| Business Benefits |
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Modest estimate of 60% reduction in manual processes with continual reductions over time |
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Early improvements in inventory management |
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Job Cost helping to drive down and get control of materials and labour costs |
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High visibility of ‘live’ cash position – previously, this was hard to get to and out-of-date |
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Elimination of manual data entry in multiple places has improved the accuracy of data |
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Accurate and reliable data for reporting and decision making |
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Opportunities for further improvements being constantly identified |
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“We’re excited about the opportunities that are being revealed daily – previously, these weren’t open to us so with no constraints, we now have the tools to evolve into a product based organisation with Greentree.”
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Michael O’Connor, CFO – The Davey Group |
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 The vibrant mining, transport and agricultural sectors in Queensland Australia continue to drive growth and change in companies like The Davey Group where the incumbent business system could be ‘patched’ no longer. Greentree was implemented to help the group evolve from a jobbing shop into a product based organisation, while not losing the jobbing capabilities of the group.
The business situation
The Davey Group encompasses 14 companies each with its own unique needs and each focused on providing heavy machinery and services to an array of industries including agriculture, mining, forestry and road transport. Whilst the incumbent system had been faithful, many external processes and systems had been developed to beef-up its capability and Michael O’Connor, CFO says “we simply couldn’t keep sticking band-aids on it and more importantly, it wasn’t enabling business growth – it just had to go”. Michael says they needed to significantly reduce manual tasks and processes in order to get on top of costs and Greentree’s Job Costing capability and integration were seen as key to achieving this.
Creating the Greentree business back-bone
A strategy of managed growth is reflected in a steady as she goes approach and Michael says they’re not looking to break any records. He says that “when we realised Greentree had so much to offer we figured we couldn’t possibly do everything successfully all at once so we decided to do things as we grew which has been the best approach for us.” He estimates the 60% reduction in manual processes achieved since Greentree went live 6 months ago is “modest”, and it will provide a sound foundation upon which remaining manual processes will incrementally disappear over time.
“Greentree is becoming the back-bone for the group and we expect this to consolidate over time as we learn more about its capabilities and grow into its capacity,” said Michael.
High visibility of cash position - critical
 Because things are happening within the business throughout the day, Michael says a real benefit for him as CFO is Greentree’s ability to give him a cash position at any moment which is invaluable for proactively managing cash flows. He explains that by the time he navigated the 14 ledgers required to get a cash position, the data was out-of-date and of little help.
Enter data into Greentree once – end of story
The need to beef-up the old system meant developing multiple disparate external systems and processes which was entirely counter productive since it essentially created more work for someone else. Staff would be required to enter data several times and develop a mechanism to get it in and out which was error-prone and complicated. Those days are gone since Greentree’s modular integrated environment means data is entered once before it flows through updating all relevant modules which Michael says has saved enormous amounts of time.
Inventory management, job costing improvements and reduced costs
At this early stage, Michael concedes they are only scratching the surface but already he can see evidence of efficiency gains in how the business is handling its ‘make to order’ stock. Job cost is helping to get control of materials and labour costs.
Honest, open & supportive local
Greentree partner The essence of any sustainable relationship is the ability to communicate, provide support and discuss ideas and issues openly and Michael speaks highly of the Greentree partner’s ability and willingness to maintain a dynamic partnership.
Continuously identifying opportunities
Populating the HR database with employee data and remote access are just a couple of examples of opportunities for development. By entering the skills and qualifications of a specialised workforce and then being able to leverage those skills to grow contracting opportunities is an area Michael is keen to tap into. Remote access will help connect mobile staff to the office and improve communications.
Success Story Summary
Challenge >
The Davey Group needed a system that could accommodate evolutionary growth from a jobbing to a productbased business without losing its jobbing flexibility and capabilities.
Solution >
Greentree Business Management Suite, Distribution, Inventory, CRM, Alerts, Payroll, HR & Workflow.
Results >
Greentree has been developed as a business back-bone for the 14 companies that make-up The Davey Group. Greentree presented significant potential to improve several aspects of the business and a managed growth strategy was adopted to ensure the business did not over-extend the resource required to successfully realise this. A modest estimate of 60% reduction in manual processes has been achieved with more to come. Integration has helped reduce inventory and job costs and eliminate the duplication of data and effort. Accurate reporting and high visibility of cash flows has improved the quality of the decision making process.. |
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