Leading UK Sock Manufacturer Competes Globally with SyscomERP®

27 May 2009| Source: Rita Flakoll, Syscom PLC

The UK’s number one brand for technical outdoor socks, Bridgedale Outdoor Ltd, has replaced their IT systems to keep pace with their global expansion. Having grown from a small business designing socks for the army during World War I, Bridgedale’s well-known technical socks are now supplied to over 40 countries world wide and have become the most trusted on the market. As a growing international organisation, Bridgedale needed to replace their ageing systems and platforms; “Our objective was to increase our turnover by over 30% within the next 3 years,” says Gordon Raffan, Director of Bridgedale, “and we knew that integrating our global operations for a company-wide view would be crucial in gaining accurate business intelligence insight and effective collaboration necessary to achieve this.”

Having spent over eight months investigating business software systems and providers, Bridgedale chose specialist software provider Syscom PLC (www.syscom.plc.uk) to implement SyscomERP throughout their business. This software solution offers a complete financials, analytics and business management system that unifies data and processes across an organisation. “SyscomERP stood out as the best match for our current and future requirements due to its flexibility and integrated structure,” says Gordon. “The system is easy to use whilst at the same time providing advanced, industry-specific functionality. What’s more, the scalability of the system means it will continue to meet our needs as we grow.”

Bridgedale report a number of benefits following the implementation of SyscomERP, including business-wide integration and collaboration, enhanced access to information and improved customer service. “Accurate stock control and sales forecasting are essential in ensuring we can deliver the right goods at the right time,” says Gordon. “Being able to have customer information to hand has proved invaluable in building relationships with our customers and distributors, and the efficiencies the system has brought about in our business processes generally has allowed us to concentrate on gathering customer feedback and developing our products so that we can continue to provide customers with the innovative and reliable socks they have come in expect.”

The software has also assisted Bridgedale in improving their environmental footprint as part of Bridgedale’s aim to design and sell products with a proper regard to environmental factors. “Firstly, our socks are built to last,” says Gordon. “Bridgedale socks made with WoolFusion® come with a 3 year guarantee. We have recently invested in a variable speed compressor to reduce our electricity demand for compressed air by 40% and therefore our carbon footprint. We are now also printing our trade workbooks from recycled paper. Moving to SyscomERP has played a substantial role in helping us to achieve our environmental objectives as it has reduced our paper usage by 50%.”

Syscom believe that Bridgedale is an example of how investing in the right business software is crucial to remaining competitive in today’s marketplace. “The option to connect to the system via the Internet has proved a major advantage with the increasingly international nature of our business, enabling effective communication across internal departments, with distributors and customers,” says Gordon. “This increased efficiency to our global operations is one of the many ways the system is delivering a real return on our investment.”

For more information:
Visit: http://www.syscom.plc.uk
Contact: Rita Flakoll

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