Nottage Joinery

About Nottage Joinery

A long-established family-run business with over 50 years’ of experience, Nottage Joinery has a wealth of knowledge of the timber industry and the manufacture of high-class, bespoke joinery. Based in Bridgend, serving South Wales and further afield, the company’s customers include contractors, local authorities, trade and the general public.

The company had outgrown its previous systems which lacked specific functionality for the timber trade – such as handling non-uniform widths, timber volumes and cutting management.

Steve Fry, Managing Director said, 'We realised that the controls and the level of integration that we had were no longer adequate for our business. Timber purchasing, stock management and customer sale transactions can be complex and we needed a more capable system to keep our finger on the pulse as the company developed.'

The company chose K8 for several reasons: In addition to being able to partner with a systems supplier who understood the timber trade, K8 also had a proven reputation through its use in the timber sector.

As a functionally-rich, integrated solution, we could see that K8 would enable us to move the business on, improve customer services and enhance our business management processes in every area.

 Steve Fry - Managing Director at Nottage Joinery

Although other systems were considered, the company judged K8 as being the system that met their requirements, would deliver the best results and was also ‘on budget’.

K8 went live in 2009 and I was very impressed how everyone got to grips with the system. Now, on a day-to-day basis, we are pretty much self-sufficient and don’t have to call the helpdesk for assistance too often.

 Steve Fry - Managing Director at Nottage Joinery

Nottage believes that the system has enabled the company to maintain a competitive and professional edge.

'Our counter sales are more accurate, we can keep tabs on what we have in stock and manage cut timber being returned to stock much better than previously,' said Steve.

Steve Fry believes that the company has become much more professional and the disciplines in place mean there’s much less chance of making mistakes, dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s is no longer left to chance with K8’s processes in place.

Customer traceability is so much easier with K8. We can see who bought what and when, with queries being resolved speedily with just a few button clicks.

Steve Fry - Managing Director at Nottage Joinery

'From a financial point of view, cost of sale calculations are far more accurate and we have much greater analysis than in the past. Purchasing stock items is very easy with K8. The system also enables us to manage our non-stock items which is not always a straightforward process for a timber business,' Steve explained.

Results

• More accurate counter transactions
• Professional customer documentation
• Easier purchasing of stock items
• Much reduced risks of errors and mistakes
• Detailed customer history and traceability
• Greater financial analysis
• Better business management processes Maintain a competitive edge

Nottage Joinery operates in what can be a highly competitive market, where pricing is particularly sensitive.

With K8, we have empowered our staff ‘to trade’ in order to secure business. Quotations can be produced very quickly and there’s scope to adjust pricing if necessary. All the while, we can keep tabs on profitability to ensure gross margins are maintained within pre-set parameters.

Steve Fry - Managing Director at Nottage Joinery

All in all, K8 is fulfilling Nottage Joinery’s requirements. The system has certainly helped the company to increase sales volumes - by understanding more about the products that are selling particularly well, as well as managing the slower-moving items more effectively. With elements such as improved customer documentation, K8 portrays a much more professional image to customers.

We couldn’t do without K8, it has added value to the business and is certainly one of the best systems for our sector. The great thing is that we have opportunities to develop how we use its powerful functionality as our needs evolve.

Steve Fry - Managing Director at Nottage Joinery

Highlights

• Traceability is much easier with K8
• Empowered our staff ‘to trade’
• K8 has added value to the business