History & Heraldry: A high speed solution for a high speed business

Every second of every day somewhere someone is buying a gift from History & Heraldry. In just 7 years the UK based company has risen to the top of the impulse buy gift market. To keep momentum going and to secure future growth they have recently completed a major implementation of Microsoft Axapta. Columbus IT Partner was their partner of choice.

Running a successful business requires reliable information from all key areas of operations. History & Heraldry (H&H Group) were using an aging Pegasus Opera solution that couldn't keep up with the growth in the business it was supporting. Neither functionality nor the flexibility was up to speed.

"We initially worked with four different ERP suppliers on a detailed scoping phase", says Steve Wright, General Manager at History & Heraldry. "This was a time consuming exercise, but it obviously an important one as choosing the right partner is key to the overall success of the project."

Easy picking

H&H Groups central warehouse at Rotherham is divided into bulk storage, bulk replenishment storage and an extensive pick face. The Axapta solution provides full location control which was impossible with the previous IT system. The stock management cycle starts when goods are received and moved to their Axapta-specified pallet locations in the bulk storage division. From then on the goods are moved through two stages of replenishment, with the system providing instructions to supply goods to the pick face. This allows for continuous and shortage-free picking.

New warehouse

H&H Group are planning to expand their storage capacity with one more warehouse. This expansion will put the flexibility and adaptability of the new Axapta solution into play and makes it evident that the IT investment is a strategic move that will help H&H Group to seize new business opportunities as they arise.

Perfect fit

The sales order teams, for domestic and international sales, rely on a rapid sales order entry mechanism that will allow lengthy sales order requirements to be captured in an extremely efficient manner. The integrated develop environment within Axapta has allowed the entry dialogue to be modeled to the requirements of the users so there is a perfect fit between the real life work processes and the technology.

Improved service

There are lots of different manufacturing processes within H&H Group. One example is the assembly of gift cards which is handled by home workers. Historically none of these processes had been supported by IT. Today, however, Axapta is being used to track and manage the transfer of materials to the home workers, the allocation of manufacturing activity and subsequently recording of completed goods being returned to the warehouse. Another area of manufacturing is printing. Leaflets, cards, posters etc. roll of the printing presses in huge quantities. Controlling, managing and scheduling print runs are now being done by Axapta. This provides vastly improved visibility of available materials, finished products and delivery times. The visibility also helps H&H Group to further improve customer service.

"Impressed"

History & Heraldry is a high speed business that relies on consumers being inspired to buy on impulse. This means that they have to be on their toes and able to respond quickly to market needs and fluctuations. General Manager Steve Wright says of the cooperation with Columbus IT Partner:

"We were particularly impressed by Columbus IT Partner and the deep level of application and business knowledge their team demonstrated. This – coupled with Columbus IT Partner's geographical reach which allow them to service each of the countries we operate in – meant that Columbus IT Partner were the ideal partner for us."

Top of their game

"It is always a pleasure working with market leaders", says Nicola Garrett, Project Manager at Columbus IT Partner. "Being in that position means that H&H Group are at the top of their game and it demands that we have to be at the top of ours to give them the solution they require. This project is a success because we had the best technology and not least the deepest knowledge, the experience and the skills to implement it in a demanding retail business environment".