Case Studies
Introduction of wholesale system attached to in-house retail system
Tulchan Textiles were running a stand-alone sales and purchasing system which was inefficient and hard to manage, frequently resulting in lost orders. Q2Q designed a new system that automated the whole process from order taking to invoicing.
Tulchan are principally a wholesale brand established in 1984, selling a range of exclusive knitwear and leisurewear through approximately 600 independent retail accounts throughout the UK, Europe and Russia. The Tulchan range is exclusively designed in their studios on the borders of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales and is essentially British in concept with a handcrafted country feel reflecting quality and originality.
In 2002 Tulchan was using a stand-alone system that allowed the entering of orders and subsequent manual picklists to be produced. A separate invoice system to the order entry program was linked to the in-house system.
The system was inefficient and made order tracking difficult and time-consuming. Q2Q liaised with key members of the Tulchan Team to design a new system that would integrate with the in-house system and automate the whole process of taking orders through to invoicing. With the new system, once an order is placed the sales staff can track the order through to completion, remaining aware at all times of its status.
When an order is ready to be allocated staff can use the system to identify how much of the order can be fulfilled. This enables them to make a decision as to whether to proceed with a part order, or to hold the order back if the delivery of out-of-stock goods is imminent. Once this is complete a real-time allocation can be run if desired, which will reserve the stock for the customer and send picklists to the warehouse for picking and dispatching. Once a pick has been completed, the invoices are automatically printed off and can be despatched with the order. This has the added bonus of providing the customer with a packing list that will also show the prices and total cost of the order, saving the need to post invoices separately.
This has now helped to increase the department's efficiency by reducing the number of lost or mislaid orders. The allocation system ensures that orders are usually despatched, with the customer's agreement, when the order can be completed and the customer saves money on delivery charges. The stored data has been reduced from that on the old system, where any incomplete lines formed a back order. Orders can now have multiple invoices thereby greatly facilitating the resolution of any customer queries.
Q2Q are currently completing a link to the accounting software to ensure orders cannot be sent to customers who are outside their credit terms. Their credit status is clearly displayed on the order screen so that staff are aware at the point of sale and can explain to the customer the reasons for any possible delays.
