Successful partnerships – a platform for business success in 2022!
Success in business hinges on working with - and knowing when to call on - trusted partners. And then, long term success relies on continued relationships with those who can adapt to change, consistently deliver and be depended on in times of need. Looking into the evolving business markets and economic uncertainty in the year ahead, we wish you the very best in your trusted partner relationships to help see you through – and if there’s a role we can play in your journey, we’d love to chat.
We’d also like to take the opportunity to acknowledge one of our own successful partnerships - with MYOB - and thank them for our recent 2021 Enterprise Partner Award; we believe stronger ALTSHIFT alliances (a division of BDO Information Systems) bring stronger capacity for us to deliver success for our clients. Lets talk about the range of ALTSHIFT partners we can connect you with in helping drive your business success in 2022!
Working Smarter With The Cloud
Through the lock-down many businesses have enabled remote working and realised the benefits of investment in technology. No doubt there have also been frustrations with working in a ‘paperless’ environment, accessing legacy technology and modifying historic business processes.
The ALTSHIFT team will discuss practical technology solutions you can utilise in your business to achieve smarter ways of working including;
eCommerce integrated to inventory and finance
eCommerce automation with shipping and tracking
Accounts payable automation
Automated debtor collection
Online reporting tools
Please watch the video below to find out more...
MYOB Advanced High Achievers
Last month (and before the lock down!) we were graciously hosted by the MYOB Enterprise team for their annual partner conference on the sunny Gold Coast. Apart from the stunning location we were treated to a series of workshops and detailed updates on the MYOB suite. From our perspective we were pleased to see the level of investment in the MYOB Advanced platform (there's no doubt this cloud ERP platform has a big future mid-tier market) and it was great to see a number of new 3rd party integrations on the scene adding to the breadth of functionality.
The conference closed in style high up on the 77th floor of the SkyPoint building (that's 230m in the air!) where as part of our partnership with BDO Information Systems we were pleased to receive the Excellence in Business Development Award for MYOB Advanced (NZ). For BDO Information Systems the award comes 2 years running and is a testament to the quality projects being rolled out by the team.
A great night was had by all and if not for that awful virus we'll be back again next year to defend the silverware. For now the team are head down in MYOB Advanced projects with a number of new sites going live in the new financial year and we're all thankful that we can continue to work in the cloud.
Ten Key Things to Consider When Implementing Digital Transformation
Data collection and analysis are integral to business success and growth, and most businesses have already adopted digital transformation strategies to ensure they thrive in competitive markets now and in the future. Digital transformation affects all aspects of a business, from digital marketing to business operations, so this transition process should be handled carefully. If you’re thinking of moving towards digitization, here are the key things to keep in mind to ensure digital transformation success.
Strategy. An overall digital transformation strategy must be in place to avoid using a shotgun approach or doing bits and pieces at a time. Strategy requires building a set of requirements tailored to your business’ needs and documenting them to create a brief.
Expertise. Consider whether you have the expertise internally to execute the strategy or if you need to engage with external contractors, partners, or experts.
Research. Gather information on products, platforms, and technology that might be considered as part of the transformation, e.g. different accounting platforms, e-commerce platforms, etc. Book vendor demonstrations and workshops if they offer that service.
Peer Review. Check vendor references, online reviews, and meet up with existing users. This way, you’re able to base your decision from a wider pool of experience and information.
Future-proofing. Make sure the solution you intend to adapt is future-proofed. Technology moves fast, so be avoid using software that's likely to become obsolete within the next few years.
Automation. Automation is an integral part of digital transformation. Ensure your solution can automate internal processes, fix any current problems, or remove a current bottleneck with little to no human intervention.
Insight. Consider whether the solution will provide more insight, analytics, transparency, or allow you to look at the business activity in a different way.
Budget. What is the cost/budget and timeline to execute the strategy? Consider 2% of turnover to be a good starting point for a digital transformation budget.
Delivery. Create a project plan with a clear sequence of events and designate a champion for the delivery. They must be responsible for executing the strategy—internally and/or externally.
Change Management. This is the human element of digital transformation. Managing change internally requires managing people's emotions and egos, gaining staff buy-in, and getting people on board with the strategy. Pre-empting human issues or resistance can make a big difference to the success of a project.
Attitude. As an extra yet essential step, it’s important to remain positive, seek out the positive benefits of change, and focus on what new opportunities the solution creates. Understanding the limitations of a system is important, but try not to critique it too much, as you will always find limitations with software. There is no perfect system. What’s important is that, overall, there is improvement, efficiency is gained, and/or it solves more problems than it creates.
ALTSHIFT provides professional support for optimizing business information systems. If you require professional advice regarding your business information systems, reach out to the ALTSHIFT team today. Our trained experts, practitioners, and consultants understand that powerful information systems ranging from inventory systems to workflow are behind every leading business.
Simple yet robust - an automated expense entry and approval process for Xero
With a huge up take of Xero these days many clients are taking the next step to further automate their systems. Although Xero itself has some basic ‘approval’ functions, often this is not enough for a business complex approval workflow.
Examples include:
Branch managers only want to approve bills for their own branch
Managers or CFO’s need to approve bills over a certain limit
Requiring more than one person to approve a bill
Having an approval delegate when a manager is on leave
Sending automated reminders to managers when they bills to approve
Or any combination of the above!
With a tool like ApprovalMax, businesses using Xero can have these complex approval workflows and digitize them for the modern era, keeping a digital audit trail and removing unnecessary paper and printing from the process.
Furthermore tools like Receiptbank remove the data entry from the beginning of the process (receiving the bill and have it auto-entered into the accounting system with appropriate coding).
With the 2 combined processes moved into the cloud, you have digitized the entire accounts payable process from start to end!
We’ve joined forces with BDO!
We are very excited to announce that from the 1st of June 2019 we are merging with BDO Information Systems Ltd.
Who is BDO and why did we decide to join them?
BDO is a global accounting and advisory firm with offices in 162 countries and the leading SME accounting firm in New Zealand. BDO Information Systems is an independent division of the BDO group that specialises in cloud software solutions. This merger brings together a wealth of expertise and gives us greater capability to provide a better service to our clients.
What does this mean for you?
Your current relationship with ALTSHIFT will not change. We will continue to offer the same services at the same rates, from the same key people. What it does mean is that you will have access to a bigger team of specialists who have vast experience working with a wider range of cloud based solutions. We think that together BDO and ALTSHIFT have an unmatched level of expertise when it comes to your business systems and we hope you continue to support us on the next stage of our journey.
If you have questions, please get in touch.
Josh Ambler & the ALTSHIFT Team
Celebrating the launch of BNZ MyBusiness Live
In anticipation of the launch of BNZ’s new MyBusiness Live Dashboard (powered by 9Spokes), ALTSHIFT was invited to Wellington to represent TradeGecko at a networking event designed to connect app partners of the 9Spokes eco-system with senior BNZ partners. With the uptake of cloud software in business, BNZ is at the forefront offering a free BI dashboard to BNZ and non-BNZ customers alike.
The MyBusiness Live Dashboard allows you to easily connect a wide array of cloud systems which enables business leaders to configure an array of widgets to display key performance metrics. This in turn provides valuable insights that would otherwise take months to prepare; at the click of a button. Business leaders who utilise MyBusiness Live will have the data to monitor the vital signs of a business that may otherwise be missing from the P&L, leading them to make smarter business decisions.
Among ALTSHIFT and TradeGecko, we were joined by other apps from the 9Spokes/MyBusiness Live eco-system. We had a wonderful time networking with the folks from apps such as Xero, MYOB, Tradify, Shopify, Exsalerate, Hedgebook, Debtor Daddy and Business Sorter.
Client Spotlight: Our Time with Epiphany
Epiphany Cafe is a steadily growing franchise of cafes headquartered in Te Rapa, Hamilton. With 8 locations (and more on the way) they are steadily acquiring a cult following with their Donuts, Muffins and Scones. They are moving into a brand new factory to keep up with demand, and as a part of this process they also made the conscious decision to implement back-office systems to serve as a platform for their future growth. Upon meeting with Epiphany for a consultation, it was decided that Unleashed would be a fantastic candidate for them to manage their production supply-chain. Unleashed is a powerful inventory and production management system that tightly integrates with Xero, it is our system of choice for food & beverage manufacturers (our other F&B clients such as Sal’s Pizza and North End Brewery also use Unleashed).
Implementing Unleashed for Epiphany was no small feat, with many moving parts in the wider solution. One problem Epiphany faced was that their pre-existing process for franchisee ordering was riddled with time consuming manual data entry, something that was not scalable. As a solution to this problem, we implemented the Unleashed B2B Portal to streamline this process. Franchisees can now log in and place their daily orders seamlessly, and thanks to the B2B Portal we eliminated the manual data entry aspect of the ordering process. Since all of the food items Epiphany produces are made to order, each order gets consolidated at the finished good level ready to go into the Unleashed production module. Since we loaded Unleashed up with the recipes for each item Epiphany makes, head office is then able to quickly determine whether they have enough raw ingredients to complete the day’s production run (and easily send out a purchase order to replenish inventory if needed). Another complex requirement of Epiphany’s was the need to track every batch of Donuts they send out, from the finished good right down to the milligrams of food colouring they used. If there was ever a problem with a batch of Donuts, they needed a full audit trail of each ingredient that went into the batch and whom the supplier of each ingredient was. Unleashed makes simple work of batch tracking for compliance, and offers Epiphany the peace of mind that they have full control over their batches.
Once we had taken care of the extensive data and configuration work to get the organisation ready for Unleashed, we began with running on-site training sessions to get the business ready for go-live. The purpose of the training is to ensure that every staff member knows how to leverage the system. We did training sessions split across two days, the first day for back-office processes and the second for the production module. Once training was complete, we were present for the scheduled go-live day in the new system. ALTSHIFT believes in mitigating go-live day risk by having consultants on-site in case of any hiccups.
Going live in a new system is extremely risky business, but with the execution of a specific sequence of events disaster can be averted. Careful project management is the key to a successful software implementation as well as ongoing support post go-live. ALTSHIFT is a specialist in managed systems implementation, we have delivered countless cloud-based solutions to business across many industries. If you are in the process of comparing different software solutions, get in touch with ALTSHIFT for a vendor neutral assessment of your specific business requirements.
Why should my business use a 3PL?
One of the most complex components to effectively scaling up a business is the management of an efficient supply chain. As a product-based business grows, so too does the throughput of product through an ever thinly stretched supply-chain. All of the moving pieces in your supply chain must continue to operate in perfect alignment to avoid bottlenecking in process, and unfortunately in the costs associated with deploying a new fulfilment/dispatch location can be quite high. Thankfully the option of utilising a third party logistics partner (3PL) exists.
3PLs are uniquely positioned in the fulfilment space in that they are equipped with the knowledge and resources for businesses looking to expand their reach (whether within their existing territories, or into new ones). One of the advantages of using a 3PL is the sharing and distribution of costs among partners. Simply put, instead of your business paying for an entire facility, your business is able to use the space in the facility that it requires. This way your business is only paying for what it uses. This aspect is particularly useful if your business has regularly fluctuating inventory levels (selling seasonal stock being the example). Other costs associated with warehousing such as labour are proportionately distributed among the 3PL’s clients. If your business cannot keep a warehouse full of product year round, this makes partnering up with a 3PL a very cost effective option.
Another reason to partner with a 3PL is the ability to leverage their international reach. As opposed to investing in a warehouse in a foreign territory and shouldering the burden of operating a warehouse in a country with different regulations and currency, you could partner with a 3PL that has locations globally and leverage their local know-how in the territory you want to expand in. To increase service levels and reduce costs, it is essential to have your product based close to where your customers are. Engaging with a 3PL is typically done so on a contractual basis, meaning visibility at a transactional level. This holds 3PLs to a much higher degree of accountability with tracking of key performance indicators.
Naturally, switching to a 3PL blazes a path for the automation of the fulfilment and dispatch functions of your business. This extensive automation frees up staff to perform higher value tasks. In order to achieve this, it is key to have the right technology and business processes in place to facilitate this. ALTSHIFT has consulted upon and executed numerous extensive cloud ERP implementations, which have included platform integrations to 3PL partners. The scope of these integrations include automatic fulfilment of e-Commerce orders, fulfilment of wholesale orders and more. Have a question about your systems and scope for 3PL integration? Have a chat with the experts.
What is EDI?
EDI, standing for Electronic Data Interchange, is the electronic transaction of business data between business partners that follows a standardised format. EDI facilitates the ability for one business to send information to another. Many business documents are transacted through EDI, however the two most common are purchase orders and invoices. The expenses incurred with traditional business communication (mail handling, paper, reproduction, filing, storage and retrieval) are effectively eliminated, and EDI has been found to reduce associated administration costs by at least 35%.
Why should my business use EDI?
Another benefit of using EDI over traditional transaction methods is the elimination of data entry errors. This further reduces your cost of doing business, and frees up your staff to perform higher value tasks. The real-time nature of EDI also allows increased visibility which allows for more strategic business decisions. Consequently the reduced order processing and delivery times allow for reduced inventory levels. With less inventory on hand, there is less precious capital tied up in product and more cash-flow.
As a business grows and begins trading with bigger customers, they may quickly find that their trading partners require them to transact with EDI. In order to be compliant with these types of customers, small businesses may be provided with an EDI web portal to make or receive orders. When starting out your business may be able to shoulder this administrative burden, but it does not make for a scalable process. Thankfully with the right technology EDI can be implemented into your business processes, and you too could reap the benefits.
ALTSHIFT is a consultancy firm that implements cloud business solutions, and consequently we have also done a wide array of EDI connections as part of bigger cloud ERP projects. If you are thinking about scaling up your business but not sure whether your systems stack is up to the task, get in touch with one of our experts for a consultation.