The K2 Information System helps sell and distribute roofing materials
A customer story about how K2 has helped PRVNÍ CHODSKÁ.
The situation prior to deploying K2
At the turn of 2003 and 2004, PRVNÍ CHODSKÁ began to realize that its existing information system no longer sufficed. The company was undergoing growth at this time, which meant a huge increase in the number of documents being generated and circulated.
„We began to consider installing a new information system the moment the old one was unable to keep up with our requirements and so we could no longer rely on the data. Another incentive to change it was the need to actively connect our branches with headquarters,“ says Chief Financial Officer Radek Šerlovský.
It was this need to interconnect the branches that probably settled it as far as deciding to get an entirely new solution. Other requirements were finding a better overview of stock levels, orders and payments, more convenient access to complete marketing information, and the ability to adapt the system as much as possible for future needs.
A flexible solution covering the operation of the entire company
„We absolutely didn’t want any box software that we couldn’t adapt to our needs. The system we had at that time was already way outdated, so we wanted a managerial superstructure and the maximum possible on-line connections with various modern features in all directions. The price of course was important,“ adds Radek Šerlovský about the choice.
Already after installation, the K2 Information System became an essential part of the everyday operation of PRVNÍ CHODSKÁ and its branches. Thanks to the software architecture, which can handle large amounts of data, the system is able to work with a huge number of documents. The installation not only did away with the problems with undependability and the slow circulation of data, but also allowed the company to continue growing and to not have to worry about capacities and limits.
Managerial evaluation, financial reporting and automation
With the transition to the K2 Information System, the company was given managerial tools that have been designed to evaluate large datasets. Today PRVNÍ CHODSKÁ is able to work with them quickly and efficiently.
„Thanks to the managerial tools in the K2 Information System, we know everything that’s happening at the level of individual stores – their daily turnovers and trends, for example – as well as across the company. We can respond more quickly to any incident,“ says Radek Šerlovský.
Today PRVNÍ CHODSKÁ uses managerial and financial reports to evaluate individual branches and provide overviews of how they are performing. Also reported at the same time are account balances, warehouse balances, margins and turnover, both across the company and in the branches.
Other tools of the K2 Information System can then evaluate and watch sales below cost, sales below the minimum margin or credit limits for customers. „Everything is working, moreover, on-line; access to the data is immediate,“ says the CFO of PRVNÍ CHODSKÁ.
The company also uses the K2 Information System to manage their business processes and check their progress and conditions. This control is provided by workflow processes. They are primarily targeted on financial management and the approval of operational and business decisions, like approving incoming invoices, issuing credit notes in sales or approving orders.
A notification feature is incorporated into the individual workflow processes to keep those involved in the processes updated about their status and progress.
Linking branches or an information system in the clouds
The K2 Information System connects headquarters with fifteen branches all over the country. These branches have entirely separate sales, bookkeeping and also run their own warehouses. But they are also connected online to headquarters, which has access to all this information.
Although the branches have their own warehouses, the system can watch their dead stock across the board. „If one of the branches has dead stock that another branch is planning to order from a supplier, the system automatically notifies the ordering branch that the goods can be had from elsewhere. This way we avoid unnecessary orders with suppliers,“ says Radek Šerlovský.
PRVNÍ CHODSKÁ also decided to leave the running of the information system to the K2 Datacenter. This way the company does not have to deal with hardware, infrastructure, backups or administering it themselves. They can access the information system anytime and anywhere.
About running the system in the K2 Datacenter, Radek Šerlovský says: „We have our entire IT infrastructure there and we are satisfied. Outages are minimal, and if one does happen, the response is immediate. We have sped up our data flow and ensured the stability of the network, where in the past we had only problems.“
The cloud solution is also an advantage when it comes to having individual branches. All data is stored in one place and immediately available online at any time. All this on a fast and stable data network, which is secured with the independent channels of various providers. Any outage is therefore absolutely minimal.
The K2 Information System? A pleasant surprise
PRVNÍ CHODSKÁ can today rely on the data that is stored in its system. In addition, everything works online in real time and access to all the information is immediate. Thanks to the managerial tools, company management has an overview of everything that is important, both at the level of individual stores and across the company.
„We are really pleasantly surprised by the adaptability of the K2 Information System. What we needed to get for our system, we got it there,“ says Radek Šerlovský, the Chief Financial Officer of PRVNÍ CHODSKÁ s.r.o.
„The K2 Information System controls essentially all processes from the receipt of goods at the warehouse to their final sale and marketing. Kádvojka can handle wages and to a small degree we also use the module Production, which manages our production of molded trusses.
In Kádvojka we have a lot of interesting changes that really made life easy. For example, controlling the sales of goods in relation to any invoices – any goods marked as dead stock in one branch can be quickly taken by other branches and this avoids unnecessarily ordering the same thing from suppliers. We are able to issue orders directly from K2 and all documents are then electronically and automatically loaded back into the system, without printing anything.
The implementation process cost the whole team a lot of time and effort. It was not easy. But today when we look back on it, we can see that we really made the right decision, because everything works as it should.“
PRVNÍ CHODSKÁ s.r.o. specializes in roofs. In their more than twenty-five year history, they have become a leading retailer of branded roof materials on the Czech market. Their product range also includes roofing, windows, insulation, fittings and all other materials necessary for roofs and attics.
In addition, PRVNÍ CHODSKÁ provides consulting services. Their experts help with choosing installation companies, technical solutions, and calculating total price with shipping to the site. And it also buys back any leftover material.