Barlow’s Woodyard

Barlow’s Woodyard specialises in supplying high quality timber products. Its branches in Newbury and Witney stock a huge range of fencing, gates, decking and garden features, many of which are machined or manufactured in the company’s own workshops.

Martha Barlow, an ancestor of the current owner, Peter Barlow, established the company in 1867. “Most of our business is repeat business or comes from customer referrals,” said Peter. “We focus on quality and our products are built to last.”

Until 2008, the company used a basic accounting package but, as the business grew, it became essential to control stock more accurately and, in particular, for the sales team at one branch to see what stock was held at the other. “We looked at several systems,” Peter remembered, “and were impressed by the quality of the KCS sales person as well as the functionality of the system. He took the time to answer all our questions and showed us everything we needed to know. Together the price, the product and the sales pitch nailed it!”

“The immediate benefits we saw were at the trade counter. It’s a far better environment for our customers now and it has made life easier for us. We can instantly tell customers if what they want is in stock and the way K8 handles inter-branch transfers is brilliant – we simply process the sale and let the customer know when he can expect the stock to come in. Specials have shot right up to our best sales line thanks to K8. When a customer calls and wants something special, we order it from one of our buying group suppliers, give it a special code and give the customer a price. There’s no need to look up any history, the order is processed and the purchase order sent to the supplier in one easy transaction. When we receive the goods in, the system prompts us to call the customer to say his order has arrived. The whole process is seamless.”

Peter said he finds K8’s sales analysis views really helpful as they allow him to produce forecasts based on previous years’ sales. “We do a lot of forecasting and we’re very accurate. It makes it easier to work with suppliers and we don’t tend to run out of anything. We also use the ‘suggested ordering’ function to purchase ironmongery products. It saves us a lot of time and the shelves are always stocked up nicely.”

K8’s flexible pricing module lets Barlow’s manage discounts effectively. “We group our customers according to type and turnover,” explained Peter, “and we can apply different discounts on different product ranges within each group so we earn a better overall margin - but can also be more competitive where we need to be.”

Peter also uses the ‘order margin review’ function so price and margin can be checked before an order is released for invoicing. And the ‘invoice to receipt’ function allows the team to check that stock received matches what has been invoiced for. Machine set up charges and process costs are all set up in the system too so anyone in the team can price up a job correctly.

The ability to import new supplier prices into the system in a matter of minutes has also made a big difference to Peter’s workload.

The timber industry is very volatile and sometimes prices change with just a day’s notice. Being able to simply cut and paste in new prices per supplier means I can update the system very quickly and we don’t get our fingers burnt. But the main benefit of using K8 is that I always know where we are – all the business information I need is at my fingertips. I really can’t fault it.

Peter Barlow - Managing Director, Barlow’s Woodyard

Results

• Full visibility of stock held across both branches
• Enhanced customer service at the trade counter
• Seamless processing of inter- branch transfers and specials
• Highly accurate sales forecasting
• Tighter margin control
• All the team can now price up works orders
• Quick and easy import of supplier price lists
• Real time overview of business performance at any time