Tacktick
Smoother sailing in any season
Rapidly growing business Tacktick Ltd. outstripped the company’s ability to accurately
reflect stock. What this specialist in marine electronics needed was a true picture
of stock in hand to realise optimised stock levels.
Tacktick Ltd., with headquarters in Hampshire, designs and manufactures specialist
marine electronics. Founded in 1996, it has grown to dominate the world of Olympic
sailing and international keel and sports boat racing. This rapid growth left the
firm with systems that were taxed beyond their capabilities. “With the number of
transactions we were processing, our existing accounting system was starting to
grind to a halt,” explains Mark Johnson, Managing Director.
Even more crucial, the company was struggling with stock control. “Our business
is highly seasonal,” he adds. “We sell five times more in April than we do in August,
and we make to order, with very short lead times. Yet some of the components we
use have three-month lead times, so accurate stock figures and demand forecasting
are extremely important.”
After studying various IT possibilities, Tacktick settled on the SAP Business One
solution for small and midsize enterprises. A major requirement for Tacktick was
the inclusion of assembly trees – graphical representations of how parts are assembled.
Yet the company wanted to avoid the cost of a traditional material requirements
planning system. “In terms of fully integrated functionality, the ERP solution by
SAP represents excellent value for money,” says Johnson.
The implementation included accounts, purchasing, order processing, reporting, and
stock management.
Since the system went live, Tacktick has seen real efficiency gains and better reporting.
“The sales opportunity tool is particularly powerful,” notes Johnson. Tacktick has
experienced a three-fold increase in stock turnover, with only a 30% increase in
warehouse inventory.
"With SAP Business One we've found it very easy to model and configure new processes
ourselves. Whatever you want to do, you can. It's amazing!"
Mark Johnson, Managing Director, Tacktick Ltd.
SAP Business One has also helped Tacktick manage its workflows more efficiently,
giving it better cost control. For example, only one person was added to the staff,
despite a five-fold increase in the volume of transactions processed. Where previously
all transactional documents had to be created manually, they are now produced automatically,
saving time and effort. Mark Johnson is very pleased: “We are in full control of
our business –and know our business solution can grow with us.”
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