Ark Trading

About Ark Trading

Ark Trading was established in 1980, and is one of the oldest suppliers to the building trade in Windhoek Namibia. Ark Trading stocks everything from the spade to dig the foundation to the rolling ridge for the roof, including the nails and hammer to nail it in. They also supply sand, gravel and cement, doors, window frames, paint, plumbing supplies and sanitary ware.

The Challenge

Paul Koster bought the business in late 2015, and the Namibian Competition Commission awarded a last minute approval to him, to start trading from the 1st January 2016. Paul wished to start trading the new business on a new ERP system. This meant that the KCS team had to work under time constraints to configure the system. They pulled it off however, and the K8 system was live at the first week of trading.

I was impressed with the dedication and knowledge portrayed by the KCS team.

Paul Koster - Managing Director at Ark Trading

Paul has had some previous experience on the trading side of K8. He contributed by helping his staff with training and supporting them with issues, in order to ensure a smooth go-live with minimal disruption to the business.

Risks were mitigated due to Ark Trading:

• Using the standard K8 printing templates, so minimum time was spent on setup and testing
• Allocating a strong internal team designated to the the project
• Having strong internal buy-in, and support from the staff for the new system
• Providing accurate master file and product data, with all relevant required information e.g PAC (product analysis codes), branch files and supplier details

Ark Trading is looking forward to continuing to build the business partnership with KCS, and to using K8 to grow Ark Trading.

Tiaan Grobbelaar, Sales Manager at KCS, said "Thank you for entrusting us as the IT partner for your new business, we wish you best of luck with your new venture and we are sure that your business will thrive, and that K8 will support your current and future strategies."

Gains and benefits

As a result of the K8 ERP implementation, Ark Trading will realise the following efficiencies and benefits:

• Elimination of manual stock back-orders, more controlled and automated
• More efficient stock forecasting, improved lead times and estimates
• Able to manage direct deliveries on bulk building materials
• Better customer service
• Better stock tracking/management
• Better reporting, managing by exception