For most companies, finding the right website solution can be quite confusing. It is often related to high set-up costs and once the site is up and running you have to pay a professional to update and maintain it.
Danesoft has introduced a program called WPS also known as a content management system, which makes getting and maintaining a website, child’s play. The Journal met managing director of Danesoft, Christian Ingerslev and asked him how WPS Works.
FIRST OF ALL, CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT WPS IS?
Our WPS is a design platform for a website where you can update the content as easily as writing a word document. Maintaining WPS really only requires very basic computer skills. Adding pictures and other graphics is as easy as a click on the mouse. Most importantly our WPS is a very affordable way to get on the internet.
WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE A WEBSITE?
Often you will find that both existing and potential business partners will first search the internet for useful information about your company that you would otherwise need staff to spend time on providing, or perhaps would not provide at all. Also not being visible on the internet gives your competitors an edge in getting new customers.
Basically, the internet is the cheapest way of advertising your company, providing customer service, the latest information and special offers. Even online order-processing is possible.
WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT YOUR SYSTEM?
WPS is cost-saving; it is an affordable, one time investment. It is a flexible and simple tool for the creation and administration of websites and content.
Our WPS is module based, which means that you can add on modules to your website when the business is expanding and you need new functions.
To learn WPS all you need is a few hours of training and you will be able to maintain and update the website. When an updated version of WPS is developed, upgrading is free.
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN WPS?
You can get our WPS in three different packages: a basic business solution for small companies, stores and businesses. An advanced business solution for medium-sized companies, and Business Portal - a complex web solution for larger companies with high demands.
In these packages, different modules are included. Each website will be professionally designed to the individual company's requirements and specifications.
DO YOU HAVE OTHER PRODUCTS?
Yes, we also sell a program called The Survey System, which is a complete tool for surveys, analysis and research. Again you can get it in different modules for basic or advanced use.
It can be used for market investigations, employee- satisfaction surveys, or as a tool for research companies and independent consultants. It is a system that has been continuously developed since 1984 and has proved successful.
GROW IT AND HERBERT INTERNATIONAL MOVE AHEAD WITH FORMAL AGREEMENT
Grow IT and Herbert Industrial have reached a formal agreement which will allow both companies to offer each others products to the fresh produce and other food sectors.
The two companies were eager to bring together the Grow IT average-weight software system, with the robust Herbert scales and equipment, and to be able to offer a full after-sales and support package to its customers.
Paul Kelsey, Grow IT's joint managing director, said: "The partnership with Herbert will enable us to provide the level of service my colleagues in the fruit sector require. I originally invested in the development of this system for my own packhouse and it has substantially improved control of my product give-away. I now achieve as little as 250g of overweight in a 10 tonne batch of strawberries."
Herbert Industrial's managing director Andy Duncan added: "This partnership brings to our UK customers the best of both companies’ products and capabilities. Through our network of international distributors we intend to offer our joint solutions to any country.
Future plans are already being made. Herbert has completed development of its Gemini system. This is capable of coding variable, average or fixed-weight information onto punnets’, film lids or labels and will have the ability to provide full traceability.
JENSEN GIVES WPS FULL MARKS
Carsten Jensen, director of the independent consultancy company Jensen Associates, has tested Danesoft’s WPS system, and has given it full marks.
"As many of our customers in the fresh produce industry will know, we are continuously looking for services and products that can add value to the industry, both in terms of saving cost and improving the approach to marketing.
“The importance of the internet as a portal for the international trade of fresh produce is ever increasing - you only need to look at how trade via portals such as Hairy Ape is increased month on month.
“To cater for this type of marketing, it becomes essential to have daily updated information on your website, for which WPS is the perfect tool.”
Jensen Associates is upgrading its own website to a WPS solution.
It has included WPS in the portfolio of software products it recommends, based on performance, cost efficiency and relevance to the fresh produce industry.
ROSE TACKLES THORNY SYSTEMS ISSUE
Bob Rose, fresh produce business development manager for Anglia Business Computers, highlights the importance of selecting an appropriate business management system for your company.
As a growing and successful fresh produce supplier, you have realised there is a significant move away from the traditional produce trading environment to a more service-oriented business. Suddenly your systems are struggling to meet the needs of the business - proliferation of spreadsheets and databases is always a good indication that you have outgrown them.
As a result administration costs increase as it becomes more difficult to produce the information that you, your suppliers and your customers demand. Furthermore, to take advantage of emerging opportunities due to supplier consolidation within the industry, your systems need a major and probably expensive revamp.
So, where do you start?
The first suggestion is to realise that this is a key strategic business decision rather than an IT problem. A company views assets in many ways. In simplistic terms they can be broken down into four distinct elements; people, processes, information and relationships.
When viewed this way it is simple to see how software can be used as a business enabler, underpinning and pulling all the major assets together into a single, core, business application. The decision on the solution of choice is therefore business- critical and should be made at the highest level.
By their very nature, integrated business management systems affect all parts of the enterprise. They include marketing, sales, inventory management, distribution processes, human resources, liaison with growers, packhouses, customers, financial and quality control. With an integrated system, if a change occurs in one part of the business, it is immediately available to everyone on the system.
The next stage involves defining the requirements to be met by any prospective new business management solution. When defining your requirements ignore any IT restrictions and any preconceptions you may have with regard to what IT can and cannot do. A good discipline is to try to quantify the expected business benefit against each of the required facilities. The advantage of this approach is that it forces you to look critically at your processes. Even without changing systems, you may find outdated processes in place "because we have always done it like this".
Once you have your top-level business requirements in place, you need to consult a representative from each of the departments affected. Seeking contributions from these people will pay dividends later. Nobody likes change, so it is important to get staff involved early in a project that is likely to have an impact on their daily working practices. You are now ready to engage with prospective supply partners.
And here is the good news. Today with the entry of major global players such as SAP and Microsoft, the options available to you have dramatically increased. How? The simple answer is flexibility.
In all my years of being involved with the fresh produce industry, I have yet to see any two companies whose people, processes, information and relationships are exactly alike. Few companies can use the same system, without compromising some issues or incurring significant costs making changes. Your business review will tell you that you need a system which can adapt to the way you do business, not the other way around.
Modern systems not only have a low cost of ownership, but come with an impressive amount of base functionality. This can quickly and easily be configured to meet your specific needs.
However, selecting a solution is only one part of the equation. Who you select to partner in this important exercise is also crucial and will be covered next month.
COMING BACK TO BT
Since every small business in the UK has a BT phone line, they should all get wise to what BT offers. Few do.
BT Business Services has a freephone line where you can get information: 0800 328 9070 and a website www.bt.com/business. It also has a quarterly mailer called BT Business Catalogue and associated web pages at www.bt.com/ business/catalogue.
Have a look at these. They give a summary of each facility and a variety of products. It's helpful and it's free. If you want to see the products and services in use you could visit one of BT's Showcase venues or a Business Events seminar.
It's a matter of personal preference, but among the various services, my favourite is Calling Line Identity (CLID). This enables you to identify the caller before you answer. Linked to your customer database it ensures that you know detail about your caller. Consider the quality of customer care inherent in this answer: "Johnson's Fruit. That's Mr Smith isn't it? We've got some lovely Argentinean lemons in for you this week?". This facility when used properly is always impressive and it speeds up a call. To make it work for you, recording detail on that database is a must.
BT Answer 1571 should be on everyone's shopping list, not least because it's free. Its key virtue over an answering machine is that it picks up messages when you are on the phone. You can achieve the same result with that added personal touch via Call Waiting which enables you to talk to a second caller whilst putting your first on hold. Call Diversion is worth considering as a way of extending your accessibility. Most independent retailers have fixed opening hours but diverting calls to your mobile or home phone means that you can be available, even if not open, all hours.
Quite possibly you don't want to be so available and you may well not perceive it as a problem. And there is even a way to find out for sure. Among BT's billing services is a facility to monitor inbound and outbound calls. It could tell you that you don't need Call Diversion because nobody phones outside your business hours. Or it could scare you to death with how many calls you miss.
BT of course doesn't have a monopoly on telecoms. Alternative providers - and there's no shortage of choice - offer flexible billing and the option to include mobile phones within the deal as well as other services you get from BT such as on-line billing. But the key benefit they offer is price. Fine, but that price position is based on volume of usage in most cases. Most independent retailers don't achieve a usage level which makes it worthwhile.
So the big boys win again!
Not necessarily. The alternative providers come to market with far greater flexibility. As a case in point, Kingston Communications offers an affinity group solution. Thus, retailers could band together to achieve the bulk that attracts best rates. Kingston handles all the administration involved in retailers signing up for such a deal and bills each customer directly. To implement an affinity package requires a partner who will communicate and market the scheme to retailers, typically a major supplier to the industry - who is constantly in touch with potential users anyway.
The benefits for the retailer can be impressive. Kingston quotes savings of up to 40 per cent compared to BT standard rates. What's more that affinity group partner receives a revenue share of between five and eight per cent - which of course they could pass back to the retailer, typically as free product. The industry's major suppliers forever state that they want to contribute to commercial success for independent retailers. Well, here's a ready-made way to have an immediate and long-term impact on a business's cost-base.
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