Landford Stone

After a bad experience with another supplier, worktop manufacturer Landford Stone chose Exchequer from IRIS Enterprise Software for effective job costing and stock control.

Landford Stone Limited is a provider of marble, limestone and granite worktops based in the South of England.  It works directly with a network of kitchen and bathroom resellers, handling 40-50 quotes a day.  As a rule, the customer sends over a drawing of a kitchen or bathroom they are currently manufacturing with specifications of the worktop required.  Landford Stone then draws up a quote and sends it directly back to the customer.

 

When looking for a system to handle Job Costing and stock control functionality, Landford Stone installed Great Plains accounting software from Microsoft Business Solutions.  However, this product was unable to handle the functions required at Landford Stone in the day-to-day management of the business, without additional expensive customisation.     

 

 

Duncan Lofts, Managing Director at Landford Stone comments, "After a bad experience with Great Plains, we decided to cut our losses and find a new system. We short listed Access Accounts and Exchequer, opting for a 7 user licence of the latter as it did everything it said it would do and more."

 

At Landford Stone, every job is a one off and quotes are based on job detail, price band etc. "Exchequer gives us easier access to information and improved productivity," continues Lofts. "The software supports the seamless integration of information between the job quotations and Job Costing modules, which provides a very effective method for monitoring and controlling business costs. "The overall level of integration within the product means that we can now access the information we need far more easily which supports the decision making process within the business and ultimately helps us to improve our service to customers."

 

The versatility of the OLE functionality is bringing significant benefits to Landford Stone, which it is using to provide a seamless link between Microsoft Excel and the financial management data held within Exchequer.  This enables Landford Stone to integrate information with ease from one database to another, providing access to real live data at any given time.

 

Landford Stone makes extensive use of the batch number tracking functionality to manage raw material stocks.  "Being able to easily report how much stock we have is invaluable.  It comes in particularly useful when trying to match stock previously used on a job, as each piece of stone is unique.  I have to say that the improved productivity we have experienced as a result of using Exchequer has demonstrated more than a return on our investment," states Lofts.

 

In conclusion, Lofts says, "Exchequer has fulfilled our expectations and I have a happy team of staff operating an effective financial management system that includes quotes, ordering and stock control. Integration of the product was extremely smooth and I just wish we had installed the system in the first place!"