Builders Merchants
Customer: Lawsons
What we did: Upgraded K8
Site link: www.lawsons.co.uk
Gains and benefits
The Lawsons Group operates 17 branches across London and the South East. The family owned company specialises in the supply of building materials, timber and loft conversion products. Jeremy Norris, Commercial Director, has been with the group for 22 years.
“We strive to provide the best equipment we possibly can for our staff - from the trucks they drive to the IT systems they use,” he explained.
K8 processes around 3,000 transactions each day for Lawsons and manages 8,000 customer accounts. The company was one of the earliest users of the software and switched to the system in 1999 when its previous provider couldn’t guarantee ‘year 2K’ compliance. The initial 40 user system has grown and there are now 190 K8 users across 17 sites. The IT team always upgrades to the latest version of the software as soon as it’s available.
“I can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t upgrade.” said Jeremy Norris. “Firstly staff using the system have a level of expectation – they don’t want to work with green screens. Secondly there’s the business need. By upgrading we can always stay at the leading edge and make the most out of any new functionality. The latest version of K8 lets us produce management accounts with critical information - such as how much profit we’re making at each branch on a daily basis - in the fastest way possible.”
The last K8 upgrade also delivered two key features for Jeremy. The first being PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant chip and pin integration that will replace non-integrated PDQ machines. All card transactions can be processed directly in K8 using PODS that read the cards - leading to tighter security of transactions, fewer typing errors and quicker authorisations from the banks.
Another feature is K8’s new transport delivery management system that will deliver significant improvements in the operation of Lawsons’s fleet. Jeremy explained, “With two thirds of our £80M business turnover being delivered, we generate a lot of paperwork with the potential for mistakes. Our drivers will now be able to capture customer signatures on a hand held device and make any adjustments pertaining to the materials delivered, cutting out the paperwork and updating the system instantly with the correct details.”
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The whole process went very smoothly. We handed the old system over on Saturday lunchtime and Kerridge Commercial Systems delivered the upgraded version on Sunday. The whole experience was simple, painless and positive!
- Jeremy Norris, Commercial Director, Lawsons
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