FDBusiness.com

Shropshire-based fresh produce wholesale-distribution company Jupiter Marketing Ltd has chosen the Sage ERP X3 enterprise resource planning system as its new platform for running an efficient and profitable business.

Shropshire-based fresh produce wholesale-distribution company Jupiter Marketing Ltd has chosen the Sage ERP X3 enterprise resource planning system as its new platform for running an efficient and profitable business. The company is planning to go live with the system before the end of 2011, with the support of Sage Business Partner Datel to manage the complex implementation project.

Jupiter Marketing has a forward-looking and enterprising approach to business, which has translated into impressive year-on-year growth of up to 20%. As Financial Controller Ian Grubb explains, maintaining control of dramatic business expansion presents a significant management challenge, “In experiencing growth on this scale, we must be able to measure and monitor every aspect of the business: for example, is the profit we gain from a supplier, customer or product type commensurate with the time and energy we invest in servicing them?” With the new system, Jupiter Marketing will be able to carry out statistical analysis at a detailed level, right down to the country of origin, variety and grade of product.

Ian continues, “Our Sage Line 100 system had served us well over several years as a very robust system. However, it required manual input to extract the information and couldn’t provide the necessary in-depth reporting and analysis. We sought a more modern and powerful system and Datel proposed Sage ERP X3. We are now looking forward to being able to drill down into the information to see what’s going on under the surface and to slice and dice the data.”

Ian says, “Datel knows that in our line of business anything can happen. We have to be flexible and so the system has to be flexible, too. Last winter, for instance, when the ports were closed due to bad weather, stocks were short and prices rocketed. This was quickly followed by a glut and prices plummeted. Bear in mind, too, that we are dependent on what our growers can offer and have a highly perishable product. Datel recognises all these pressures and is tailoring the system to our processes to help us gain greater control in an unpredictable operating environment.”

Sage ERP X3 will support all the day-to-day operations involved in running a fast-moving fresh produce business, such as providing full traceability of goods and understanding the requirements for labour to handle incoming orders. It will accommodate multiple languages and legislative frameworks to support growing volumes of international trade.

 With remote sites, growers across the world, regional procurement managers and sales representatives visiting customers, the ability to log onto the system remotely over the internet is critical. Ian says, “This will have wide-ranging benefits: our growers will be able to access information for themselves, such as sales reports on what has sold and average prices, through an internet portal without contacting the office, while our sales team will be able to enter a sales order quickly and accurately onto to the system, wherever they are. This will greatly improve communications and efficiency.”

In a secondary phase, Sage ERP X3 will help in understanding and managing the workload of both in-house and agency staff, monitoring throughput to ensure the right numbers of staff, working at an appropriate pace, are in place.

Guy Paton, Technical Director at Datel, comments, “We are delighted to have embarked on a new business relationship with such a dynamic, enterprising company. Jupiter Marketing certainly faces significant challenges, both in responding to external forces and in managing its own growth. Our project team are fully engaged in analysing current and future business processes and requirements, and implementing a Sage ERP X3 system that will provide an agile, adaptable system, capable of supporting Jupiter Marketing for many years to come.”

 For further information contact:

 Emma Pownall

Marketing Communications Manager

01925 849 000

emma.pownall@datelgroup.com