Clearview National September 2018 - Issue 202 | Page 83

BUSINESSNEWS
LogiKal Thinking
» » ONE OF THE UK’S
biggest and best-known
aluminium folding door
specialists, Express Bi-folding
Doors, has integrated its software
set up using BM Aluminium’s
LogiKal system to help it manage
its impressive ongoing growth.
Led by Express Bi-folding Doors’
Senior Business Analyst Mark
Gregoire in partnership with Dan
Hodges and Perry Mace from BM
Aluminium, the aim of the project
was to achieve better synergy
between the systems being used in
different departments to create a
greater level of transparency.
The LogiKal installation now
manages all order processing
and manufacturing at Express
Bi-folding Doors, linking to
Schüco, Emmegi and elumatec
saws, as well as two CNCs and
an Emmegi Quadra machining
centre. Efficiency has increased
dramatically with position library
templates helping to standardise
production and outputs.
It has been a largely bespoke
installation, since the Express
Bi-folding Doors product range
includes many non -tandard
products, some even using profile
and cill combinations from
different manufacturers. BM
Aluminium’s programming team
have opened individual system
databases to each other and
produced bespoke spreadsheets
on bills of materials to facilitate
automatic stock reordering.
Mark Gregoire says the result is
impressive: “We are already seeing
increased efficiency and better
communication and understanding
between departments. We had been
looking at a new ERP system to
manage our bill of materials but
LogiKal has
proved such a
success that we have extended it to
stock control as well.
“Standardising orders to
suppliers and being able to really
analyse our job costings has been
one of the biggest benefits so far,
but we know there is still lots more
we can achieve with LogiKal.
“Moving forward we are looking
at using the software throughout
the entire business from order
right through to delivery, and are
already planning to add quotations
and surveying next. Dan, Perry
and the whole team at BM
Aluminium have worked hard
to make sure LogiKal meets our
very specific requirements and I’m
looking forward to working with
them during the next phase.”
Express Bi-Folding Doors has
three 50,000 sq ft units in Leeds
housing the manufacturing,
despatch and showroom facilities
for its aluminium roofing systems,
windows, folding and sliding
doors. These are all now linked
using LogiKal, and the additional
showrooms in Redhill, East
Kilbride and Romford will also be
linked in the future.
www.bmaluminium.co.uk
www.expressbifolds.co.uk
IN-DEPTH MARKET RESEARCH
FOR HARDWARE SPECIALISTS
» » INDEPENDENT HARDWARE
distributors Window Ware recently partnered
with Insight Data, the industry’s leading provider
of prospect data and market intelligence to
commission an in-depth, independent study
surrounding supplier preferences.
Insight Data’s in-house research team
quizzed a cross-section of industry
professionals about the suppliers they use, the
qualities they look for and who they believe
is the best. The research was conducted in
double-blind conditions, where neither
researcher nor respondent knew of Window
Ware’s involvement to ensure the findings were
completely unbiased.
Sarah Binns, Head of Internal Sales and
Marketing at Window Ware comments:
“Whilst our position as one of the UK’s
leading hardware distributors has been
achieved through constantly listening to our
customers and meeting their supply needs, for
us to grow and improve further, we need to
gain an understanding of the wider industry’s
perspective. In this sense, Insight Data’s
expertise and market research has been simply
invaluable.
“We were able to learn so much from their
findings and really understand what the ideal
supply partner looks like to fabricators of all
sizes. It’s a great validation of our approach
that respondents actually named us the best
supplier and cited many of our practices as
important attributes of a supplier.”
Jade Greenhow, Operations Director at
Insight Data added: “Independent market
research is an incredibly powerful tool,
providing businesses with an unbiased
representation of the industry’s thoughts
and habits which they can use to adapt and
grow.”
Market research is just one of many
specialist services offered by Insight Data,
with the firm also specialising in telesales
campaigns, email marketing, direct mail and
prospect data. At the heart of their operation
is their talented team of researchers which
conduct over 15,000 calls every month to not
only complete market research but to update
and amend their live database of