Watch Importer and Distributor – Griffiths, McKay and Buckleigh Limited – Moves to SAP Business One for Integrated Financial, Service and Inventory Management
Auckland, New Zealand — SAP and partner REALTECH today announced that Griffiths, McKay and Buckleigh Limited (GMB Watch) became one of the first New Zealand companies to complete a full financial year on SAP Business One, when it closed its books for fiscal year 2005 on June 30. The importer and distributor of watches and accessories to New Zealand’s major retailers backed up four months of financial data when it went live on SAP Business One on November 1, 2004.
GMB Watch evaluated a range of business management solutions as part of a business expansion drive, including Greentree, before selecting SAP Business One. Until that point, GMB Watch had relied on a heavily modified DOS Pick-based application, which was failing to keep pace with organisational growth. The company was reliant on a system that did not connect between the company’s three sites in New Zealand and which received no local vendor support.
GMB Watch selected SAP Business One on the basis of its superior integration capabilities, business functionality, ease of use and the future proofed nature of the technology. The company runs the full financial, accounting, service and inventory management functionality within SAP Business One. The SAP Business One service management module supports GMB’s watch servicing department, which was reliant on a paper based management system.
“In reviewing the company’s operations and plans for growth, we realised that we needed to upgrade to a business management system that would enable accurate reporting capabilities across our operations. The new system would need to move us away from a modularised and isolated system,” said Peter Buckleigh, Managing Director of Griffiths McKay and Buckleigh Limited. “We worked closely with REALTECH and SAP New Zealand. As an early adopter of the technology in New Zealand, we achieved an implementation which was a tight fit with our business requirements.”
“REALTECH acted as a true business partner to Griffiths, McKay and Buckleigh,” continued Peter Buckleigh. “They demonstrated a strong understanding of our business processes and helped us re-engineer the way we did business in some instances, to drive greater efficiency from the software.”
GMB Watch supplies watches to New Zealand’s leading retailers including the Pascoes Group, Michael Hill, Gemtime, Nationwide, Christies and some 350 independent business within New Zealand and The Pacific Islands. Expansion is planned into Australia. Brands distributed are imported from Switzerland, France, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. A proportion of its accessory inventory is distributed to retailers on consignment. SAP Business One enables it to manage and track approximately 5,000 stock items in more than 60 retail locations across the country. An add-on sales analysis reporting module measures sales against stock in real-time.
The company plans to upgrade to the latest release next month, in order to gain access to its Microsoft Outlook and XL Reporter, a fully integrated advanced reporting and financial analysis tool. XL Reporter uses a standard Microsoft Excel interface, as well as SAP Business One’s unique drag-and-drop technology, to enable easy report creation.
“The REALTECH implementation at Griffiths, McKay and Buckleigh Limited is further evidence of the power of SAP Business One,” said Tim Woolfield, Managing Director, REALTECH. “The software has enabled significant business process automation, which results in greater efficiencies for staff and ultimately better service for customers. For the first time, this growing New Zealand company can generate an accurate picture of its day to day business performance.”
“SAP Business One is gaining considerable momentum in the New Zealand market. This, combined with a REALTECH software demonstration was enough for SAP Business One to blow away the competition and convince Griffiths, McKay and Buckleigh that the technology was the best option for their business,” said Alex Morcom, SMB Manager, SAP New Zealand. “SAP boasts an active community of high value channel partners, which deliver significant business value and technical partnership to the community of small and medium sized businesses, which are present in high volumes across New Zealand.”
About Griffiths, McKay and Buckleigh Limited
GMB Watch is an importer and distributor of watches, including Tissot, Certina, Clyda, Roamer, Cat, Maurice Lacroix, Astina, Fcuk, Timex. The company imports and distributes a range of French jewellery and watch straps and operates a watch servicing department. The company is based in three locations across New Zealand; Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
About REALTECH
REALTECH is a premier provider of services and solutions to many leading New Zealand organisations. These organisations vary in size, industry and location. As an SAP Business Partner, REALTECH’s solution offerings are based on the SAP Business One and the mySAP business software. Located in Auckland and Wellington REALTECH has a staff of 30 employees. REALTECH is totally owned by REALTECH AG, Walldorf, Germany.
