We’re very impressed with the functionality that the ODSNet platform brings, and with the way ODS deals with things

Monday, 13 February 2017

Direct integration of new Workshop+ e-commerce platform with Sage 1000 ERP will eliminate Monday morning bottlenecks caused by manual order input

Guildford, UK, February 13, 2017– ODS UK, creators of ODSNet™, the B2B e-commerce platform for SAP Business One and Sage, has been chosen to help drive new business growth at automotive industry supply group, Sandhurst, best known for its Sandhurst Autoprint brand, one of the UK’s largest suppliers of number plate components and equipment.

The Sandhurst Group of Companies has expanded and diversified over the last decade. Its Workshop+ business, supplying automotive consumables - from paper towels and disposable gloves to fuses and cable ties - is a particular focus for new growth. The goal is to double its turnover over the next year.

Online sales via the company web site as well as marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay are a strong channel for the business, which supplies the public as well as the trade. To grow efficiently Workshop+ needed an e-commerce platform it could tightly integrate with its back-office system, Sage 1000. So an approach from ODS to help transform its web site was very timely, and Sandhurst snapped up the chance to migrate to its platform. ODS’s e-commerce platform, ODSNet, integrates directly with leading Sage and SAP ERP systems. The ODS Marketplace Connector will manage and streamline the listing process and order flow back into Sage. The Telesales and Field sales teams will also use ODSNet modules to enable the sale across all their customer touchpoints.

As with Sandhurst’s other businesses, the previous web site for Workshop+ was designed internally and hosted via Shopify. Although it could take orders, the original site did not join up with internal systems, requiring extensive manual input to reconcile orders, stock impact and sales figures. With target monthly sales of £100,000, the business needed these updates to happen automatically.

“If we received orders out of hours, we’d have to print out the email the next day and input the details into Sage. Monday was a particular bottleneck – it could take us all morning to catch up,” says Sandhurst’s operations director Trevor Gray. “As we’re aiming for an annual online turnover of £1 million, we needed a more efficient way of doing things.”

ODS is currently working with Sage supplier Datel on the project and Sandhurst’s graphic designer and design agency to optimise the front-end of the new web site, which will go live in March following testing.

“Administrative bottlenecks will be a thing of the past once everything is fully automated. We’ll be able to download inventory as an order comes in, and the whole process will be much easier for customers,” Trevor says. “We’re very impressed with the functionality that the ODSNet platform brings, and with the way ODS deals with things.”

Once the Workshop+ integration has been completed, Sandhurst is rolling-out the e-commerce sites for the other businesses in the group using ODSNet. “We want to benefit from the same integration across all of our operations,” Trevor says. “We can reinvest the time saved into other aspects of the business – with the growth plans we have, we need to make use of every bit of capacity!”

About ODS
On Demand Solutions (ODS) is the company behind ODSNet™ an end-to-end B2B e-Commerce platform for SAP Business One and Sage. ODSNet helps wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers get their businesses online, quickly and painlessly.

The company founders have formidable, proven credentials in supply chain, accounting, ERP and fulfilment, and have applied this heritage and know-how to delivering a world-class, powerful and deeply integrated, multi-channel B2B e-Commerce platform.

ODS is passionate about helping companies change the way they sell and has developed a rich B2B platform that seamlessly delivers a multichannel e-Commerce portal without the need for third-party integrations, connectors or add ons. This end-to-end approach has helped countless organisations like Swift Electrical, American Wholesale, Armstrong Richardson and Sandhurst get their trade customers online quickly. These companies enjoy a functionally rich, consistent e-Commerce portal without any of the systems integration nightmares often associated with e-Commerce projects. More at www.odsuk.net or on Twitter @ODS_UK.

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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Carina Birt, PR for ODS at 01722 322916 or email at Carina@sarumpr.com.

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