Operations Manager
Midshires Electrical & Lighting
Established in 2003, Midshires Electrical (Midshires) are an independent electrical wholesaler specialising in providing high quality electrical and lighting products, specifically to trade customers.
With over 150 years of combined experience, their sales team is renowned for their knowledge and hospitality.
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Midshires began their journey using software supplier, Intact, to manage their customer, product and financial data.
With their business rapidly expanding, it became clear they were outgrowing Intact and needed a more flexible, scalable and long-term solution for their needs: "We couldn't integrate with any new technology with Intact. We were outgrowing it and wanted to expand with a company like OGL that would give us the ability to integrate with new technology to push our business forward."
The Operations Manager further explains: "We looked at other software providers but they each had their drawbacks. With its own in-house development team, OGL Software offered us everything that we wanted and more."
Midshires' Operations Manager observes: "OGL software has opened us up to improved ways of managing stock and new orders, it's a country mile ahead of our old system.
"Prior to installing OGL Software, there were multiple things other businesses did that we didn't have the capability to do due to the restrictions of the old system. Now we have full visibility of what's going on in our business, it's completely helped us solve our need to move forward with technology. Order importing, for example, was functionality we didn't have before. We are very labour intensive with inputting orders but OGL automated the process, so we no longer have to manually type each order out, saving us several hours each day."
OGL Software has also enabled Midshires Electrical to integrate with route optimisation application, MaxOptra, to streamline their processes, take on more orders with fewer mistakes, and keep their customer base happy.
Midshires quickly saw the benefits when it came to route planning and scheduling. Instead of taking an hour to plan routes, it now takes a mere 10-20 minutes, and in some cases much less: "Our MaxOptra integration with OGL Software has easily cut down our route planning time by 50%. What could take up to an hour now takes as little as 30 seconds."
Midshires can be far more efficient, with MaxOptra choosing the best possible route for them meaning their vans are now back at the depot earlier than ever.
"You can go from point A to point B in the most efficient way possible now. It's crazy when you look back at what we used to do..."
The ability to plan their routes more effectively means that Midshires now have full visibility of their deliveries as well as their costs: "MaxOptra allows us to easily see real-time information of deliveries within OGL Software, giving departments full visibility of how each vehicle is performing. It has also helped us be more aware of the costs involved for deliveries. Like any business, we make occasional errors, and we have to fix those errors as quickly as possible. Prior to our MaxOptra integration, we knew the error was going to cost us money to fix but we didn't know how much. Now we know exactly how much we have spent on fuel and the drivers wages, so our team know the reality of the error."
Keeping their customers happy is a priority for Midshires and MaxOptra's communication functionality has enabled them to achieve exactly that.
Midshires are now able to offer a text notification service to their customers, which is a significant improvement to their previous delivery offering:
"Previously we would get multiple calls per day with customers asking us where their orders were. Our office would have to speak to our transport planning team, then ring our driver and then the whole process would need to repeat in reverse. Now, with our automated text service, our customers receive a notification via text message with a 2-hour window slot. We can also include the driver's contact details so if a customer does ring, they get to the driver directly. This has really helped to minimise disruption to our day allowing us to focus on other priorities."
As well as time-saving, Midshires are now benefiting from having a digital system that does the hard work for them. They no longer rely on paperwork for customers to sign. Instead, they can utilise electronic signatures and proof of delivery, including photos of where parcels have been left.
All of this information feeds back into OGL's software seamlessly, helping Midshires to gain a 360 view of activity.
"MaxOptra allows us to easily see real-time information of deliveries within OGL Software, giving departments full visibility of how each vehicle is performing."
Now that Midshires has an effective ERP system in place, their plans are not only to grow but to continue to provide an exemplary customer experience that they are so well-known for:
"Ultimately we want to increase our profitability as a business. Prior to Brexit and Covid our biggest ever year was 12 million. We have an aim to reach a 15 million turnover in the next 3 or 4 years and we're confident with OGL Software in place we can reach that goal. Money aside, we always try to be the best at what we do for our customers. We want to continue to offer as many additional services as we can to our customers which improves the service they can provide their customers with."
When asked what advice Midshires would give to other businesses who are struggling with limited systems and manual processes but are unsure whether to invest in a full ERP system, they said: "Get as many people from key areas of your business as possible involved to get a variety of opinions. Decide on your top priorities as a company and spend time going through your requirements in depth. The support from your software provider is key. OGL Software has helped us massively and I would definitely recommend them."
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