Palladio Marble & Mosaics import and wholesale decorative marble tiles and mosaics. They have clients spread throughout Australia who choose them because of their extensive materials and product range and commitment to quality service. The business has been established for 12 years, and was recently purchased by Malcolm Campbell.
The Problem - Materials Inventory Management
As the new owner of Palladio Marble & Mosaics, Malcolm wanted to replace the out-dated systems in the business and revitalise the business through the use of smart solutions. The inventory and materials component was especially important with long lead times for product imports, and they required powerful forecasting to ensure they were ordering the correct quantities of products.The Solution
One of the first changes to come to the business under the new ownership was implementing Xero and Unleashed. Describing the process, Malcolm says it couldn’t have been much easier: “We set it up ourselves without a consultant or any outside help. The day before we walked into the business on the Monday, we had the inventory set up. All it took was an evening sitting on the couch at home.” Unleashed’s support has always provided prompt and useful responses to any issues that have cropped up. “Every issue we’ve had has been resolved very efficiently. We’ve had none of the bad experiences you often get with software; my experience with Unleashed has been very good,” Malcolm shares.The Results
Malcolm mentions top benefits of Unleashed as speed and efficiency. He reports that processing an order is very, very quick. The connectivity between Unleashed and Xero removes the need for extra data entry in the accounting system, which has been really helpful for streamlining operations. Knowing stock levels in real-time is a big plus for Malcolm. “I’m often on the road, and if a customer rings me I can literally log in on my phone and check on the stock levels.” According to Malcolm, the purchase order costing is really useful for capturing the transaction cost in the original currency, plus the freight costs and import duties, which can add up to be a significant amount. “Having that automatically added to the value of your stock when you receive it into your system, it’s what the accounting standards tell you that you should be doing and it’s really easy in Unleashed,” he reports. “Not only does it save you a bunch of time, but it also means that you’re compliant with the accounting standards. It’s just how it should be done; it works really, really well for us,” he enthuses. With the often long lead times of importing tiles, Malcolm enjoys the forecasting ability that Unleashed provides. Becoming more proactive in optimising his inventory, if things aren’t moving Malcolm can send things to auction and move it on if it’s not working. “All the data is there in Unleashed, so we can do that analysis ourselves. We use that to answer questions before we go and place an order with one of our overseas suppliers,” he shares. Malcolm has been so thrilled with Unleashed that he’ll be implementing it in another business that he’s in the process of buying. “I haven’t even contemplated sticking with their existing inventory system. Again, on the first day, we’ll be changing it out for Unleashed. They’re using a system that probably cost them quite a lot of money, but it wouldn’t even occur to us to keep using it,” he says.