The specialists in mission critical printing
Featured case study
Alliance UniChem
'When we started looking for a print supplier, we wanted one that would not only provide the optimum hardware but could offer four hour on-site support at any of our locations. That’s why we chose Datatrade.'
Grahame May, Alliance Unichem plc.
Grahame May, Alliance Unichem plc.
Featured Innovation
Bathtubs and Printers
An example of Datatrade’s innovative approach to the issues surrounding efficient printer management is in our ‘Bath Tub’ concept - based on the ’life wear cycle’ of any piece of mechanical equipment.
Case Studies > Brake Grocery
Managed service caters for every print need
"Getting accurate deliveries on the road on time is critical to meeting our customer service objectives. The managed service means that we can improve our printer availability, and the money that we saved has allowed us to buy additional machines, which, in turn, has increased our operational resilience."
Ron Wood, head of business systems.
Ron Wood, head of business systems.
The Client
Brake Grocery, part of the Brakes Group, is one of the UK’s largest wholesaler distributors of ambient and chilled grocery products to chefs and caterers. The company offers over 9000 products including its successful own brands of Cearns & Brown - ambient products, Larderfresh - chilled goods and CaterCare - non-food and cleaning products. Brake Grocery operates nationally from 18 strategically located depots, supplementing its comprehensive range with some regional or local product lines.
The Business Problem
Watson & Philip, and Cearns & Brown were both acquired by Brake Brothers and have now been rebranded as Brake Grocery. The acquisitions left the IT department with four separate printer suppliers and differing maintenance contracts. The company’s physical food distribution operations are conducted primarily at night, yet the printer support contracts did not extend beyond office hours, which posed real problems if the company couldn’t run picking lists and invoices. Brake Grocery wanted better printer resilience and clearer operational management but no impact on annual expenditure.
The Business Solution
Brake Grocery analysed its helpdesk calls and identified that Tally printers caused least problems. Datatrade had a good relationship with Tally and impressed Brake Grocery by its enthusiasm and desire to achieve results. A printer rationalisation contract was drawn up which put the whole business on an eight-hour call out. A quantity of the money saved by standardising the call out time was used to purchase nine more printers, which were sited at the larger depots as standbys. As printers need to be replaced, TallyGenicom machines will replace them. Datatrade reports regularly on equipment condition and when replacements are required.
The Business Benefits
The greatest benefit has been seen in improved printer resilience, the Company feels confident that its machines will cope with the production of 28,000 invoices and 32,000 picking lists. Reducing annual maintenance expenditure enabled Brake to purchase further mission critical printers at larger depots. Life is also simplified for the IT department in that operational management is clearer and there is only one single point of call for printer repairs and maintenance.