How Core Products put DataFlow at the centre of e-commerce and distribution
A leading UK supplier of flat-packed furniture, shelving and storage moved off a DOS accounting package and now runs three company accounts, three warehouses and a direct-to-home channel on one system.
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- Since 2008 working with DataFlow
- 100,000+ items held across three warehouses
- 3 company accounts on one system
- Minutes from web order to pick and pack
Inside Core Products.
Over the past three decades Core Products has grown into one of the UK’s leading suppliers of flat-packed furniture, shelving and storage products, designed and developed specifically for the demanding UK consumer. As a foremost supplier to UK retail and contractor markets, they offer both bulk trade and direct-to-home delivery from an extensive stockholding. Customer service is provided from the national administrative centre in Perth, Scotland, with a national distribution centre in Fife. At any one time Core Products houses over 100,000 items across three warehouses, with a similar number in transit.
- Sector
- Distribution — flat-packed furniture
- With DataFlow since
- 2008
- Admin centre
- Perth, Scotland
- Distribution
- National centre in Fife
A DOS package, and everything by hand.
Manual import-export made sales accounting a slow job for a business that lives on data.
Core Products had been working from a DOS-based accounting package for many years. Life under the legacy system was becoming painful: many of the data import and export functions were manual, which made sales accounting a time-consuming process.
The operational picture was demanding too. Multi-site warehousing makes stock management a challenge, because any delay in releasing stock can lead to inaccuracies — an item is either a sales value or a stock value, not both. Three separate company accounts, multiple suppliers on the purchase ledger and multiple bar codes for commoditised products all had to be handled at once.
- Manual data import and export slowing sales accounting.
- Stock accuracy at risk across three warehouses when releases lag.
- Three company accounts with inter-company purchases between them.
- Delivery details for retail partners being re-entered into a separate system.
Customised where it counts.
Flexibility, not compromise: Core Products scope and dictate changes to the system.
Core Products has been working with DataFlow since 2008, and flexibility has been the key component of that relationship. As the business has grown and evolved, DataFlow has provided custom enhancements to the standard accounting package — rather than compromising the way they do business, Core Products scope and dictate changes that let them integrate a broad range of processes and workflows. Customised modules include EDI, e-commerce, sales ledger and real-time stock management.
The e-commerce modules transform the order process: cash-with-order sales are streamlined with secure credit and debit card payments, while account sales apply the back-office credit control workflow. Promotional codes apply time-limited discounts automatically, ensuring accurate invoicing. DataFlow is also integrated with national logistics companies, providing accurate package weights, volumes, pallet numbers and destinations.
- EDI and e-commerce modules customised to Core Products’ workflows.
- Card payments for cash-with-order sales; credit control workflow for account sales.
- Promotional codes applied automatically for accurate invoicing.
- Distribution workflows automated — no manual re-entry of delivery details.
- Carrier integration passing weights, volumes, pallet numbers and destinations.
- An online catalogue of parts and accessories linked to the accounts package.
Information straight through to the warehouse.
A sales organisation that gets the management information it needs, quickly.
Finance Director Mary Wallace is clear about the value: “IT expenses can be high, but the value-add components of DataFlow have more than paid for themselves.” On the e-commerce work specifically: “The e-commerce solution has been phenomenal. Information goes straight through to the warehouse, making the pick and pack and stock control processes much more efficient.”
Core Products are expert users, leveraging almost every component of the solution, and continue to scope and integrate new functionality as requirements emerge — 3D product images and dynamic content for the online catalogue, and mobile e-commerce delivered from an iPad.
| Outcome | Before DataFlow | With DataFlow |
|---|---|---|
| Sales accounting | Manual import and export | Automated through the order flow |
| Web orders | Handled separately | Straight through to the warehouse |
| Carrier data | Liaison with third parties | Weights, volumes and pallets passed automatically |
| Discounts | Applied by hand at invoicing | Promotional codes applied automatically |
| Group companies | Three sets of books | Inter-company purchases handled seamlessly |
We are a sales organisation, so we are looking for data all the time. With DataFlow, I can get the management information I need really quickly.
What Core Products run.
Order processing and stock at the centre, with e-commerce and EDI feeding them.
Web orders not reaching the warehouse cleanly?
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