Computer says yes

All too often, it was a case of ‘the computer says no’ for Cumbernauld-based CMS Window Systems when it was dealing with its previous software supplier, the company has reported, which has found its switch to Business Micros refreshing, and is enjoying what it describes as a ‘truly customer orientated approach’.

CMS Window Systems has quite specific manufacturing and reporting requirements when compared with a typical trade supplier, the company said. The team at Business Micros has invested time in understanding this and, over the last four years, has put together what is now a bespoke software package based on the Evolution and EvoNET platforms.

Mark Owens, sales and operational planning manager at CMS, said: “What continues to impress us about Business Micros is the flexibility shown by the whole team. They almost never say no to a request from us, but always find a way to adapt the software so that it does what we need it to do. Whether that’s changing a report in EvoNET or rationalising the customer defaults in Evolution, they make it clear that their priority is to fit the software to our business rather than the other way around.”

CMS has a two day per month support contract with Business Micros so that it can carry out ongoing development of its software. However, Mark says that it is not just the time that Business Micros spends, but the approach which really matters.

“The support team are on call all week for us to contact by phone and we get regular visits from the programmers,” he said. “They seem to enjoy the challenges we set them, and clearly see the development work they do for us as part of a process of continual product improvement.”

Using Evolution and EvoNET, CMS has complete barcode scanning of its factory and can track every profile and glass unit from delivery to despatch. This ensures that it can identify problems or errors before they ever become visible to the client and helps to ensure that it can maintain an efficient, right-first-time service.