Weird Fish reduce order turnaround time by 70% with Microsoft Dynamics™ AX

15 September 2008| Source: Rita Flakoll, Syscom PLC - Weird Fish

Background

Originally established in 1981 as an importer of surfboards, Weird Fish has evolved into a rapidly expanding supplier of leisure and lifestyle clothing. The Cheltenham based company have their own in-house design team and, like many other clothing companies, outsource production to Turkey and the Far East. “We started off with printed t-shirts,” says Jon Goodwin, Financial Controller of Weird Fish, “now we offer a whole range of women’s, men’s and children’s wear for people who go walking, climbing, windsurfing, skiing… and generally enjoy outdoor activities. We provide timeless, high-quality garments and accessories that people can carry on wearing year on year.”

Weird Fish’s unique brand is now established as a strong market leader within its sector. “Just three years ago we had 6 members of staff,” says Jon, “now we have 30 employees, a 20,000 sq foot warehouse and about 450 customers selling the Weird Fish brand. Turnover has gone from £3 million, four years ago, to over £8 million today – and we expect to be at £20 million in the next three years.” Weird Fish have a series of licensed stores nationwide as well as three of their own shops to compliment their highly successful Internet and mail order business.

Business Issues / System Requirements

Weird Fish’s rapid expansion has seen them outgrow their initial software and IT systems. Amongst their key business issues were a lack of automation and integration, fragmented data, the duplication of efforts and limited reporting capabilities.

“There was a real lack of automation,” says Jon. “We were writing orders out manually and had to run invoices individually, which meant I would literally be hours at a computer printing them out. Our distribution and stock management systems were not integrated with our accounting software so we often had disparity in information and had to constantly update two systems. It basically meant we had fragmented data and double the work to do.”

Their disparate systems made it difficult to access flexible data for analysis and obtain simple, day-to-day information, such as stock levels and customer order status. “Getting a standard list of all products that were no longer being produced and comparing this against outstanding customer orders would take about 5 hours,” says Jon, “and marrying customer orders with purchase orders would be a tedious, time consuming process.”

Solution

Already a user of Microsoft Dynamics™ Retail Management in their current stores, Weird Fish wanted a solution that could integrate with their existing infrastructure. “We like Microsoft because we feel their solutions will always be supported, thus minimising the risk in our future investment,” says Jon. “We also knew it was vital to have a style, colour, size matrix for managing orders and stock. After some research in the market we decided to investigate Microsoft Dynamics AX in further detail and found it ticked these boxes. Now we see the true flexibility of the system – you don’t just have to live with it, you can adapt it to your requirements.”

Weird Fish chose Microsoft Gold Partner, Syscom PLC to help implement Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management across their latest stores. “After considering several companies within the market, we decided on Syscom due to their market focus “ said Ian Edwards, General Manager. “Syscom were always on our radar as they have proven experience within the clothing sector. Their industry expertise became evident during the sales process and we felt they were a company we could form a long-term partnership with to develop our business.”

“We had specific timescales in mind for when we wanted the system to go live,” says Jon. “Our quietest trading period is January and February, so we had to get the system in place then. Due to the flexible nature and modular make-up of Microsoft Dynamics AX, Syscom were able to successfully implement the system in just eight weeks.”

Business Benefits

Microsoft Dynamics AX has already heralded Weird Fish with a number of benefits, including enhanced customer service, improved stock management, company-wide integration and collaboration, data security and effective reporting.

Microsoft Dynamics AX has enabled Weird Fish to improve customer service by making real-time information readily accessible. “If a customer rings up to query an outstanding invoice we no longer have to jump between systems to get the information we need,” says Jon, “we can now simply click on the invoice and drill down for more detailed information, giving the customer exactly what they need there and then. We can also now tell customers immediately what stock is available and reserve items without having to physically go into the warehouse first to check. Our customers have reported improved order accuracy and our order turn-around time has been reduced by around 70%”

Furthermore, Microsoft Dynamics AX has helped to create a more accurate stock environment, allowing stock lines to be counted and adjusted automatically and all changes to be traced. “The system gives us real visibility into all areas of the business. For example, we can now see who has made adjustments to stock levels and when, so there is more accountability. We’ve had a noticeable reduction in stock errors and the time it takes us to do a stock take has been reduced by about 60%.”

Because they are now working from a single, integrated system, Weird Fish can communicate effectively across all departments, reducing duplication of efforts and enhancing collaboration throughout the business. “We use the alerts functionality to inform everyone in the company as things happen – for instance if a customer is placed on hold or if someone’s credit limit is altered,” says Jon. “This improved collaboration will be crucial as we continue to grow. The fact that changes are reflected immediately in the system has already proved invaluable – for example when a customer has been placed on hold after their order had already been picked, Microsoft Dynamics AX prevents the order from proceeding to the next stage – in this case we couldn’t produce a delivery note. In the past, once the order had gone to the picking stage it would have been too late and the delivery would have gone out, increasing the chance of poor payment.”

Access to information on the system is governed by role or user level, controlling who has access to particular features and data. “It means we can be confident data is secure,” says Jon, “while at the same time staff can view all the information they need to work effectively.”

Weird Fish have also found the agility of Microsoft Dynamics AX to be key in allowing them to gain vital business intelligence. “It gives you the ability to cut and dice data how you want, rather than how someone else thought you might want to,” says Jon. “Alongside the standard reports that every business needs, such as customer sales, Microsoft Dynamics AX also enables you to easily customise your own reports. The ability to analyse data in a live environment is crucial in meeting customer demands.”

Future Plans

In future Weird Fish have plans to continue opening new stores across the UK, and also to venture into the European export market. The company view Microsoft Dynamics AX as integral to their continued aggressive growth strategy. “Having sound technology going forward is going to allow us to grow and develop,” says Jon. “As our business needs change the system will be able to grow and change with us.”

Weird Fish will also be working with Syscom to implement the Active Portal within Microsoft Dynamics AX, which will allow their customers, agents and sales people to place their own orders via the internet. “We would like customers to be able to view stock, download pricelists, place orders and even print invoices via the web,” says Jon. “We will continue to strive to improve our customer experience and want to build on the excellent customer service that Microsoft Dynamics AX has already helped us to offer.”

For more information:
Visit: http://www.syscom.plc.uk
Contact: Sally Reynolds

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