Alfred Franks & Bartlett import and distribute a range of designer and children's licensed character sunglasses. They form the cornerstone of a £26million business that imports a range of 3000 products from around the world. When the company found itself relying on IT software that increasingly struggled to meet its complex needs, it turned to Strategix for an integrated answer.

Products with character
When summer arrives and the sun comes out, one of the first things we all do is reach for a pair of sunglasses. And, at the same time, our children will probably seek a pair of brightly coloured shades to protect their eyes from the sun's rays.

Chances are if your little one's (or your) sunglasses feature famous characters such as Mickey Mouse, Barney or Barbie, they are from Alfred Franks & Bartlett (AF&B). Founded in 1919, AF&B specialises in this market along quality designer styles for the fashion-conscious adult. In all, it carries over 200 different styles of sunglasses imported from the Far East and Europe. It is proud of the Warner Bros. licence in its portfolio, producing a range with designs such as Bugs Bunny, Tazmanian Devil and Tweety Pie. The company holds many exclusive licences, several of which are for worldwide distribution.

As well as sunglasses, AF&B is a major importer and distributor of a diverse range of around 3000 products for famous high-street names including Wilkinsons and Woolworth's. These include everything from seasonal lines such as Halloween and Christmas goods to candles, cutlery and kitchen equipment. All these products are stored at and distributed from its 58,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space at its St Albans headquarters and a second site in Thetford, Norfolk.

Keeping tabs on the business
With so many different products to track at any one time, AF&B was finding it increasingly time-consuming to calculate the hidden costs of freight, shipping and import duties using its existing Sage accounting package.

"Our existing system simply wasn't integrated", explains Paul Candy, finance director, Alfred Franks & Bartlett, "We needed a solution that could work out all the complex costing involved with importing and landing our goods. The old system also lacked the full stock control and sales information we would have liked. Our products take up to a month to reach this country, and we were increasingly seeing it as vital to have information on their whereabouts down to the last unit."

AF&B decided that rather than try and upgrade the system to cope, it would research the market for new software that better fitted its needs.

Choosing the right IT system
After careful consideration of the market-leading software available, AF&B selected Strategix. "What was vital was a suite that could provide us with information in depth", says Paul. "Although many systems offered some degree of the functionality we needed, only Strategix could provide the complete integrated package.

"What particularly impressed us was the Landed Costs module, which allows us to work out the true cost of any product by the time it reaches us. Coupled with the rest of its Sales Order Processing, invoicing and accounting functions, Strategix showed itself to be a very strong solution indeed."

"It may sound too good to be true, but the installation and configuration went very smoothly", says Paul. "We were expecting the inevitable glitches when taking on a package as sophisticated as Strategix, but we haven't had any yet!" The only problem came when a piece of third-party hardware failed in April 1999, taking the company offline before being tracked down and replaced by the Strategix support team.

A sunny outlook
After just a few months Paul believed the system had already proved itself. "I would estimate our stock management and customer service levels have shown at least a 50% improvement. Vitally, Strategix has also given us the visibility of stock levels we didn't have before to make more informed purchasing decisions."

AF&B and Strategix are now working together to develop and tailor the suite even more closely.

As a supplier to big high-street stores, it is inevitable that AF&B will also be looking to trade more and more using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). Paul agrees, "We already receive orders and dispatch invoices by fax, and soon we'll be looking to integrate Strategix's EDI module which should mean swifter order processing and even better stock management."

Paul concludes, "From the results demonstrated so far and the exciting prospects ahead, we're confident Strategix will help to bring us continued success as we move into our next 80 years of business."

About Strategix
Strategix designs, develops and implements enterprise management and e-business software for volume distributors, resellers and electronic retailers.

Specialising in a number of sectors including telecoms, electronics and IT, Strategix delivers applications that provide an integrated approach to managing customer and supplier relationships, inventory, service delivery and financial accounts.