For a high-tech company Lightning Fibre had been taking a rather low-tech approach: Managing their multi-million pound inventory on Excel. The company is an internet service provider rolling out its own fibre network in the SouthEast of England, and when purchasing manager James Hope joined a year ago he saw an opportunity to implement an ERP software package.
“As we've scaled so did the amount of parts that we had to keep track of, says James. “There was always pressure to reorder parts without visibility and we were getting caught out left, right and centre with stock outs.”
James and the team decided to replace their outdated Excel-based system, and use Unleashed inventory management software to manage their purchasing and warehouse operations – but began the onboarding process with a sense of trepidation.
“I was nervous for the team – and it was my first time bringing any kind of software into a business”, says James.
“But after I started speaking to Unleashed and met Riley, our onboarding consultant, my confidence went completely up. Having that full support throughout just meant that we had a really good feel for the system from day one.”
James had opted for FlightPath B – a slightly more expensive onboarding model that comes with more support – and feels this really contributed to the ease of their go-live.
“It was brilliant! You never know what to expect with these things so it was very much like let's just start from the ground up – and Riley walked us through every step of the way. So we didn't feel overwhelmed by how much there was to do at the start – it was just very systematic.”
“Having the one-to-one support was invaluable to us too. It was so much more tailored to our business – that was the exact reason why we chose it.”
Lightning Fibre went live with Unleashed in September 2022 with zero hiccups and say their new software ticks all the boxes.
“It really does pay for itself,” says James.”
“It made an impact straight away with myself and our warehouse team. For purchasing I can run a reorder report every day and capture all the products that have dropped below our minimum levels – and I can see when those products are due and all the up-to-date pricing and lead time information. It's all there. And monthly reporting is so much easier!”
