Prima Solutions

Developed to significantly streamline and improve the communication process from idea to reality, product development helps eliminate misinterpretations and shortens the life-cycle of a product from initial concept right through to in-store delivery. In an environment which is often dominated by the use of spreadsheets and other off-system record keeping, product development is a user defined record that allows you to set-up the required attributes of your product, collect and record pertinent information in a centralised record, proactively highlight any potential issues on the critical path throughout the development cycle and manage the flow of information to all interested parties.

An industry specific multi-dimensional style-colour-size matrix together with user-definable attributes and a powerful product hierarchy provides unrivalled flexibility to design and define products to the level that suits the business whilst web-based deployment ensures that everyone involved in the supply chain can access the same, up to date product and critical path information. Acting as a product management centre, the module records detailed product specifications and costings, linked design graphics and images, component and BOM management, critical path and action lists.

The critical path functionality is an essential element in the proactive management of your user defined business processes. By clearly defining the steps required to take a design from an idea through to a saleable finished product and then monitoring adherance to the defined process, businesses are better able to effectively manage the process, improve efficiency, reduce cost and eradicate costly errors caused by missed or delayed steps. Key milestones are clearly visible to all and any potential slippage is immediately notified through alerting and exception reporting thus allowing preventative actions to be taken. Any number of critical paths can be created to support the whole range of new products being considered by your business.

The PrimaNet® Order Management solution enables retail, wholesale and manufacturing clothing, footwear and accessories industries to exchange content-rich product information with their global partners via the Internet. It also delivers the familiar graphical user interface functionality of a Windows desktop on a Local Area Network (LAN) or over an Intranet, Extranet or the Internet.

Order Management software brings the administration and control of the entire order fulfilment process into one central point. It is a fully integrated comprehensive solution that gives a solid foundation for managing orders and stock consistently and efficiently, whilst minimising costs.

What makes a good EPOS solution? The obvious answer is that it must be easy for staff to use and it needs to be robust - high availability is required if the outlet is to effectively service customers and take payment for goods. However, we also recognise the importance that the till system plays in delivering quality customer service. Through effective and timely communication with the retail management system, the till becomes the focal point of quality information which facilitates good customer service.

The retail management system controls product information, pricing and promotions, stock levels and availability and communicates directly with the centralised/hosted till ststem which in turn ensures that individual tills are always up to date. Any sales information is passed back to the retail management system in near real time with detailed analysis available to support the strategic decision-making process. The module manages all manner of outlets including own stores, concessions, franchises and airport-based units.

Stock allocation and replenishment is handled within the retail management module with PrimaNet offering a wide range of replenishment plans including ideal stock levels, minimum stock levels, rate of sale replenishment, product line leagues, grading of product/stores. The EPOS till themselves use intuitive touch screen technology or bar code scanning and offer high levels of functionality including support for multi-currency and multi-tax requirements. Hand held scanning devices are used to support key store processes such as receipting of deliveries, inter-branch transfers, returns and stock counts.

Customer services is an ever increasingly important part of modern business - it goes beyond the traditional mail order process and is now aimed at building a partnership with your customers that sees them increase their regularity of visits, increase their average spend on each visit and, importantly, continue to shop with you and not one of your rivals. The PrimaNet customer services module is focused on supporting your advisors by providing them with accurate, up-to-date, relevant information in a single module/screen. Using the latest technology, the screens can be configured to meet the specific requirements of your business or indeed of individual users.

For example, in addition to being able to process orders quickly and efficiently, an operator could set up the screen to view the same web pages as the customer in order to be able to add valuable advice and guidance, access specific internal product information, process payments including the use of credit cards and gift vouchers, view and edit customer notes, view customer order history regardless of which channel the customer previously purchased goods etc. The importance of high quality, easily accessible information should not be underestimated.

The system operates around the day to day customer service advisor (CSA) activity, with an easy to use interface, configured to support the specific functions required for each level of user. The system fits the way that CSAs work in each different scenario, whether taking orders, handling queries or returns processing.

A consumer may choose to buy something from a catalogue, return it to a store & buy a replacement on the website. The CSA can intelligently react to customer queries relating to orders through any sales channel;

Delivery status & tracking via courier
Orders - launches product web page with details and availability
Returns & Credits - dealt with on-screen
Completion of incomplete orders from the e-commerce channel
Up-selling - a promotions engine displays relevant offers and recommended products
Payment handling - PCI compliant
As a multi-channel system, Primanet presents users with a single view of real time stock availability. This means that, whichever channel a customer is using at the time, CSAs have access to all relevant product, customer and order history details, enabling them to provide a first class shopping experience for their customer.

Designed with direct input from existing customers, specifically around how the CSA works, the single user interface eliminates the need to access different systems and is very easy to use and learn, which minimises training time and costs. This also means that different groups of users can be set up with access to either simple or more complex functionality as required, such as out-of-hours operators who may just need to be able to process orders.

With the Internet playing such an important part in everyday life, the growth in consumer spending via the web is no great surprise. Most organisations have an effective web site and are using this as yet another channel to market. Indeed, many see this as their biggest growth opportunity moving forward. However, in order to make the eCommerce web site effective, it needs to accurately represent the business position regarding products, prices availability etc.

Utilising web services, the eCommerce module provides fast, reliable and proven integration with your corporate web site. The true stock position can be viewed as soon as a product SKU is selecte, prices and promotions are accurately refelected through the web site, customer accounts can be created and/or amended, returns can be pre-processed and so the list goes on. The key element is that the web site becomes a controlled extension of the business and offers the same quality of service and information that you would give in person.

‘PrimaNet online’ provides a secure and real time mechanism for access to the PrimaNet® databases via standard functionality running within a browser, allowing authorised users to access the system from anywhere they can access the internet.

The Web Ordering software functions available provide online entry, maintenance and enquiry functions for:

Customers
Sales agents & representatives
Suppliers
Remote users
This enables PrimaNet to be extended to users across the supply chain

PrimaNet online’ is powered by Progress Openedge and Webspeed technologies helping to ensure a powerful, robust and up to date application
 

Gaining proper control and utilisation of warehouse space is essential in today's fast moving, cost aware business environment, and the PrimaNet® Warehouse Management software provides exactly that.

Improve stock accuracy, stock control and stock rotation
Reduce stock levels, reduce wastage, reduce damage and obsolescence
Reduce stock taking costs and associated downtime
Improve customer service
Gain total two way traceability and improved stock recall capability
Improve efficiency of operatives and machines
Improve costing of jobs and yield control
Reduce clerical work and associated errors
Provide faster, better information

The system deals with full pallets, part pallets, mixed pallets, containers, reels, drums as well as individual piece parts. The system controls racking locations, block (floor) stack, bin stores, carousels, narrow aisle racking, gravity racking, drive in and drive thru racking, hanging garment storage, cold store chambers etc etc.
Physical pallet identification provides the pallet with a unique birth certificate against which it can be tracked and recorded, and against which an audit trail can be held .
Tracking, traceability and quality control is standard
Multi-warehouse, multi-location as standard including in transit and warehouse to warehouse transfers
Guided put-away to optimise warehouse efficiency
Task scheduling to interleave and prioritise warehouse tasks
Optimum load building to maximise transport usage
Demand profile replenishment of pick faces to ensure optimum stock holding at the pick face
Despatch control to identify, validate and record all loaded items
Cycle counting/perpetual inventory to eliminate full stock takes and to ensure total stock accuracy
Control of pick and pack, packaging bench, pick to mixed pallet, pick to tote bin operations.
Interfaces to carrier systems, transportation systems, generation of advanced shipping messages, generation of manifest and loading documentation/trailer maps.
Generation of carrier labels, customer specific labels
Stock status/stock ownership recording to allow for consignment stock, third party stock and vendor managed inventory.
A charging facility for re-charging of storage, handling and warehouse operations 

In an industry that is continually driven by new market trends, short product life cycles and seasonal crazes, the ability to accurately predict demand and then be in a position to service that demand is extremely challenging. However, if you get it right the rewards are immense. Being able to better predict market trends and next seasons's sales accurately, by choosing the right range for each point of sale and by co-ordinating the supply chain to ensure the right goods are available in the right place at the right time, costs will be contained and revenues will be maximsed.

The order management module supports demand planning based upon a wide range of replenishment plans including ideal stock levels, minimum stock levels, rate of sale replenishment, product line leagues, grading of product/stores to name but a few.

For extended planning requirements, PrimaNet utilises TXT demand planning which integrates volume based forecasting with economic based forecasting, provides variable planning horizons, supports multiple plan simulations for comparison purposes and offers planning and forecasting across replenishment and distribution, merchandising, stock, pricing and promotions.

Making the most of existing customer relationships and maximising the opportunity to build new ones is essential to business survival and growth. The customer services module provides key customer, product and sales information which allows you to deliver outstanding levels of service to your most valuable asset - your customers. As an extension to this, the Prima Solutions' CRM module provides a secure, centralised repository for customer data that will help you identify, target and atrract new customers. Offering custom designed mailing and call lists based upon collated and controlled industry information, CRM creates and manages new customer marketing campaigns, tracks and measures the effectiveness of those campaigns, tracks the progression of new opportunities and continually gathers new data upon which to refine and re-run campaign.

Empower employees with consistent, up-to-date information
on customers, producs and sales
Build mailing/call lists using powerful record selection tools,
to target prospects effectively
Track, manage and measure the effectiveness of sales and
marketing campaigns
Dynamically combine raw sales information into structured,
meaningful, sales analysis views
Improve service through better knowledge and awareness of customer needs
Track sales opportunities through a clearly defined and managed sales cycle
 

Forward thinking finance departments are extending their reach because they recognise that finance can no longer be considered a seperate part of ths business. Electronic access to collaborative financial information available across the entire organisation in real time.

The award winning PrimaNet OpenAccounts financials offer a breadth and depth of functionality that meet the needs of large sized organisations yet, through it's modular approach and easy to use/easy to manage design, remains suitable for small businesses as well. Scalability is essential in the fast moving multi-channel businesses environment of today. Security, control and access to information are fundamental cornerstones of the software which, through it's flexible approach, allows you to map your business processes into a secure accounting framework.

Offering a flexible chart of accounts with unlimited analysis codes and reporting hierarchies, the system provides multi-company, inter-company, multi-divisional and multi-currency capabilities as standard with full drill down capabilities across the entire suite in order to support the wider business community. Modules cover all aspects of finance management including project accounting, budgeting and forecasting, workflow, cash-flow management and web-based access for remote and non-finance users.

Prima Solutions' fully integrated Manufacturing software provides complete control over your manufacturing activity whether that be in your own factory, or in other factories locally or overseas.

Maximised use of all company resources
Process visibility
Efficient and legitimate monitoring of your business activity
Reduced lead times
Reduced stock holding
Increased productivity
Fast and accurate procedures for total control
Bill of Materials
Contract Tracking
Costing
Critical Resource Planning
Detailed Reporting
Finite and Infinite Planning
Material Requirements Planning (MRP)
Material Stock Control
Material Traceability
Multiple Locations/Warehouses
Piecework Calculations
Resource Planning
Time and Attendance
Scheduling
Work In Progress
 

The need for accurate, up to date, pertinent information is a fundamental requirement for any organisation. Your business systems must provide the right level of information, at the right time to the right people if the information is to add value to business users and key decision makers.

The starting point for good information is the raw data - this is collected and collated within the PrimaNet application and because it sits within a single integrated application and a single database, the quality, integrity and accessibility of the data is second to none.

The system provides hundreds of standard enquiries and reports 'out of the box' which means information is available across all modules as soon as the system is implemented and data loaded. Additionally, a power report writer module allows you to create your own financial management reports which can be electronically communicated to designated users who are then able to drill back through to the source data to proactively and intelligently interpret the information.

For a holistic view of state of the business and underlying trends, many organisations are utilising business intelligence tools and analytics. Prima Solutions have created a series of data universes for the PrimaNet product suite which delivers the required information in a format of choice. Coupled with our extensive knowledge and experience in this area, we are able to support your requirements for delivering the key reports that will drive your business forward and deliver continuous improved performance.
 

The corporate clothing and workwear supply sector is extremely competitive and therefore the demand placed on suppliers to deliver a high quality, personal and more efficient service is now more important than ever. One of the key growth areas is in the facilitating of wearers to access the system through personalised screens via the web in order to view products, view their remaining allowance (by value, points or number of garments), order products for delivery to a location of their choosing, track orders and manage returns and exchanges.

This approach improves the user experience and delivers real customer service benefits whilst actually reducing administrative overhead in your business. Full performance monitoring is available covering all aspects of the contract including performance analysis by sit, division, employee and garment.

Wearer Allowance/Entitlement by: Value, or Points, or Number of Garments
Order Entry Via - Internet (Web based), EDI, Spreadsheet Import, Desktop Client
Personalised client entry formats
Order Tracking
Stock Availability
Full contract history
Detailed level of search facilities
Garment Returns control
Garment Exchange control
Quick and easy data take-on and maintenance routines
Forecasting
Performance reports online
Links to your existing system
 

The garment rental/service care module has been developed to support workwear supply companies who want to offer a fully managed service to their customers. The module manages and tracks individual garments against wearers for the purposes reviews. The system also supports full tracking and traceability of each component of the garment for PPE compliance.
Individual Garment Identification
Garment issue date and issue number
Garment Tracking across locations
Garment clean and maintenance pack
Full audit history of garment condition
Contract pricing or individual clean and repair billing
Garment valuation and depreciations
On-line report pack per: client location, contract, garment and employee
Links to your existing stock control system
 

"From initial consultation, we have had a very good relationship with Prima's dedicated project team who have been extremely responsive and supportive throughout the whole process. Our front line users have been really impressed by the increased visibility and flexibility of the PrimaNet system. We are already reaping the benefits of efficiencies gained through more streamlined processing, which means that staff can be more effective and pro-active, adding real value to the business."
Guy Rutherford, Finance Director, Mulberry

"Our goal was to find a totally integrated, enter-prise wide solution to support the business into the 21st Century. The PrimaNet solution is specifically designed for the clothing industry and from the outset we could see that it would do exactly what it said on the tin."
Jonny Mitchell, Managing Director, Wolsey
 

“Choosing PrimaNet was easy. The system is a perfect fit for a multi-channel footwear business such as ours, and their reputation in the industry is second to none. We’ve been very impressed with the professional, speedy approach to implementation, and their attention to detail has been very refreshing. This system will form the bedrock of our future growth.”
Keith Austin, Director, Terra Plana

"In running our business, we like to keep things as simple as possible. With Prima Solutions, we have found an IT supplier that we can rely on to manage our evolving business systems requirements, leaving us to focus on what we do best - managing and developing our retail business."
Nick Schwefel, Managing Director, One Small Step One Giant Leap
 

“PrimaNet has greatly improved stock planning and this has contributed towards Cosalt reducing stocks by some 20%. This has significantly reduced working capital and the associated funding costs. Streamlined transaction processing has also enabled an improvement in business efficiency which has assisted management in making significant improvements to profitability over the last 2 years.”
Carlton Greener, Commercial Director, Cosalt

"We have learnt from experience that we need to work with specialist clothing software. We chose industry specialists Prima Solutions because they have the best offering in the market, excellent references and we like their people. We were looking for a long term partnership and in the end, it was an easy decision to make."
David Drillingcourt, Financial Director, Phoenix Distribution

 

If you have any questions, or would like to receive more information, please contact us...

Prima Solutions Ltd
Loughborough Technology Park
Oakwood Drive
Ashby Road
Loughborough
Leics LE11 3NG

Tel: +44 (0)1509 232200
Fax: +44 (0)1509 262323

DONT FORGET TO MENTION APPLEGATE