News

Major supplier builds for the future with K8

23^th April 2014: Kerridge Commercial Systems announces that Kent-based Gill Aggregates has placed an order for K8, the market-leading integrated solution for the distributive trades. Gill Aggregates required a new system that would enable them to improve business efficiencies, develop customer service capabilities and support future growth.

Director, Harvey Sanger, said, “Our business has grown substantially in recent years. To all intents our existing systems have reached their end of life and no longer met our more demanding requirements. Principally, K8 will provide us with first class sales, purchasing, stock control and financial tools and streamline our processes. Across the board, the system will enable us to reduce the amount of paperwork that our team have to contend with. Product and transaction data will be much more visible which will enable our staff to speed up sales operations.”

Gill Aggregates decision to implement the system followed a thorough review of alternative solutions and ultimately, the choice was between K8 and another leading system. The company chose K8 for its proven, wide-ranging capability and well-established reputation in the builders’ merchant sector. “Given that the system is used by many builders’ merchants across the South East, gave us that extra degree of reassurance that K8 would serve us well,” said Harvey.

Kerridge Commercial Systems CEO, Ian Bendelow, said, “We are delighted that Gill Aggregates has chosen K8. Our task now is to guide the company through the pre-installation stages and prepare for the go live later this year. We will do all we can to ensure their K8 system is ready to help them achieve maximum value from their investment.”

Electrical distributor invests in advanced integrated software

Lockwell Electrical Distributors has signed with Kerridge Commercial Systems for a new, 100 user K8 system for their 19 branch operation. K8, which is used by a number of leading companies in the electrical/electronics sector, will deliver wide-ranging benefits to Lockwell branches and head office operations. K8 was chosen following a detailed review of 20 alternative solutions.

Ian Wright, Lockwell operations director said, “Our headline objectives were to enhance our business processes, introduce new technologies, and deliver more value and benefits to our customers. Essentially we wanted a system that would ‘future-proof’ the business. From the outset, this was a board level project, during which we discovered the potential of the latest ERP systems. Our decision for K8 was based on two main criteria: Ultimately we could see the system was the best fit for our requirements and secondly, Kerridge Commercial Systems not only has extensive market knowledge, but offered us new ideas about how we could take the system forward. We clearly saw how K8 could help us to improve our efficiencies, save time and money. It was the clear choice for us.”

Lockwell took a very measured approach on their journey to choose a new system. Although they recognised the need to replace a text-based system, part of the software and partner selection process had to consider how the implementation would be project managed and achieved successfully. A key requirement from the start will be the integration of supplier price files which will save the branch staff a considerable amount of time and effort, particularly for special order items.

Duncan Smillie, Sales and Marketing Director at Kerridge Commercial Systems said, “To assist Lockwell  in their evaluation process, we provided a K8 test system which gave them first-hand appreciation of the user interface, navigation tools and also introduced the system's flexibility and tailoring. Our discussions also introduced Lockwell to some of the more recent K8 innovations such as website integration and digital signature capture.”  

Planning the implementation is now underway in readiness for going live in early 2015. With Lockwell and Kerridge Commercial Systems working closely together, it’s a major project that will have an immediate impact on the business. Ian said, “New hosted servers are being installed and we expect to begin user training in April. Having identified that the whole company will go live at the same time, we will use a ‘train the trainer’ approach to help our staff, along with number of project champions to support everyone through the coming months. For us the go live will be first major milestone and after that we will progressively add other K8 applications. We are excited about enhancing the value of this long term investment in our business.”

Newton Abbott company chooses market-leading solution

20^th February 2014: Kerridge Commercial Systems announces that Supa Roofing & Power Tools have signed an order to implement a new, 11 user K8 system. The Newton Abbott company’s existing systems will be replaced by K8’s fully integrated suite of applications which will deliver process improvements across trading, financial and management functions.

Supa Roofing and Power Tools Finance Director, Dennis Waterman, said, ”After using a bespoke, Sage-based package for over 20 years, we have reached the point where our business requirements had changed. A more advanced, functionally-rich system was required to take the business forward and provide our staff with the software they need to do their job more efficiently. We chose Kerridge Commercial Systems primarily because of their reputation as a market-leader in our industry. When we saw K8 demonstrated, it was clear that the system would suit our purposes and help us to enhance our business significantly.”

“We are delighted that Supa Roofing and Power Tools have chosen K8 and look forward to a long and successful relationship with this thriving company. Now working with their team to plan a smooth and successful implementation, we want to ensure that the benefits of using K8 start from day one,” said Kerridge Commercial Systems sales director Duncan Smillie.

7th March 2014: Kerridge Commercial System South Africa are pleased to announce that Murendi Building Supplies have signed up to go ahead with K8 for their 7 branch business and 15 user supplying building materials direct to the public. They are based in in the Rural Areas of Limpopo province.

Murendi were looking for a system to manage their 5000+ stock items across their branches. The company’s key requirements were centralised around business management information, stock visibility, forecasting and single customer visibility across the business. K8 ticked all the boxes from reporting to managing stock in multiple locations and managing customer accounts.

New 50 user system projected to deliver significant benefits

20th January 2014: Kerridge Commercial Systems announces that FGF, leading suppliers of insulation products, have placed an order for a 50 user K8 system. K8 is widely regarded as one of the foremost integrated solutions for the distributive trades and is used by many leading companies across multiple sectors. Replacing the company’s existing Strategix* platform, FGF’s K8 system will be deployed at their Birmingham head office and regional locations in Bristol and Manchester, with a go live scheduled for summer 2011.

FGF’s decision to migrate to K8 from OneOffice was based primarily on the need to modernise the company’s IT systems. The company is seeking to gain the benefits of having more advanced, integrated and ‘competitive edge’ capabilities to meet both current and future business requirements.

Peter Orrell, FGF finance director, said “Given the nature of the project, we took some time evaluating the options and considered a number of ERP systems. Ultimately, we chose K8 for its extensive functionality and proven track record in the sector – a significant number of companies use K8. We were particularly impressed with the system’s ease-of-navigation in areas such as quotations, sales orders, works orders, stock movements and purchasing. Operationally, we are particularly looking forward to exploiting K8’s unique Workplace interface which will provide users with immediate access to role-specific reports and metrics. K8’s development roadmap also gives us the security and peace of mind necessary to support our medium and long term business plans.”

With the initial implementation focusing on core functions and business processes, to include K8’s Works Order Processing application – the company manufactures external cladding which is cut to size for each customer’s order. Future extensions are likely to include extending the use of K8’s powerful Business Intelligence and integrated CRM applications. The introduction of handheld devices for digital signature capture is on the list to further improve business efficiency and customer service.

Duncan Smillie, Kerridge Commercial Systems, sales and marketing director said “FGF are replacing a system which has served their business very well for many years, but have recognised that it’s now time to move on. Prior to making the decision to implement K8, we worked very closely with FGF’s management team, advising them on the options available and how the migration will be managed. With investments of this nature it’s crucial for everyone to feel reassured that their new system will match the outgoing system’s functionality and more importantly, to understand how its benefits will be achieved.”

As part of the project, Kerridge Commercial Systems are supplying FGF with a new Intel/Oracle server and an additional print server for documentation processing. The new hardware will be fully supported by Kerridge Commercial Systems with an inclusive full service package.

Delegates enjoy a full and varied programme, product and service updates, and more

14th November 2013: More than 70 delegates attended the 2013 Kerridge Commercial Systems Customer Conference held recently in Muldersdrift, with everyone enjoying an engaging, content rich programme. A great networking opportunity and a number of Kerridge Commercial Systems’ business partners also contributed to the event’s success.

Opened by managing director, Des Nangle, who set the scene with a review of the company’s plans and progress in Africa, the presentations then moved into the all-important area of product development. Tony Pey, the UK-based product manager, brought everyone up to speed with a strategic update, delegates then heard about recent functionality changes in K8 including local market specifics. 

New integrated system for Dudley-based business

11th November 2013: Bob Richardson Tools, which also trades online as ToolsToday.co.uk, has placed an order for a 14 user K8 system which is scheduled to go live in February 2014. Based in Dudley, Bob Richardson Tools carries an extensive range of more than 10,000 products from top brands such as Draper, Sealey, Teng, DeWalt, Stihl and Stanley.

K8 will be used to help the company to achieve greater efficiency and deliver a more professional customer service. Manager Tom Richardson said: “Our current system has become very dated and doesn’t provide us with the fully functional ordering and receipt processes that we require. More importantly, the growth of ToolsToday.co.uk, our online business, has made it imperative for us to have an efficient, integrated trading system that connects our busy website with back office processes.”

Subscription option for the market leading software

We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of the market-leading K8 business management system as a SaaS solution (Software as a Service). With limited up-front capital investment required, the all-inclusive per user/month pricing covers the K8 software and database licence, helpdesk support, system hosting, server capacity and system maintenance.

This subscription-based model is ideal for businesses looking for maximum flexibility in their IT investment strategy. And to protect the business in the event of a major incident, comprehensive disaster recovery services are also part of the K8-SaaS package.

4th October 2013: South Africa lighting distributor Eurolux, who have used Kerridge Commercial Systems’ K8 fully integrated trading system since 2007, report that around 40% of its sales orders are now being received via EDI (Electronic Data Interchange).

The EDI project first went live in February 2012 and now, more than a year later, eight of Eurolux’ largest customers are submitting their purchase orders direct from their own systems into K8 - a fast, efficient and highly effective process. Unquestionably, the benefits of all-round time savings, reductions in data entry, improved customer service levels and stimulating additional business opportunities mean it’s an emphatic win-win position for buyers and sellers alike.

Obeco to implement K8

25th Sept 2013: Obeco (O. Behrens & Co) one of Namibia’s leading tile, sanitary ware and plumbing supplies distributors, has signed a contract to implement a 55 user K8 system. The decision to invest in K8 will meet Obeco’s primary need for a fully integrated, scalable system to replace their existing ERP platform. The company is looking to K8 to deliver a range of business benefits; notably an integrated web-based trading facility which will use K8 Web Builder to drive sales activities, as well as improving customer-facing processes and documentation. Obeco will also harness K8’s advanced management information and BI functionality to support key business decisions. The company will use the system to help fulfil strategic growth plans across Namibia.

23rd Sept 2013: We are pleased to announce that David Harrison & Sons, electrical distributors based in Huddersfield, have placed an order for a 14 user K8 system.

The system will go live at their Huddersfield and Halifax branches later this year. K8 will provide the company with modern, integrated functionality, a windows-style interface and wide-ranging opportunities to save time and effort in their business processes.

Kooltech moves to K8

24th July 2013: Kooltech, a leading distributor of air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, has placed an order for a 50 user K8 system for the company’s 8 branch operation. K8, the fully integrated system for the distributive trades, is set to help the company develop its competitive position and improve customer service standards.

In addition to K8’s core distribution modules including sales, purchasing, control and finance, Kooltech will also be implementing WebBuilder, K8’s integrated ecommerce solution.

Delegates enjoy a full and varied programme, product and service updates, and more

More than 150 customers and business partners came together on the 12^th June for the 2013 Kerridge Commercial Systems Customer Conference held in Daventry. Representing many industry sectors, delegates were treated to a programme which was designed, from the outset, to be rich and varied in content and to provide valuable and thought provoking ideas to take away. Among those attending were delegates  who had travelled from Ireland, South Africa and Australia.

Company developments – service and support

CEO Ian Bendelow, began the conference with a review of company performance and internal developments. He outlined the growth of the customer base and gave a snapshot of product strategy, including manufacturing and service management systems following last year’s acquisition of Datawright. The programme moved on with Alan Cross, chief operating officer, who not only highlighted support team performance over the past 12 months, but also introduced a number of new initiatives designed to increase service levels for both new and existing customers - notably an online call progress facility. Alan introduced the latest enhancements to the K Cloud solution and the ability to take delivery of the K8 benefits from the KCS hosting centres. All of which improve still further the already widely adopted K Cloud solution that many clients prefer.

5th June 2013: Kerridge Commercial Systems announces that ERIKS UK, the leading engineering services provider and industrial distributor, has placed an order for a K8 system which will be implemented across more than 150  locations across the UK.

Brian O’Leary, Management Services Director, said “K8 will strengthen our cohesive approach across the many channels of the company, supporting our network of service centres, repair workshops, distribution centres and core competence centres. The system will also further enhance our ability to deliver operational efficiencies and value to our customers into the future. For ERIKS, having a single platform across all our businesses will create a more complete picture of our customers and how they operate, allowing ERIKS to form deeper and more effective partnerships.”

ERIKS chose K8 having reviewed systems from all of the major ERP providers. The contract for K8 was signed after a lengthy and detailed evaluation process involving multi-disciplined teams from both companies. Before making the decision, a conference room pilot was conducted to ensure that K8 had all the required capability and functionality. It was essential to ensure that K8 delivered the operational performance necessary for a large and diverse, multi-site organisation and also that the migration to the new system could be completed in a smooth and seamless process.

17th May 2013: Kerridge Commercial Systems announces that Elta, the long established automotive bulb, wiper and EMS specialist, is investing in K8 - the market leading, integrated solution for the distributive trades.

The company’s decision was based on a number of key criteria and followed detailed evaluation of a number of alternative systems.

Ian Hallam, Elta managing director said, “Our current systems comprise several disparate software platforms which we have now outgrown. For us K8, with its integrated functionality, is a modern, well-proven system, with an excellent reputation. Across its range of capabilities, there is considerable potential to help us take the business forward, particularly in warehouse and customer relationship management areas. Choosing K8 was made easier because, given the company’s single product strategy, it was important to know that our investment would be focussed on the system’s development programme. We will therefore benefit from new introductions as K8 progresses.”

The contract for K8 will also include a comprehensive user training programme, installation consultancy and on-going system support. K8 will be configured for 19 system users, together with 8 users in the warehouse operation who will use hand-held devices to process inbound and outbound stock movements, without the need to use a fixed point PC terminal. The system is scheduled to go live at Elta in August.

Motovac invests in new IT system

16th May 2013: Kerridge Commercial Systems and IT Junxion - its local partner, announces that Motovac, the Botswana automotive parts distributor, has signed for a 180 user K8 system. K8 is an internationally-renowned integrated ERP system designed specifically for the distributive trades.

Running on Linux, K8 will replace Motovac’s existing disparate, non-integrated systems which involve many time-consuming manual tasks. Oracle-based K8 will help Motovac to increase efficiency, achieve greater control and improve trading and profitability across its 21 branch operation.  The system was chosen after a detailed evaluation of the company’s specific requirements which included integrated trading, purchasing, stock control and distribution functionality.

Sajith Nair, Motovac IT Manager , said “In choosing Kerridge Commercial System and K8, we have found an IT partner with a strong pedigree. K8 will add value to our business, enable us to streamline our processes and help us to continue our growth strategy. Kerridge Commercial Systems and IT Junxion clearly understand our challenging trading environments and specific business needs. We are very confident that our decision is the right one for the future of our business.”

“Standard functionality such as alternative, associated and superseded products demonstrate its trade specific functionality and expertise” says Sameer Patel – Motovac Operations Director

With K8’s thin client network overhead and its offline trading capability, the system is ideally suited to Motovac. Its high performance and proven capabilities mean that K8 is cost effective to deploy and maintain.

Kerridge Commercial Systems announces that H&B Foods Limited (t/a Cheese Cellar) have placed an order to implement K8, the class-leading fully integrated system for the distributive trades.

As an existing customer, Cheese Cellar currently uses Kerridge Commercial Systems’ OneOffice. Now with an annual turnover in excess of £70m, the company has grown substantially since the system was installed, including the integration of its other businesses into a single organisation.

The main drivers for a new system included a requirement to improve the efficiency of their warehouse and logistics operations. And in addition to moving from their existing platform, K8 will also replace a number of bespoke, in-house developed sub-systems, resulting in greater process consistency across the business.

Financial controller, Stella Coudjoe, said, “OneOffice has been a very good solution for the company during a time of change and expansion. We need an IT platform to take us to the next stage and prepare for the future, and hence it was time to consider the options. Fundamentally, as well as a need to improve operational efficiency, we require more sophisticated CRM and business intelligence capabilities. Although we knew that Kerridge Commercial Systems had a proven solution with an excellent reputation, we carried out detailed assessments of several alternative systems before choosing K8 for its superiority. We are pleased to continue our relationship with a company that we know well.”

Presented at the Waldorf Hotel, London, 20^th March 2013

Kerridge Commercial Systems is delighted to have won the 2013 Oracle Customer Award for ‘Best innovation in creating new markets, products and services’.

Oracle said that the nomination was in recognition of the investment that the company has made in conjunction with Oracle, and its commitment to delivering high performance products.

Ian Bendelow, CEO, said “Winning the award reflects a considerable amount of dedication, hard work and technical achievement by our development and technical teams, and a very proud moment for everyone at Kerridge Commercial Systems. Attending the awards event, along with other leaders in the IT sector, is a reminder that product qualities and performance standards in our industry continue to rise and are kept under close scrutiny by our stakeholders. It is essential that we continue on our own path, striving for excellence and that we raise our game at every opportunity.”

K8, the fully integrated system for the distributive trades, achieved Oracle Exadata Optimized Status in 2012 - an important landmark which supports Kerridge Commercial System’s position as a class-leading IT partner for its customers.

We are delighted to announce that Kerridge Commercial Systems has been nominated for the 2013 Oracle UK Customer Awards in the category – ‘Best innovation in creating new markets, products and services’. The winner will be announced at the Waldorf Hotel, London on the 20th March.

Sales and marketing director, Duncan Smillie said "This nomination is in recognition of the investment that we have made in conjunction with Oracle and our commitment to delivering high performance products. K8, our fully integrated system for distributive trades, achieved Oracle Exadata Optimized Status in 2012 - an important landmark which we believe endorses our position as a class-leading IT partner for our customers."

For the full story on Kerridge Commercial Systems achieving Oracle Exadata Optimized status click here.

Iliad, one of South Africa’s leading suppliers of building materials, has successfully completed the initial phase of its new 100+ location K8 implementation. K8 was chosen as the ERP component of its IT standardisation strategy.

Prior to the commitment to K8, Kerridge Commercial Systems products were already in place at Iliad and have played an integral part of the company’s impressive growth for more than a decade. With K8, IT standardisation is enabling the introduction of best practice processes and system controls across the company. In addition to upgrading the existing systems, K8 is replacing a number of disparate non-integrated systems – a situation that had arisen as a result of business acquisitions.

Deirdre Ackermann, group CIO, explained the company’s choice, “It was important for us to know that our ERP provider had the necessary expertise and experience to implement the new system successfully. We knew that Kerridge had a proven track record, both in South Africa and the UK”

Ongoing client liaison was another important consideration for Iliad. “Kerridge worked closely with us in the project’s design and development and preparation of our customisation requirements. With an existing long term relationship in place, we were assured of full support from Kerridge through the roll-out and beyond.“

Des Nangle, MD Kerridge Commercial Systems (South Africa) said “K8 is an ideal solution for Iliad, being a fully integrated and scalable solution. It enables organisations to control multiple trading divisions which may have different process requirements and operational characteristics.“

To meet Iliad’s requirements, Kerridge Commercial Systems developed K8 to operate on an IBM xSeries Intel platform with Oracle RAC and Dataguard, resulting in a robust, cutting edge scalable solution. K8 is being rolled out to all 112 Iliad locations during 2012. The project involves an in-house Iliad team who are being fully supported by Kerridge Commercial Systems consultants and technology specialists. Following roll-out, Iliad will manage their new K8 system independently on a day-to-day basis.

Looking towards the future, the flexibility and scalability of K8 will support Iliad in all areas of business development. The use of best practice processes will not be sacrificed as the business grows and volumes increase. K8’s powerful integration will ensure that full day to day control and management will be maintained.

About Iliad Africa Ltd

One of South Africa’s leaders in the sourcing, distributing, wholesaling and retailing of general and specialised  building materials, an industry which is worth R40 billion per annum. With a customer base which ranges from corporate developers and construction groups to do-it-yourself home owners, Iliad has an impressive national footprint which includes a General Building Materials division comprising 55 stores and a specialised Building Materials division operating from 57 outlets nationwide. This success has been as a result of an ambitious growth strategy including key acquisitions within the industry.

Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) is an international software development and IT services business with 36 years of experience in serving distributive trades across many sectors. Distributive trades include wholesalers, distributors, merchants, and retailers.

KCS has its headquarters in the UK with offices in Ireland, the Netherlands and South Africa, supporting more than 700 customers with 50,000 users at more than 3,500 locations across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia.

KCS has achieved Oracle Exadata Optimized status through Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), demonstrating that the K8 enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution has been tested and tuned with Oracle Exadata Database Machine to deliver speed, scalability, and reliability to customers.

K8 is KCS’s single, fully-integrated business management solution. The system is flexible and robust enough to address complex business requirements while providing an easily accessible and navigable user interface. A comprehensive, functionally-rich ERP solution, K8 covers all key, operational areas including retail, ecommerce, supply chain management, financials and customer relationship management (CRM).

KCS has a solid understanding of how Oracle Engineered Systems can provide customers with business gains through outstanding technical performance. The company became an early adopter of Oracle Exadata Database Machine, resulting in a dramatic increase in K8 sales processing performance, demonstrating its suitability for providing greatly improved online transactional processing (OLTP) power for any customers handling large volumes of sales and business transactions.

With K8 running on Oracle Exadata Database Machine, KCS customers can expect to realize significant throughput performance gains. Increased processing capabilities significantly accelerate sales-per-second throughput and reporting performance, reducing wait times across large, multi-user populations. K8 on Exadata delivers a 16x increase in sales per second, compared to previous hardware benchmarks.

https://blogs.oracle.com/exadatapartnercommunity/entry/kerridge_commercial_systems_kcs_achives

Distribution and logistics organisations can now benefit from a fully optimised distribution and workforce management system provided by Kerridge Commercial Systems, in partnership with Cognito.

Utilising Cognito’s best of breed mobile workforce management technology, the K8 ePOD solution integrates its full capabilities with a hosted, real-time communications platform. This is complete with a dedicated workflow application that resides on the mobile worker’s handheld device.

The solution enables organisations with significant transportation, distribution and logistics operations, to push delivery manifests to drivers; prompt drivers through their daily tasks, enforcing compliance; receive real-time updates on individual deliveries; and once the manifest is complete, receive a manifest
summary or debrief.

“In a highly competitive market, producing an optimal delivery route, managing staff and keeping in close contact with them is essential for maximising customer service performance and driving down costs,” said Duncan Smillie, Sales & Marketing Director at Kerridge Commercial Systems. “The challenge is to streamline distribution operations from the first customer contact through to on time and in full delivery. Working with Cognito, our integrated systems provide exactly this, and our customers can benefit from seamless delivery and optimal service.”

A managed and locked down environment is at the core of the solution, ensuring that the mobile worker’s handheld is a dedicated work tool, with the ability to be controlled and updated by managers remotely. All data processed through the handheld is fully auditable and a comprehensive time stamped audit trail provides the back office with the exact status of each message, even if it has been stored due to network coverage.

Kerridge Commercial Systems announces that Hariche Group, one of Mozambique’s leading distributors of steel and building materials, has signed a contract to implement a 30 user K8 solution.

The decision to invest in K8 was to meet Hariche Group’s need for a fully integrated, scalable system to replace a predominantly accounting-based platform. K8 will provide the capability to support business growth, implement more efficient processes, together with advanced management information and reporting functionality.

Hariche MD, Hariche Arquissandas, “K8 is a stable, robust and comprehensive solution that will grow with our business. It will also help enable us to exploit the many new and exciting business opportunities here in Mozambique - K8 functionality, in areas such as kits and works orders, will prove particularly beneficial.  In the longer term, we want to take full advantage of K8 mobile technology, which will give our sales team remote access to the system, as and when they need it.”

Des Nangle, MD Kerridge Commercial Systems South Africa commented “We are delighted that Hariche Group has selected K8 – an ideal platform for this dynamic, growing organisation. We are ready to give them our full support as they prepare to take on K8 and exploit its extensive functionality and deliver the benefits to their business.”

Gaborone-based company set to grow the success of market-leading K8 solution. Kerridge Commercial Systems, leading software solutions partner for the distributive trades, today announces the appointment of IT Junxion as an authorised distributor in Botswana.

The company is expanding its customer base in Botswana and this appointment is in response to the increased demand for the K8 system in the country. IT Junxion are Kerridge Commercial Systems’ first distributor in Botswana. They have been chosen because of their established reputation, technical expertise, local market knowledge and proven capabilities in developing business opportunities.

Des Nangle, MD Kerridge Commercial Systems South Africa, said, IT Junxion is ideally situated. In just one square mile in Gaborone, we already have six customers with over 250 users and our user base is continuing to grow. Local expertise and resource is increasingly important to provide high quality support for our customers in Botswana. We already have an excellent working relationship with IT Junxion. And the company, headed up by Bhavesh Naik, is well known and respected locally.”

K8 is a perfect fit for the trading environment in Botswana. The system has already proven its capability in the country. It’s in use by businesses who operate with tight profit margins, have large and varied product ranges to maintain and who need to deliver high levels of customer service.

Bhavesh Naik said, “Using K8, customers have the clear advantage of a fully integrated, real time trading environment. By being able to deliver accurate, quality information, management decisions are more informed and easier to make. Finance departments can enjoy the benefits of much tighter control, detailed reporting and data analysis. K8 is unquestionably rich in functionality and its very thin bandwidth requirement is ideal for the network resources in southern Africa.”

Reflecting on the future Nangle commented, “We are excited at the opportunities available to us in Botswana. Working with IT Junxion, we will continue to deliver easy-to-use, scalable and beneficial solutions to our customers. K8 will help them to become more effective, more efficient and ultimately more profitable. As our distributor, IT Junxion will help us to achieve that goal.”

Kerridge Commercial Systems today announces that following a series of demanding assessments and benchmark reviews, K8, the company’s integrated trading and financial ERP system, has achieved Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) certified status.

TEC Certification is an impartial review that verifies a software product’s ability to address business processes and meets the stringent guidelines specified by TEC’s analysts. K8 is now able to bear the TEC Certified seal signifying that Kerridge Commercial Systems’ responses to TEC’s request for information (RFI) satisfactorily describe the product’s capabilities.

Ian Bendelow, Kerridge Commercial Systems CEO said, "This is a significant recognition for K8 and confirms that the system conforms to TEC’s well-defined standards. It has been taken through a particularly close scrutiny using TEC’s comprehensive ERP software model."

K8 performed particularly well throughout the evaluation. To begin with, its support for multiple companies, brands, branches currencies and language capabilities was highlighted as being very well built. In terms of ease of use, product layout, task performance and integration capabilities K8 also came out strongly. Likewise in workflow design criteria - information retrieval, system security and reporting capabilities the system received equally positive assessments. TEC also reported that K8’s ease of implementation was well regarded in terms of server and database platforms together with good set-up flexibility.

TEC said that the K8 Warehouse Management module and the credit management functionality deserved special mention. The system’s flexibility and robustness to support complex business operations with its easily accessible and navigable user front end also shone through. They went on to say that the K8 screens are well designed and operations flow seamlessly, presenting information to the user without being overly cluttered.

The K8 project spanned the seven Voltex divisions and approximately 80 trading branches with 1,250 users now operating the system. Voltex selected K8 for its ability to financially integrate its business divisions and deliver a high level of customer service at each of the branches.

Eric Immermann of Voltex commented, “K8 enables transparent reporting and consolidation across our regions and is supporting our key corporate business decisions. The system has integrated our trading branches to enable efficient inventories to meet customer demands. K8’s ease of use has meant our users have adopted the system quickly, resulting in minimum disruption to us and more importantly our customers. We face some unique infrastructure challenges in South Africa and K8 is perfectly suited to that situation by having only low bandwidth demands between branches reducing the demands on our network.”

Des Nangle, MD KCS South Africa said, “I congratulate the Voltex team on the success of this project and much is owed to the partnership approach adopted by the two companies. The project teams worked closely together to ensure that K8 was configured to meet Voltex requirements and fully prepared for the branch roll-out.”

The success of the project was put into context when Voltex won the prize as the Bidvest Group’s company with the most improved year-on-year audit; using K8 for financial management and whilst completing the branch roll-out. “The K8 project has been a huge success for Voltex, delivered on time and on budget. It lays the foundation for a long partnership with Kerridge Commercial Systems,” said Eric Immermann.

International distributor invests in new IT system

1^st November 2012: Kerridge Commercial Systems today announces that European distributor SIG have signed a contract for K8 – the market leading trading and financial system. K8 will be installed into the company’s 300+ branches across the UK covering around 2,000 users. A market-leading system, widely used by the distributive trades, K8 will provide SIG with advanced integrated capabilities across its customer-facing delivery operations, back office and management information areas. The system will become an essential asset for business improvement, decision making and performance monitoring.

Prior to placing the order for K8, SIG carried out an exhaustive market review of suitable systems. Ultimately, at the end of a very comprehensive selection process, K8 was chosen. SIG considered that K8’s capabilities delivered the greatest range of quantifiable benefits. Furthermore, the system offered impressive functionality and flexibility which were important requirements given the company’s diverse product base and operational activities.

A strategic acquisition which will result in a powerful manufacturing and distribution software capability for the market leading systems company.

19^th October 2012: Kerridge Commercial Systems Limited (KCS) today announces the acquisition of Datawright Limited. Based in Washington, Tyne and Wear, Datawright, with its Kingfisher product, specialises in solutions for the manufacturing sector with a client base in the UK and an international presence in China, Sweden, UAE and the USA.

KCS, based in Hungerford, Berkshire, with its leading K8 solution, specialises in business management solutions to the distribution industry. The company has operations in the UK, Ireland, Netherlands and South Africa supporting customers in 15 countries.

Ian Bendelow, (CEO of KCS) comments, “We are very pleased to make this strategic acquisition. As our customers in the distributive trades continue to take control of their supply chain, they are looking to differentiate themselves through offering value-added processes and many require their systems to have manufacturing functionality. As a consequence of this acquisition, our customers will be able to take advantage of a fully proven manufacturing module which will be added to the K8 system. Equally, I believe that the strength of the larger KCS group and its enhanced product capabilities will enable us to achieve growth in the manufacturing sector.”

“The two companies have known each other for many years and share a common technology platform and we will immediately set about integrating the two systems to provide a single solution which will bring significant additional benefits to our customers. To reflect our new strategy, Datawright will become KCS Datawright and Kingfisher will be re-branded as K8 Enterprise. “

Jim Symonds (Managing Director of Datawright) comments, “This is a very positive move both for our customers and our people. Having known Kerridge Commercial Systems for many years, I believe that our cultures are remarkably similar. We both work extremely closely with our customers, have the same strong work ethic and we share a common technology platform. The greater development capability, resource and market presence of the combined organisation means that our customers will be able to benefit from better products, broader knowledge and experience together with a larger user community. The KCS expansion plan will also mean career development opportunities for our staff which are important considerations in the fast-changing world of IT. After 10 years as a Datawright customer and 18 years with the company, I am proud to be able to hand over the reins to the safe hands of Kerridge Commercial Systems, whose drive and integrity will take the company forward.“

Ian Bendelow says, “I’d like to thank Jim Symonds for his tremendous support. We have a great opportunity to deliver considerable benefits to our customers and our staff. We will continue to grow the business by making sure that we bring easy to use, scalable and flexible solutions to help our customers become more successful and more profitable.”

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There are many influencing factors which cause merchants to review their computer system. It may be that the existing system has no development strategy or perhaps there are concerns about the supplier’s security. Retrieving information, particularly when serving customers, could be a time consuming and frustrating process. Or perhaps, slow and cumbersome management tools mean that the system is not doing much for effective decision-making and business planning. The acid test – is the incumbent system fit for purpose, or is there a risk that the business is being left behind? All these arguments are fine, but perhaps a little vague. Is it possible to simplify the expectations of a modern, fully integrated system? And then to assess how existing systems are performing.

With its 35 years of delivering class-leading distribution software, Kerridge Commercial Systems has defined four key areas to help sweep away some of the hype. The essential areas, says the company, are purchasing, stock control, sales and customer service. As benchmark groups these headings should help to compare one alternative system from another. And make it easier to judge the best one to suit the business.

Purchasing requires total control. Essential tools include being able to predict and forecast demands and place orders at the right time and on the right terms. With profitability being under pressure, the ability to control rebates is increasingly important. The system should be flexible enough to enable a choice of suppliers, national or international. It goes almost without saying that accurate, up to date management information should be available, and at the press of a button.

Stock control is all about being as efficient as possible. The key is to have a system that will help to optimise stock levels, ideally on a just in time basis. Facilities to support single and multiple locations, branches and central warehouses, means that there is a much better chance of being able to match customers’ needs.

Nowadays, systems really need to be effective selling machines. First and foremost, there are new sales channels to support – the internet being the most significant arrival which enables trading to take place 24/7. Integrated ecommerce tools are becoming a must-have capability and customers also expect ‘fast food’ style responses when they make an enquiry by phone, or in person.

Which brings us on to profitability. The importance of having facilities that enable a constant and careful watch on the margin, of each transaction, has never been greater. Customers shop around and if deals are to be done, having the tools that can give instant warnings if minima are being breached is immensely useful. If the information is there, the right decisions can be made.

The end game of course is to look after customers better than the competition. More to the point, how can the system make the job easier. If its facilities are being used well to support purchasing, stock control and sales process, chances are a better customer service will result naturally. The business will know more about what the customer wants and information will be there instantly to respond to their enquiries. By being able to do all those things more efficiently and more effectively, there will be more time to develop customer relationships. And that you’re the best company to trade with.

Duncan Smillie, sales director: “From our experience the process of evaluating systems can be quite complex and sometimes it is all too easy to get bogged down in detail. More often than not, decisions come down to ticking the basics – principally how effective is the system in handling day- to-day processes, with speed and efficiency being the key criteria. We believe that the headline requirements in purchasing, stock, sales and customer service cover most of what builders’ merchants look for in a system. We also believe that our customers chose us as because of our consistent industry focus, robust product strategy and demonstrable track record.”

Nicholls & Clarke Group have placed an order with Kerridge Commercial Systems for a 200 user K8 system to replace its legacy ERP systems. Through recent growth and business development the company, which employs over 500 members of staff, needed a system which would provide high performance transaction processing. The decision to choose K8 came from a broad evaluation of candidate systems which was then shortlisted for detailed assessments of the three platforms which most closely matched business requirements. Ultimately, the principle reasons for choosing K8 were its fast point of sale capabilities and immense versatility in all areas of the system

David Forbes, CEO of the Nicholls & Clarke Group of Companies commented, “As a company developing and investing in production technology, new product developments and IT systems, we needed a new system that would provide us with a platform for the future. We were impressed with K8’s capability across the board and in particular transaction processing where speed, efficiency and flexibility are essential requirements. This investment involves much more than a new computer system. In making our selection, it was critically important that we would gain an IT partner who we could work with and develop a long and successful relationship. Stability, continuity and the assurance of a product roadmap for the years ahead are vital. With the company’s track record, I believe that Kerridge Commercial Systems will be an excellent partner for us.”

In addition to the fully integrated K8 trading and financial suites, Nicholls & Clarke have specified the latest CRM and Business Intelligence applications as part of the project

Duncan Smillie, Sales & Marketing Director, Kerridge Commercial Systems said, “We are delighted that Nicholls & Clarke have chosen K8. It has been a pleasure to work with their team during the pre-contract stages and in that time we have learned a great deal about their business and understand how they want to use K8. We welcome Nicholls & Clarke as a customer and look forward to supporting them during the implementation and beyond.”

About Nicholls & Clarke

Nicholls & Clarke Group of Companies are British manufacturers, distributors and retailers of over 60,000 building products. Founded in 1875 in the heart of London, the company are a well established company also known as N&C. The Group, made up N&C Nicobond, N&C Phlexicare, N&C Building Materials, N&C Moderna, N&C Olympus, N&C Tilestyle and N&C Glass primarily supply the respective trade, major housebuilders, architects, local authorities and retailers, as well as end users through their nationwide retail outlets.

Comprehensive monitoring and business measurement

Monitoring business performance on timely and accurate information is a key priority for decision makers in the fast-moving distributive trades.

This comprehensive monitoring and measurement software forms part of the integrated K8 trading system, developed to provide one integral solution for wholesalers, distributors, merchants and retailers. K8 will flex in line with your company’s individual requirements, whatever its size and reach, giving you control and visibility across your entire operation.

We’ve built this software to support the way you view and run your business. The Key Performance Indicator reporting tools are designed to present performance against objectives for any branch or trading area, at any financial level from the broadest sweep to the finest detail. You define access permissions to Director, Finance and Manager Dashboards that give different levels of information to your people on the basis of what they need to know to make their decisions.

So, whether it’s a board-level review of operations across the organisation, an accountant’s-eye view of actual versus budget figures, or a manager’s update on sales, stock levels or supplier positions, the picture is clear. Whatever the individual preference, you can switch formats between tables and reports or smart graphical interpretations. There’s no better way to make sure you have the facts, accurate and up-to-the minute, before you evaluate the situation, consider the options and commit resources to action. It’s the only way to ensure that you make intelligent decisions, based on sound business intelligence.

The Key to Integrated and Streamlined Supply Chain Management Proccesses

The supply chain process has always been the cornerstone of any successful distribution organisation - effective supply chain management can set a company apart from its competitors. In today's market, it's vitally important that this process also improves efficiency and reduces costs across the business and the right IT platform makes this possible. The market-leading K8 software solution from Kerridge Commercial Systems is the key to integrated and streamlined Supply Chain Management.

Streamline the supply chain for success

The need for a competitive advantage has never been greater and for distributors this means enhanced supply chain management. That's because logistics and the supply chain is the lifeblood of a distribution business, running through manufacturing, packaging, warehousing, stock management, sales order processing and, ultimately, customer fulfilment. The challenge for all distribution businesses is how to streamline these disparate functions in order to enhance the operational processes overall and ensure customer satisfaction, thereby gaining that competitive edge. The answer is integration.

K8: integration through innovation

Viewing the supply chain as a single integrated operation is essential if organisations are to use international best practice processes. Given that the benefit of adopting 'best practice' is greater cost control, improved efficiency and therefore increased profitability, finding an integrated IT solution lies at the heart of effective supply chain management.

K8 is a fully integrated, functionally-rich trading, marketing, financial and business management system which operates at each and every stage of the supply chain process. K8 offers the key to both the integration and the streamlining of logistics in one single IT solution. This highly advanced and innovative system, powered by Oracle and provided on the most powerful, secure and reliable database in the world, Oracle 11g, is simple to adapt to any business, of any size, and is intuitive to use.

Future-proofing supply chain management

While the importance of supply chain management is common to all distributors, each organisation faces its own specific challenges in logistics, hence the need for a flexible IT system which can deliver where its needed most. The K8 platform is fully scalable and adaptable, offering solutions to small, one-site businesses as well as multi-site, multi-national corporations. Its specific functionality can be honed to address operational issues as they arise, allowing organisations to future-proof their supply chain management. K8 delivers solutions which work today and which prepare for tomorrow.

K8.09 tested and ready to run on Oracle Exadata Database Machine

January 12th 2012. Kerridge Commercial Systems today announced that Kerridge Commercial Systems K8.09 has achieved Oracle Exadata Ready status through Oracle Partner Network (OPN).

Today’s announcement demonstrates that Kerridge Commercial Systems has fully tested and supports K8.09 on Oracle Exadata Database Machine. K8 is a fully integrated trading and financial system for distribution, merchant, wholesale/retail sectors. A class-leading system, it incorporates advanced and comprehensive functionality and has the capability to deliver an excellent range of benefits at both operational and management levels. Kerridge Commercial Systems is a Gold level member of Oracle Partner Network.

Oracle Exadata Ready is part of the Oracle Exastack Ready program, which allows partners, such as Kerridge Commercial Systems, to be recognised by Oracle for developing, testing and tuning their applications on the latest component products of Oracle Exadata Database Machine or Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud engineered systems. The Oracle Exadata Database Machine is the only database machine that provides extreme performance for both data warehousing and online transaction processing (OLTP) workloads, making it the ideal platform for consolidating onto private clouds. It is a complete package of servers, storage, networking, and software that is massively scalable, secure, and Redundant.

The Oracle Exastack Ready program recognises Kerridge Commercial Systems as having applications that successfully use the capabilities of the latest Oracle technology to support their customers.

Ian Bendelow, Kerridge Commercial Systems CEO said, “To have achieved Oracle Exadata Ready status is a fantastic milestone for the company. Oracle Exadata Ready status gives all of our customers, particularly those who handle extremely large business volumes, the clearest reassurance that K8.09 is a world-class performing product.”

With Oracle Exadata Ready status, Kerridge Commercial Systems will receive access to corresponding Oracle branding, logos and related benefits to effectively differentiate their offerings.

“When partners such as Kerridge Commercial Systems leverage the latest component products of Oracle Exadata Database Machine as the foundation for their applications, they benefit from a complete, integrated and cloud-ready infrastructure that will help them utilize new features and functionality and drive innovation,” said Chris Baker, Senior Vice President, Worldwide ISV and OEM Sales. “We are pleased to see Kerridge Commercial Systems achieve Oracle Exadata Ready status as this significant milestone helps equip them to deliver superior value to customers.”

About the Oracle Exastack Program

The Oracle Exastack Program helps enable Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and other members of Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) to rapidly build and deliver faster, more reliable applications. Leveraging the Oracle Exastack Program, qualifying OPN members have access to Oracle performance experts and dedicated labs for testing and tuning their applications on Oracle Exadata Database Machine and Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud. Customers can be confident when selecting Oracle Exastack Optimized applications that they have been tested and tuned to achieve optimal performance, scalability and reliability. Also part of the program, Oracle Exastack Ready is dedicated to helping ISVs run their solutions on the latest major release of Oracle Exadata Database Machine, Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud and their component products, including Oracle Database, Oracle WebLogic Server, Oracle Solaris, Oracle Linux and Oracle VM. These products provide partners with a lower cost and high performance infrastructure for database and application workloads across on-premise and cloud based environments. To find out more, visit http://www.oracle.com/partners/en/partner-with-oracle/differentiate-offerings/exastack-ready-optimized/index.html

About Oracle PartnerNetwork

Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized is the latest version of Oracle's partner program that provides partners with tools to better develop, sell and implement Oracle solutions. OPN Specialized offers resources to train and support specialized knowledge of Oracle products and solutions and has evolved to recognize Oracle's growing product portfolio, partner base and business opportunity. Key to the latest enhancements to OPN is the ability for partners to differentiate through Specialisations. Specialisations are achieved through competency development, business results, expertise and proven success. To find out more, visit http://www.oracle.com/partners/index.html

About Kerridge Commercial Systems

Kerridge Commercial Systems is a market leader in the development and provision of trading and financial software environments for specialist Distribution, Wholesale, Importing, Merchant and Retail industry sectors.

With over 35 years’ experience, Kerridge Commercial Systems, and its flagship product, K8, has the knowledge, expertise and proven track-record to fulfil customers' IT requirements, allowing them to focus on their core business issues.

From single- or multi-branch operations, through to 'point-of-sale' showrooms and warehouses; Kerridge Commercial Systems aims to provide a business solution geared, primarily, towards helping customers:

• Increase profit potential
• Improve efficiency
• Reduce cost
• Provide superior customer service
• Gain visibility and control across their organisation

If you have any queries or would like any further information, please contact:

Nell McIntosh
Marketing Manager
Kerridge Commercial Systems
Tel: +44 (0) 1488 662000
Email: nell.mcintosh@kerridecs.com

Trademarks

Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

We are making excellent progress with the integration of TIS and Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) - Kerridge Commercial Systems signs are now in place at the Bourne End office. A key milestone was reached on the 15th December, with the announcement of the new organisation structure for the integrated business. Many staff from Bourne End recently spent a day at Hungerford to meet with their KCS colleagues.

Across the company there is clearly a growing understanding of each business’s products and services and how the benefits of the acquisition will start to accrue in the coming weeks.

Probably the most significant aspect of the integration process to date has been the formulation and announcement of the new, post-acquisition, product strategy. All customers are in process of being briefed individually on the programme for new and existing products and will be guided according to needs. Again, we stress that customer’s long term interests remain paramount.

Another important project from a customer service point of view is in progress to integrate TIS into the KCS call-logging systems. This will result in us having a single management and control process to monitor call activity and response performance. A dedicated team of analysts with the requisite knowledge and experience will continue to be based at Bourne End.

As you will appreciate, the project will continue for some months yet, but everyone is very confident that by mid-year, we will be working as one organisation and our customers will increasingly be able to take advantage of the benefits.

Kerridge Commercial Systems are delighted to announce that Plumbers Depot have recently signed as a new customer

Plumbers Depot, based in South Tottenham, sell an extensive range of plumbing and bathroom products. The company will be implementing K8 to run their successful operation and have opted for the Kerridge Commercial Systems hosted solution (where the server resources are held at the Kerridge Commercial Systems contracted datacentres).

Commenting on the new contract, Adrian Cannon, new business sales said, "We are pleased to add Plumbers Depot to our client list. They are an exciting and ambitious business and fit very well with our established portfolio within the building supplies industry. I am very much looking forward to working with the Plumbers Depot team in the coming months.”