System Selection Support

Kaydee Blinds

The Client

Midlands-based Kaydee Blinds and Sayfa Systems are leading suppliers of commercial blinds and working at heights safety systems to the construction industry. While operating independently they share common ownership and senior management. Together they employ 35 people.

Kaydee Blinds and Sayfa Systems are two separate, but co-owned, companies both supply products and services to the construction industry. Kaydee’s current ERP system was no longer able to efficiently support their operations and Sayfa’s rapid growth was beginning to be restricted by the lack of integrated IT systems. The senior management team came to the decision that an ERP system selection project was required in order to find a system suitable for both companies.

The Problem

Both companies recognised that they did not have the in-house expertise to select a system that would not only recognise that each sold a different range of services and products, but would also need to be heavily focused on the management of construction-related projects, where there would be many processes and activities in common to both companies.

The Solution

Gradient led the Kaydee and Sayfa project teams through a structured selection process by first thoroughly documenting their system requirements and then identifying the most suitable products and vendors for demonstration.

What the Client Says

“Employing Gradient for the selection process not only saved us an enormous amount of time but also gave us that confidence that our system was being selected by experienced consultants and ‎that when we reached our final decision we could rest assured it was the best use of our investment. Overall the benefit of having unbiased technical knowledge and selection advice proved invaluable.”

Brook South

Actions

  • Gradient spent three days on site at Kaydee and Sayfa in order to understand current processes. Also to document the specific operational and strategic requirements that each company had for a new system. These were then added into a comprehensive specification document.
  • The specification document was sent to a selection of carefully researched suppliers and the responses reviewed. Three vendors were chosen to provide short demonstrations to the management and project teams.
  • A series of further detailed demonstrations were arranged in order to compare key specific aspects of functionality. These were vital in determining both the correct system and choice of vendor. This process was supplemented by communications with suitable reference sites and visits to vendor headquarters which above all aided the decision-making process.

Benefits

  • Kaydee now have a system which will significantly improve internal processes. Sayfa have a system that will provide the basis for continued sustained growth.
  • There is a close match between the functionality of the software and key business processes. Consequently both Kaydee and Sayfa can be confident to deliver efficiencies and improvements across all functions of the two companies. From initial contact with the client through to the delivery of their services and installation of their products.

Contact us or call Gradient now on: +44 (0)1282 463 710