Following a call from the company, we arranged a suitable time to discuss and observe their routines. We spent two half-days watching and discussing what they did and the reasons behind some of the tasks. Like most companies, they carried out tasks in a particular way, which worked for them and proved to be the most efficient. After liaising with their accountant who was in the process of changing them over to Xero accounting instead of Sage, we formulated a plan to modernise and integrate their whole quoting, invoicing, and delivery system and integrate it into Xero accounts! Also, due to changes in tax laws, we needed to have the system built and ready within 3 months!

As a result of the meetings, discussions and a couple of extra fact-checking trips to site, we installed the new solution for RSJ Steels. The new system integrated all complex calculations required by the BS-8666 standard and reduced what was previously an hour job of inputting customer orders, down to a 15 minute process. This also brought the production of cut labels, delivery notes, invoices and checklists as part of the same process. A customer is now managed from a single screen with all previous orders and information in the same place. Part-delivery notes and invoices can also now be generated by a simple tick system.

The invoice process at the end of the month has now gone from a whole day down to a couple of hours due to the integration process and a simple tick-box to decide which invoices to process and send. The system now:

Handles all orders
Shows historical orders
Calculates steel requirements per order
Prints individual labels for each steel bundle
Manages delivery notes and can ‘part-deliver’ if required
Pushes invoice data directly into Xero accounts

The time taken to create an initial order and then generate cutting lists and labels has been dramatically reduced due to the ability to combine processes and simplify steps taken to complete a task. Searching for historical orders or customers now takes seconds due to the advanced search facility built into the system.

“This has certainly made the job much easier and quicker and now allows us more time to focus on other areas without compromising what we already do. A great system which has helped us here at RSJ Steels a great deal”