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TIMCO’s range of professional products are made for the trade to the same exacting standards. From screws and fixings to power tool accessories, hand tools, adhesives, chemicals, personal and site protection, security, ironmongery, building hardware, workwear and beyond.
Having used Sage X3 since 2014, TIMCO recognised the importance of staying current with the latest functionalities and decided to upgrade their system to the latest version, V12. The upgrade was partially driven by the desire to access new features, such as Making Tax Digital. Upgrading also allowed them to move to the cloud, enabling better scalability and performance, as they were starting to face constraints with their on-premise servers in the previous version.
Recognising the importance of staying up to date, Operations Director, John deWeerd, states, “It’s been so long since we upgraded, so we needed to stay in support and stay current and make sure we were availing ourselves of what was in the new version.”.
TIMCO is focussed on delivering award-winning customer service and this upgrade would also give them the opportunity to continue a more regular upgrade path with Sage X3, taking advantage of new technology offered to support the next phase of the company’s ongoing growth.
The performance improvements and cloud migration were well-received by the users who adapted well to the new version, despite some trepidation prior to the project about any changes to the way they would interact with the system, such as the updated user interface.
John states: “It all went really well and the end result was good. We’re really happy with the platform that we’re on. It’s so much faster than it used to be. I don’t hear anybody complaining that the system is slow”.
Whilst undertaking the project, TIMCO and Mysoft were able to clean and validate some of the legacy custom code, which pre-dated Mysoft’s involvement with TIMCO, taking ownership of it and gaining a deeper understanding of the system; “I have a high level of confidence that when we come across a problem, the Mysoft team know what we do and what we have. We’re very pleased with how it all came out. We’re pleased with the support, pleased with the attention we got from all the areas.”
For organisations considering a Sage X3 upgrade, TIMCO’s experience offers valuable advice. Emphasising the importance of preparation, planning, and testing, they encourage others not to fear the process but instead embrace it as a vital step towards staying current and unlocking the full potential of the upgraded system.
TIMCO’s successful upgrade journey from version 9 to version 12 with Mysoft highlights the significance of maintaining modern technology solutions to remain competitive in the dynamic wholesale industry. With their improved system performance and enhanced functionalities, TIMCO is well-positioned to continue their growth and deliver exceptional service to their customers across the UK, Ireland, and Europe.
We asked John if he has any advice for other companies looking to upgrade their system: “There’s nothing to be afraid of. Like everything else, it is about preparation, planning and testing. You can’t really skip those things as it becomes vital and we did a sufficient amount of that.”.
Would you recommend Mysoft to undertake an upgrade project?
“Of course, we would recommend Mysoft. X3 is what you do. Between technical and consulting, project management and development, Mysoft have all of the skill sets and resources. You’d be in very good hands if Mysoft were managing your upgrade.” – TIMCO, Operations Director, John deWeerd
TIMCO continues to invest in its business operations by leveraging advanced technologies and innovative solutions.
They have flagship stores in the UK, with an extensive network of retail partners, and are continuing to grow rapidly after being established domestically in 2018. The group parent company operates from Northern Italy, with other subsidiaries located in the US. Despite the Covid 19 pandemic, their flagship stores remained operational and experienced a peak in demand due to an increase in cycling activity.
The sudden increase in demand during the pandemic resulted in a significant strain on the supply chain, leading to a backlog of orders that could not be immediately fulfilled. Inefficiencies in warehouse and inventory management, coupled with the supply-side issues, meant that customer experience was below the standard that Pinarello wanted to provide; as such a project was established to focus on and improve this aspect of the business’ operating process.
Pinarello first worked with Mysoft on an integration project to bring together a new front-end web store and their existing Sage X3 system (supported out of Italy). This project was business-critical and involved multiple parties to ensure success. As a result of this close working relationship Mysoft then started to provide some additional ad hoc training and consultancy to Pinarello as the UK operation expanded.
When it came to selecting a partner to undertake the inventory and warehouse project, Pinarello saw Mysoft as the obvious choice. They already had a strong working relationship and were impressed with Mysoft’s expertise in the area and the ability to offer solutions to their problems; having worked with other partners internationally before Mysoft stood out as the best candidate for this project.
Since starting to work together in June 2020 Mysoft and Pinarello have engaged in a number of business process improvement and technical projects; with a strong working relationship and a shared pragmatic approach to problem-solving, Mysoft and Pinarello have developed the use of the Sage X3 system in the UK to meet the needs of a B2B operation – facilitating online and physical store sales and the requisite stock management processes to support an efficient supply chain. Mysoft continues to support Pinarello’s kaizen approach to enhance and develop the solution, to not only meet their current needs but, to support their continued growth and work towards future goals, such as a B2C site.
The focus of the working relationship has often been converting Pinarello’s business know-how into system functionality; this is where Mysoft’s extensive Sage X3 experience and understanding of real work best practice adds significant value. By workshopping, requirements and collaborating on specifications for functionality Pinarello and Mysoft have adopted standard system functionality to maximum advantage.
“We know what we want to do, but we don’t know how to do it, which is where you guys come in and it’s never a ‘well, you can’t do it’, it’s a ‘we can do it this way’ or ‘this is how we can do it’, or maybe ‘we can’t do exactly what you want, but we could do this instead’. It never feels like anything’s impossible, which is great because in the climate we’re in, we need it to be that way.” – Sophie Quy, Commercial Manager
Some example projects that Pinarello and Mysoft have undertaken together include:
Pinarello have also recently engaged in a Document Management project, to implement Mysoft’s X3CloudDocs Outbound product; with both companies looking to drive process efficiencies in the back office in the same way they have been successfully achieved in the operational elements of the business.
The projects implemented by Mysoft helped Pinarello address their challenges and problems by providing them with an efficient warehouse management system and the ability to consolidate inventory. This enabled them to manage their inventory and warehouse operations more effectively, reducing inefficiencies and delays in delivering products to their customers.
“We always feel listened to which is great. When we come to you with something that we would like to do, it’s never impossible, it’s always how we’re going to do it. Mysoft always says, let’s look at it and see what we can do.
We 100% would recommend Mysoft to anyone. Mysoft has helped us enormously with everything we’ve tried to do and have been able to do. The Mysoft team have been a part of everything that we have managed to achieve and we couldn’t do what we do without them. They’re always there to support us.”
– Sophie Quy, Commercial Manager
Radius Payment Solutions selects Sage Business Partner, Mysoft, to implement Sage X3 as a replacement for Sage 200. Radius outgrew the system capabilities of Sage 200 and required a solution with maximum flexibility that would support future expansion.
As a complete fleet and business services organisation, Radius works to assist businesses in navigating to a sustainable future. They offer a variety of solutions, from telematics and fuel cards to telecoms and insurance, all aimed at giving clients the most recent in mobility and connectivity products and services.
Radius CEO, Bill Holmes, has expanded the company over the course of its 30+ years from a modest start-up to one with a global revenue of over £3 billion. Having decided that the company had outgrown their existing Sage solution, now as a multi-national business with high transaction volumes and velocity, Radius looked for a solution that would offer them a greater range of functionality when it comes to running a multi-entity operation.
The team at Radius collaborated with Mysoft during the selection process to address the project needs and some technical issues relating to cloud, performance, and system access. It became evident that three key business challenges would need to be resolved by the new solution; notably, the requirements for importing and integrating a very large volume of transactional data in a short time window, operating in a multi-company environment in a single system, and a strong desire for internal systems ownership.
Some of the critical business factors were addressed by core Sage X3 requirements (multi language-multi territory), however, it was unclear how Sage X3 would handle the data volumes required for the integration. As a result, Radius and Mysoft agreed on a limited-scope proof of concept to undertake as a “phase zero” project. Radius felt this was the right approach, and appreciated it being “on the table”. Jonathan Metcalfe, Director of Finance for Radius Fuel, states: “I think that part of the process was key to selecting Mysoft as a business partner.”.
The proof of concept was effective in showing the functionality of Sage X3, the technical proficiency of Mysoft, and the positive working relationship between Radius and Mysoft. With the POC complete the full project rollout was commenced; neatly bringing the POC project team into the “Phase One” rollout of X3 across multiple companies across Europe and Asia. The project included an optimized integration to other line-of-business systems and a good deal of enablement to allow the Radius team to take on many aspects of the implementation, such as rolling out multiple- international companies and configuring the tax rules.
Radius and Mysoft worked together in a highly collaborative way, sharing various project tasks, and working on bespoke development and integrations across both businesses. In Jonathan’s words, “everyone wants to avoid customisations because they clearly have an admin burden going forward” however it was agreed that sometimes it is necessary. Where this was the case Jonathan notes: “our team worked closely with Mysoft to understand what exactly we wanted and amended our process ever so slightly to use the system in the way we wanted. They took the time to understand our requirements. They have extensive knowledge of what the system can do and found a way to customise and make it our own so that we can do what we want to do.
Jonathan suggests that the successful collaboration between Radius and Mysoft is the result of a shared “collaborative nature, responsiveness, and willingness to explore”. This has shaped the project approach, which naturally lent itself to a structured multi-phase delivery. The project adopted the traditional Mysoft delivery approach of a “Waterfall-Agile” hybrid, allowing for the project to be delivered on time and on budget.
Radius and Mysoft continue to work in partnership, extending the use of Sage X3 within Radius to allow the business systems to align closely to the business strategy, whilst continuing to deliver a comprehensive system to an organically growing business.
Visit the Radius website here.
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Trafalgar Entertainment (TE) is a premium international live entertainment business based in the UK focussed on new productions, the distribution of live-streaming innovative content and the provision of amazing spaces where people can come together to share in the experience of live entertainment. TE is home to Trafalgar Theatre, Stagecoach Performing Arts and Theatre Royal Sydney. Trafalgar Entertainment Group joined Mysoft in 2020, with previous experience of working with Sage X3.
Over the past year TE have excelled, doubling in size, acquiring 12 HQ Theatres around the country including the Helen O’Grady Drama Academy. The group continues to invest and develop their existing companies in the performing arts industry, promoting and sharing the experience of live entertainment, despite the challenges the industry has faced throughout the pandemic.
Having previously felt as though their Sage X3 was not being utilised to its full potential, it has been fundamental for the team at Mysoft to demonstrate the breadth of possibilities behind the solution, particularly due to the business’s current rapid growth.
In 2019, Trafalgar Entertainment started their journey with Sage X3, moving from working with multiple bespoke finance solutions, to one consolidated system.
With a number of different entities to manage, it was important for their team to operate within one unified structure, with the ability to monitor and control accessibility between teams and individuals. Since choosing Mysoft as their support partner, Trafalgar Entertainment have been able to explore these features to their full potential.
We had the opportunity to speak to David Bell, Finance Manager at Trafalgar Entertainment, who gave us an insight into how using Sage X3 has been essential for the development and growth of the business, “Due to the centralised nature of Sage X3, we have far more control over when financial periods close, as well as being able to restrict entries into the system at month end. This is a big feature that we didn’t have before, and it was a bit of a free-for-all. The solution has allowed us to make only certain elements of the system available to selected companies, so people are only seeing what’s relevant to them.”
David continues, “We try to make use of functionality that we didn’t know was there. We’ve been having days each month with Mysoft to look at configuration and set up, and you realise that you’re only scratching the surface with what it can do. We have a beast that we have not quite realised its full potential. I can already see lots of projects that we can work with Mysoft on to save time, and those are the things we would never have been able to do on the other systems. We now have a fantastic framework.”
Having used Sage X3 for a few months before choosing Mysoft as their support partner, Trafalgar Entertainment were looking to understand the platform on another level. They joined Mysoft in 2020, with the hope that Mysoft could unlock their full business potential and accommodate the finer details.
David comments, “What appealed to me from our initial conversations was the clear structure of support. Everything was transparent from the get go and I knew exactly what we were getting. I soon realised that the people at Mysoft just got it, everyone that you speak to knows what they are talking about.”
David rounds up by saying, “The biggest plus about Mysoft is the people.”
After an incredible year of growth, the team at Mysoft will continue to support TE with all upcoming projects in order to unlock their business potential and streamline their processes further.
“We’re making use of legacy document management functionality so we can auto-send statements, but we are looking forward to upgrading to X3CloudDocs Outbound very soon in order to become a completely paperless business, which is the dream.”
Trafalgar Entertainment want to formalise more of their processes to help with tracking and budgeting, “We’ve just gone live with a Purchase Ordering module for the new theatre sites and that’s also soon to be rolled out for other entities. There’s going to be a future piece of work looking at direct debit collections for another one of our entities which we will develop with the Mysoft experts. Looking ahead to the next year, we are hoping to have a centralised Purchase Ledger function too.”
David finishes by saying, “We would absolutely recommend Mysoft to other businesses. Anybody can pretend to know about Sage X3, but it’s the way that your people come together that makes it work. “
Mysoft are thrilled to be a part of the transformation that Trafalgar Entertainment are undergoing and look forward to supporting them throughout.
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Due to phenomenal growth over the last few years Pickering Interfaces found their system was no longer capable of supporting their business needs. They required a more modern and advanced solution.
The global electronics manufacturer has sites in the UK and Czech Republic, as well as sales offices in the USA, France, Germany and Sweden.
The products they produce are highly technical, mostly made-to-order and often require very quick turnarounds. The technology used pushes the boundaries of what is possible in their industry so they required a business management solution that could reflect this technically advanced and cutting-edge way of working.
Due to the global nature of their company, Pickering needed a solution that could handle multi-legislations, multi-countries and multi-languages. They wanted to move to a modern solution that was being continuously developed and one that could be built upon for years to come. It was decided that Sage’s flagship product, Sage X3, was the most suitable option.
For Pickering the most important factor in choosing a Business Partner to work with was the level of support they could provide. Kerry Mitchell, IT Manager at Pickering Interfaces, says, “I know with Mysoft that I will be able to pick up the phone and talk to a human being straight away. No outsourced support services or lengthy online forms, just an experienced and dedicated team ready to take my call.”
As well as the need for a truly multi-national solution, Pickering were also impressed by Sage X3’s usability features and adaptable interface.
They currently have many salesmen out on the road, none of whom could access the previous system remotely. As Sage X3 functions through any web browser, they are now able to access the system using their mobile devices. Sage X3 also provides much greater visibility for the company. By using a multi-national solution Pickering will have full visibility of their global operation and be able to make more informed decisions moving forward.
Kerry adds, “we see Sage X3 as the long-term solution for our business. If we are going to be investing in software then it makes sense for us to invest in a modern solution that is being continuously developed, rather than one that is reaching end of life. We wanted a solution that has the potential to expand and that is what we saw in Sage X3. It has the ability to accommodate multiple countries and potentially, in the future, advanced business intelligence tools and CRM as well.”.
Visit the Pickering Interfaces website here.
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Madison are the UK’s leading distributor of cycle parts and accessories. As a business, Madison is committed to delivering excellence for the globally recognised brands it represents, its loyal network of specialist retailers, and for its discerning consumers.
To continue to do this they needed a solution that could match their impeccable eye for detail and Sage X3 was the solution of choice.
Madison offers exceptional market knowledge and a tailored marketing strategy to ensure optimum brand exposure in the UK and Ireland. This is backed up with a state of the art warehouse and distribution operation, industry leading and award winning technology and a highly motivated team of sales and customer care professionals.
Established in 1977 as a small bicycle shop in West Hampstead, London, Madison has evolved over the years and now represents a highly enviable portfolio of world class brands. Madison has a dedicated and committed team of employees with a real passion for the business.
In 2012 Madison approached Mysoft, having made the decision to replace its legacy accounts and distribution system. This was due to Madison’s significant growth since the system’s introduction and the continued plans to expand the business, which the legacy system would potentially be incapable of supporting.
The key objective for the project was defined as ‘replace the Madison legacy system with minimum risk and disruption to the businesses’ – effectively a seamless transition from old system to new was required in order for the project to be deemed successful. The challenge for Mysoft was, therefore, not only to ensure that it fully understood all of Madison’s business processes but to match these precisely to the new business management solution. Furthermore, comprehensive integration with the RedPrairie WMS and B2B e-Commerce solutions would be vitally important.
Additionally, given Madison’s on-going desire to use technology to continually improve efficiency and customer service levels, it was crucial that the new business management solution could provide the correct platform for this to take place.
Sage X3 provided the perfect platform for Madison since it offers both an advanced business management solution and a comprehensive development environment. This ability to tailor the software around a customer’s specific business requirements was critical in enabling Mysoft to replicate the existing Madison business processes in the new business management solution.
As a precursor to the implementation, Mysoft performed an extensive pre-sales ‘proof of concept’ exercise to demonstrate Sage X3’s ability to meet Madison’s requirements. The successful completion of this exercise was a pre-requisite to the project going ahead.
The complex interfaces necessary to integrate Sage X3 to RedPrairie and Netalogue were built in-house by the Mysoft development team.
During each phase of the X3 implementations process the key project objective of ‘minimum risk to the businesses’ was observed to maintain the correct project direction. A phased go-live strategy was adopted which proved to be the most effective means of introducing Sage X3 throughout the business.
Ultimately, the delivery of a modern, stable and scalable new business management solution has been achieved at Madison. This has replicated the existing business processes and also provided the enterprise software platform needed for the business to continue to grow and diversify in the future.
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