OrderWise Inventory Management Software

Published on July 6, 2012, by Jeff Rogers in Technology.

If you own and operate a small to medium sized business and sell both online and have a storefront then you hopefully are aware of the need to understand what you have on hand at all times. Businesses can lose money if they have to much stock on hand and their carrying costs are high, or they run out of a popular seller which results in lost sales and customers. Having a inventory management software solution that will help tell you when to order and what items are selling faster can help your bottom line. With the fluctuation in the consumer market what is hot today may be old news tomorrow and managing that inventory can be critical to ensuring your long term success. Solutions from companies like OrderWise incorporate several layers of analytic’s to help you understand which items are selling and what time of year they are in most demand. Knowing this information can help you plan for 6 months out and prepare for a great holiday season or start getting rid of items that may be starting to slow down.

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3 Comments.

3 Responses

Jeff Rogers

December 20, 2012 at 5:55 pm

Sean,
Thanks for the insight for our readers.Sorry to hear about your experience.
Jeff
sean

January 14, 2013 at 11:52 am

As a fast growing ecommerce business we needed a package that would solve our stock control problems and streamline a busy operation.

Orderwise missed the first go-live date which we planned for in our business, we had staff in the entire weekend on overtime stock taking to ensure a smooth go live.
Anybody with an ecommerce business knows Monday is a hectic day and we wanted to be prepared for the switch over.
On the go-live date they sent one person who arrived late and told us the system was not finished and that the integration with the website was not finished. (the main reason for the software)

3 months later they missed the second go- live date and blamed a plug in that was not ready.

3 months later again they missed the third go-live date, orders where duplicated, the system was pulling in old orders, un paid orders and doubled our postage bill by feeding the data in to Royal Mail twice.
After a week of hell we pulled the entire system and reverted back to our old sage system before it ruined our business.

The salesman for Orderwise Software was good and assured us it would be a smooth transition, this was far from the case, we had a senior member of staff for 6 months assisting Orderwise with this transition
and they failed to implement a working system in this time.

Make your own mind up.
Wise Software (UK) Ltd

January 18, 2013 at 4:11 am

In light of the above post we are left with the unfortunate situation of being forced to respond in the public domain to a current client we are still trying to assist, despite the problems of their own making surrounding the implementation of their OrderWise Stock Control & Order Processing Solution.
As any business will appreciate, rolling out new company wide business software is a sizeable project which requires commitment, planning, input and work from both the software provider and client in order to ensure a smooth implementation. Both parties have certain responsibilities and obligations to fulfil to ensure the outcome of the project is successful.
As a software provider with over 22 years experience in stock control and order processing we have dedicated in house migration, training, development and support teams and with around 100 new installations per year we have a well structured, tried and tested implementation system in place. This provides our valued clients with step by step instructions on the preparation work required at their end, information and data they must gather along with their testing requirements prior to going live.
Generally, when you are in the process of implementing a critical business system it would seem imperative to ensure data and information is supplied by the client to the software provider in a timely fashion, recommended procedures are followed and rigorous testing is completed before going live to ensure planned go live timescales can be met without incident. Without this commitment and cooperation from the client, even with assistance above and beyond from their software provider, it would appear obvious that the project has the potential to stall or fail. This is a position which neither party would surely want to place themselves in?
However in this specific case, (we know the case in hand because we have had so few projects not succeed in our 22 year history working with clients in our specialist business arena) in all go live attempts there were numerous client side issues including information and data not being provided in time to finalise project critical development, reluctance to follow guidance and advice on setup and configuration, inadequate or non-existent testing in a safe off-line test environment and ad hoc re-specifying of their website integration criteria, not to mention a lack of communication between their staff which compounded several issues.
On multiple occasions our staff (verbally and in writing) strongly recommended a delayed go live in order to give the client time to conduct their work properly, this recommendation was ignored by the client despite outlining the problems that could occur as a result. On occasion the client confirmed in writing that full testing had been completed at their end, which would enable any issues to be picked up and resolved simply without any impact on the business. It transpired that even basic testing in some areas had not been conducted (particularly on their website integration which was of critical importance and could only be performed fully by them) as this would have quickly highlighted the issues they encountered. Furthermore, the issues encountered were not a result of our website integration as this had been provided to the specification requested in writing by the client (despite several FOC amendments that our development team had taken great pains in clarifying with the client), but down to their specification, own website settings and reluctance to follow our procedures and guidance.
We do not expect our clients to have in depth technical expertise, even those clients whose business models rely heavily on online sales channels. Our migration, training and implementation is broken down in to simple to follow logical steps and procedures and we have fully qualified trainers, project coordinators and technical support staff on hand to assist. However without full client cooperation and a willingness to undertake and complete each stage it becomes extremely difficult to move projects forward effectively. We also have to take at face value a client’s confirmation (especially when this is provided in writing) that they have completed the steps required of them, even after continued double checking.
To say the implementation failed is true, however the reasons the client outlines are far from an accurate reflection of why this transpired. No matter what new company wide software system was being implemented here it would have failed for reasons beyond the provider’s control.
Had the project been approached by the client in the appropriate manner for a project of this nature then they would without doubt now be reaping the rewards of fully integrated stock control and order processing system along with over 600 existing clients.
Our business is committed to its valued client base and will do all it can to satisfy clients’ needs and requirements. Our business has not grown continually year on year by providing the level of service described in the previous blog.
Despite the unpleasant and unjustified public defamation, we know our system can provide an excellent solution for the business in question and we are more than happy to discuss how the project can be restarted.
Key Points To Know Before Going Live
With A Company Wide Business System
In general there is much that can be learned from this episode by clients wishing to go live with any company wide business software system, in particular:
1. Appoint a Manager in house to be responsible for the implementation. This person might not do ‘all the work’ as that can be appointed to other key staff, but there are many decisions that first need to be considered and then made and communicated to all those involved in the project. This person should have the time to play an active supervisory role within the project.
2. Appoint key staff to conduct the work required in the changeover and ensure they have enough time to complete this work properly. It is unreasonable to expect these staff to perform their normal day to day work in addition to the data input and systems testing required before a system can go live.
3. Listen to and follow the guidance provided by the software vendor. Any reputable vendor will have installed many of their systems before and can provide structured guidance throughout. This advice is well worth listening to.
4. Ensure that support contracts are in place for your other business software systems that are to be integrated. It is at times like these several vendors may need to cooperate to deliver the required end solution.
5. Select the quietest time of year for the business to go live with the new system.
6. Expect issues. This is a big change for the Company. The MD of the Company will be aware that issues will arise and it is the Manager and key staff’s role to ensure these issues are discovered and solved in an off-line (not real time) environment. The quality of the vendor should be judged by how well these issues are addressed.
7. Make a list of all items that need to be tested and perhaps shown to the MD before going live.
8. Ensure all links to other software such as web shops, ebay and Amazon etc are fully tested and accepted before going live. This work is vital to ensure any issues with integration are solved in the comparative ease of an off-line environment. These issues should be recorded, solved and re-tested until both the key staff and Manager have seen this integration work as a whole, without any issue from start to end.
9. Ensure the general throughput of the system is also tested in an off line environment ensuring continued service to the Company’s clients. This would include the production of any layouts or reports that also need to be produced such as delivery notes or invoices for example.
10. Do not go live before all elements have been tested to your satisfaction.
11. Work with your supplier not against them. They want the project to succeed first time and on time.
12. A working presentation to the MD of the system prior to launch is a good way for all involved to give their approval to going live.
This is only a small excerpt of some of the points that need to be considered when planning the implementation of a company-wide business system to ensure the company experiences minimal disruption during the time of change.

Wise Software (UK) Ltd

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