly and effectively without any major problems."

Commenting on the benefits that the new system will bring to CED, Burridge adds, "As a distributor, haulage costs are a critical part of our business and with the previous system we only had access to very high level information on these costs. However, with xVP we can now access in-depth information on each individual order and monitor all costs at a much more detailed level. With the new system our staff can now carry out their daily tasks more effectively than before; enabling us to better meet the needs of our customers thereby increasing sales and maximising revenues."

Burridge concludes, "Although we have only just gone live with the Solarsoft system we are very confident of the benefits we will achieve. Our staff have adapted well to the new system and the feedback we have received has been positive. We are really happy with our decision to implement the Solarsoft ERP solution and we look forward to a long-lasting business partnership."