Interstoq is a rapidly growing, privately owned, independent wholesale and distribution business. It offers bespoke facilities to brand owners and distributors across Europe, assisting them in achieving sustainable growth and providing solutions to operational challenges. Offering a discrete service to leading FMCG producers, products with short shelf-lives, obsolete stock and cancelled orders can be distributed through alternative channels, mainly discount retail and regional supermarkets.
Interstoq has been established for several years and currently operates from the UK and the Netherlands. In the time they’ve been operating they have used a few ERP systems, which couldn’t cope with their requirements until they implemented SAP Business One hosted on AWS this year.
Previously, the systems they used were causing big issues, particularly in terms of reporting with their two locations. VAT reports for both parts of the company were required but proved impossible without a lot of manual adjustments. They also required more visibility into batches for reporting purposes, including languages and use-by dates, especially if shipments were crossing borders in Europe.
The goals Interstoq wanted to achieve by implementing SAP Business One were being able to keep on top of all transactions with a system that could cope with their needs. With the goal of doubling the company’s size next year, they had found that their previous systems were taking the directors away from the commercial aspect of managing the business. According to Jamie Milner, Director, “now we have SAP Business One up and running, we’re getting back into what we want to be doing. It’s freeing up time to focus on our core business and giving us full confidence that the system is recording and holding information as it should be.”
Ascarii’s technical consultant, Stuart, worked alongside the team at Interstoq to ensure the smooth implementation of SAP Business One. Jamie says, “I’ve never worked with somebody who has been so easily accessible. Stuart has gone well above and beyond anything we would have expected. He spent so much time going through exactly what was needed and held our hand until the very last minute. I can’t praise him highly enough.”
Although the system has only been live for a short period of time, Interstoq has already noticed a number of benefits. They particularly like the workflow and are already noticing a huge benefit in being able to keep track of truck movements, find out whether a customer owes them money, as well as status updates and delivery schedules. Jamie says, “the biggest benefit has been the transparency the system has given, as well as the increase in accuracy as previously our Excel spreadsheets were very prone to human error. With big ambitions for growth over the next few years, we were also particularly reassured by the Ascarii platform being on AWS, knowing that it will be able to support us for the long-term.”
The team at Interstoq sees SAP Business One as essential to support them in their future growth, giving them accurate data and insight on which to base their strategic decisions, while freeing up management to concentrate on the commercial aspects of the business. Jamie is very pleased with their purchase of SAP Business One and the working relationship they have with Ascarii – he says, “we can’t speak highly enough of the service we have received from the outset. The professionalism we have experienced from Ascarii has been way above and beyond anything we have ever experienced from any other supplier. Everyone we have worked with has been incredibly supportive throughout the entire process.”