Software Solutions for Tyre Retail and Wholesale

Merityre - Flexible and easy to understand

Tyreman has been synonymous within the UK tyre industry for a number of years as a dedicated specialist in creating specific automotive programs that are both innovative and easy to understand and operate. However, the only real way of identifying the immense benefits that customers receive from using a bespoke Tyreman program is to look at the comments of companies who are regarded as satisfied, long term clients.

Merityre Specialists Limited is a thriving and continually successful tyre retailer and wholesaler who operate in Southern England from headquarters in Andover, Hampshire.

The company are about to conclude their first full year of trading with a Tyreman program and Tyre Trade News recently chatted to General Manager, Dene Arnold about his initial thoughts and comments on the new system.

He explained that Merityre originally had their own personal system created for them in the mid 1980’s from another source, which was introduced to cater with the growth of both the retail outlets and wholesale warehouses. Dene then pointed out, “Although rather limited in what it could achieve, we were reasonably satisfied with the program’s performance.”

Then in 1998, Merityre’s IT requirements increased significantly and included a network system being installed at the Andover offices that incorporated PC’s and servers etc. Therefore it was decided at the time to upgrade the existing software to cope with greater demands in warehousing, retail and by this time, export sales. At the same time, there was immense concern in the market concerning the alleged Millennium Bug.

All sorts of relevant options were extensively scrutinised including Tyreman, who at this time were trading as PRO IV but eventually it was decided to remain with the company’s original supplier. However, this proved to be a mistake as a very poor new version was installed at Merityre, which resulted in a number of problems including poor communication, frequent system crashes plus an unsatisfactory flow of information and data. Eventually these problems began to hamper the company’s progress and last year a major decision was taken to look for an alternative supplier.

Complementing ambitions

Dene states, “We did consider several current tyre programs but Tyreman was the product that stood out from our point of view as it offered us exactly what we were looking for in terms of flexibility and clarity of data. We were currently managing seventeen retail centres and about to open a further site and it was essential to have a professional programme that could compliment our ambitious plans for the future.

“Following a number of positive meetings, a suitable package at an attractive price was custom built for Merityre and in due course a complete new IT system was installed at Andover under the expertise of a designated Tyreman project manager, Steve Collins who proved to be very helpful. We were also impressed by the fact that a full training schedule was included in the package.”

In fact, the system installed is fairly unique because the central servers are based at head office with the outlets and warehouses becoming satellite branches.

This set up enabled Merityre to have all the information flowing backwards and forwards in real time rather than an overnight dial-up system, which has proved particularly popular.

Dene goes on to say, “By the beginning of 2003, the system was working extremely well and has established itself as a great asset in three main working areas – accounts, retail and warehousing. At the same time, we were all pleasantly surprised that within several days of the initial changeover from the old system, the Tyreman program had survived the traditional post installation problems and business carried on as usual.

Increased performance

“We knew that Tyreman was going to give us the consistency and reliability we demanded but we were also impressed by the fact we were getting some transparency concerning our trading policies. In effect, Merityre has become even more efficient and we now enjoy a greater view of individual outlet performance in terms of sales, profit margins and stock control.

“Overall, this new bespoke Tyreman program has presented Merityre with the perfect opportunity to scrutinise every aspect of the company’s operation, something that had not been possible in the past. In the eleven months since going live, we have also increased our sales performance and in my opinion Tyreman deserves to take significant credit for this welcome success. Technical support is always available and Tyreman is now considered a great asset to the future progress of Merityre Specialists.”

Dene Arnold, General Manager of Merityre, appreciates the flexibility of the Tyreman system