Dickson Bearings and Transmissions

A century of trading in Dublin, 100 years of distribution success 

Dickson Bearings and Transmissions is a third-generation company that operates as one of Ireland's top distributors of industrial parts. The company is based in Dublin and takes pride in its long-standing customer service track record and heritage. They have been using Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) since 1986, and they consider K8 to be an essential business tool that has been progressively developed and fully supported over the years.

40 years of evolution with KCS

Dickson manages an inventory of 150,000 part lines, making it crucial to maintain the right depth and breadth of stock. Additionally, over 2,000 businesses in Ireland rely on Dickson for expert service and support. As most of their customers require parts for equipment breakdowns, it's essential to have the required parts on-site so that they can be despatched without delay and help customers get back up and running quickly.

An ERP system that changes with the times

Dickson became a customer of KCS through an unconventional route after purchasing second-hand Wang hardware in the mid-1980s. Since then, the company has experienced significant growth in both its customer base and product range. Of course, the world has seen many changes in that time, so Dickson has been able to take advantage of the various new features and upgrades made to K8 as the system has developed.

Without K8, we wouldn’t have a business; the system is reliable, works well and easy to use. Compared with other systems we have seen, being able to navigate quickly between modules and applications is fundamental for us.

Ian Dickson - Joint Managing Director at Dickson Bearings and Transmissions

"As a small company, we only have 14 users; it’s vital that our sales staff can create and process orders quickly and seamlessly. Moreover, we appreciate that time is money for our customers and responsiveness is critical. The fact that K8 is used by several major companies in our sector is particularly reassuring," Ian said.

Highlights

• Essential business tool
• Progressive upgrades
• Proven and reliable software
• Easy to use and navigate
• Supports customer services

Finger on the pulse

In order to closely monitor key metrics, the Dublin business uses K8's dashboard to stay up-to-date with the latest sales order situation, as well as metrics on revenue and profitability.

"K8 holds a wealth of information that we can use to run daily operations and drive the business forward. We can see a snapshot of day-by-day and monthly sales with margin performance at any time - the Advanced Analysis tools are essential to keep us informed. Our field sales team also have access to a web-enabled detail report to keep them in touch with what’s going on. If they are going to see a customer, they are well briefed with the latest information from K8."

Future plans

Dickson is certainly looking to the future, pushing forward with their use of K8 to improve efficiencies and drive profitable trading.

"Our business has grown organically over the years; we manage our stock by adding to existing products and introducing replacements as the demand for older items falls away," Ian said.

K8 supports our purchasing; what we need, manage our pricing structure and although it’s not an exact science, there’s forecasting detail at our fingertips. It’s good to see new K8 developments coming through and that give us confidence for our future.

Ian Dickson - Joint Managing Director at Dickson Bearings and Transmissions

Results

• Real-time reporting for ‘fingers on the pulse’
• Comprehensive stock control features
• Efficient and cost-effective purchasing
• Effective pricing management
• Powerful and advanced analytics
• Accessible dashboard displays
• A strong digital platform for development