Freedom Group
Freedom Group, part of Spice Plc, is a world class
provider of construction and maintenance services to the utility
sector and industry within the UK. Freedom operates from its head
office in Wakefield and has 12 offices throughout the
UK.
The challenge
As Freedom Group grew, so did the number of business and
accounting products being used by the company. These included three
Sage products and Ramesys AXiM, making it difficult to extract the
information that was required at group level due to lack of
integration. The systems did not meet the complex needs of the
company, such as reporting on profit and loss at three levels -
divisional, sub-divisional and by 'service island'.
Andrew Chaplin, Finance Projects Manager for Freedom Group,
comments, "It was very difficult to make comparisons using the
previous systems. It took time to pull together the data that was
required by senior management for reporting and decision
making purposes - the lack of real-time information was becoming an
issue.
"We also needed a flexible web-enabled system for staff to fill
in timesheets, absence and
holiday requests, as well as the functionality for online project
management, procurement and requisitioning - all through a
standard web browser. This
required a total overhaul of our systems and a solution that could
be used across the group - we needed to streamline our business
processes to ensure our continued success."
Transforming the business
He continues, "We initially shortlisted three possible companies
but the Access Dealer stood out as
a clear winner. Its professionalism was also a major factor in our
decision."
With six different service islands in the group, and 700 staff,
including around 300 field engineers and 120 project managers, the
business and accounting software requirements were complex. The Dimensions software from
Access ticked all the boxes for Freedom Group with the
multi-dimensional aspect of the group's operations being
well-supported by the solution. Andrew comments, "We needed
complete visibility across the entire company, and Dimensions
delivers that. For example, we can easily access profit and loss
information for every single sub-division of every company within
the group and make comparisons between them. Key information, such
as group sales and top customers and debtors, is also available in
real-time - all from one enquiry screen, making it easier for our
managers to make decisions and deal with any potential issues as
they occur.
"In addition, our month-end reporting processes have been
significantly streamlined, which has been a major factor in helping
us to more easily meet our stringent Plc reporting
requirements."
Andrew was particularly delighted with the flexibility of the
innovative solution. "Dimensions has all the
functionality and flexibility that we need to fit with our detailed
business processes - and its ability to seamlessly integrate with
other software
such as our own job management system has been of huge value. The
integration with third-party
software is very impressive."
"Dimensions fits the bill perfectly and coupled with
the solid, reliable double-entry accounting features, we have
complete accuracy and audit traceability" Andrew
Chaplin
Finance Projects Manager
"The solution also has its own costing feature within the
financial package which is crucial for the operational side of our
business - other products do not offer this level of
functionality," says Andrew.
Project management
As the business is largely project-based, it was imperative that
the chosen solution would help them manage the full project life
cycle as effectively as possible. Through FocalPoint, (Dimensions'
suite of web-enabled modules) Freedom Group is now able to set,
monitor and control budgets as well as track work-in-progress and bill
directly from the system. Managers can allocate resources to
particular projects and view the number of hours an individual -
such as a design engineer, estimator or maintenance delivery driver
- has been allocated to a specific activity. It also provides
complete visibility of workflows throughout the
business, with approvers of budgets for instance receiving
automatic alerts when action is required. As the workflow rules are
completely configurable, Freedom Group can impose its business
processes on the software - rather than vice versa - putting them
firmly in the driving seat.
"Comprehensive project management and control functionality was
crucial. Dimensions fits the bill perfectly and coupled with the
solid, reliable double-entry accounting features, we have complete
accuracy and audit traceability," says Andrew.
"Our project managers really took to the system with one manager
commenting, 'I love it, think it's great' - the user-friendly
innovative look and feel of the system has been a key factor in
this acceptance."
The screens can be tailored to individual requirements,
providing just the information they need, in the format they need
it. Selected fields can be automatically pre-populated with details
such as project code, not only making data inputting more accurate
but also less time consuming.
Environmental concerns
Freedom Group also places great emphasis on environmental
concerns, alongside a growing number of its customers, so it is
looking to the new system to help it manage the information
required.
Andrew comments, "For one of our customers, we have to provide a
carbon footprint report on a
quarterly basis. This provides a breakdown of our expenses, monitoring how we
travelled as well as the number of miles travelled. Dimensions
makes it incredibly easy for us to track this information."
Indeed, it is the policy at Freedom Group to ensure purchase
orders, remittances and payroll information are all emailed to
cut down on paper wastage. "We try to print as little as possible -
all payments are made by BACS. With the help of our new business
and accounting system
we will look more closely at how we can track the impact of our
working practices on the environment. It's something which is very
important both to us and our customers."
Future-proof
When Freedom Group was looking for a system that would be
future-proof, Access was the obvious choice. "We needed a system
that would stand the test of time and bring all of our existing
solutions together," says Andrew.
"In summary, the adoption of our Access solution has streamlined
our business processes and delivered accurate up-to-date
information to those who need it. We are confident that the system
will continue to support us fully as we continue our growth plans
in the coming years," he concludes.
Like many things, doing the best job relies on having the right tools. But how can you be sure what your team’s got what it needs? This guide takes you through what’s on offer so that you can help everyone from FC to credit controller work as one towards your operational goals.
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