Helping good do better Sue Ryder and K3 RetailCase Study

An overviewSue Ryder treat more conditions than any other UK charity in their hospices, neurological care centres and out in the community with over 450 retail stores contributing more than half of the charity’s income.

The challenge for Sue Ryder• BringingSueRyderintothedata-richworld• Majorsystemsoverhaul• Takingacloud-basedroute• EPOSandWMSworkingintandem• Singleviewofthetruth

Platforms and modules used• MicrosoftDynamicsNAV• EPOS• Buying&Merchandising• WarehouseManagement• Cloud

Partners• K3 Starcom• LSRetail• BMcAzurri

"We will be able to buy high quality cloud-based applications with best-practice processes and avoid customisation"Adam Fisher, Head of IS & IT Sue Ryder

"Sue Ryder had a solution dependent on paper and mechanical tills."Adam Fisher, Head of IS & ITSue Ryder

Bringing Sue Ryder into the data-rich worldCharity Sue Ryder is in the midst of a major overhaul of its technology infrastructure that will have a transformative effect on its multi-channel retail proposition and with the cloud-based approach it is taking it will also be set up for future IT implementations.

Like many large established not-for-profit organisations Adam Fisher, Head of IS & IT at Sue Ryder, says Sue Ryder has only made limited investments into its IT capabilities over recent years in contrast to most private sector retailers.

Major systems overhaulButradicalchangehasbeensetinmotionbyFisherwhoseremithasbeentobringthecompany’stechnologyuptomoderndaystandards,whichwillenableittomoreeffectivelyandefficientlyrunitsretaildivisionthatwillinturnhelpittogenerategreaterrevenuesfortheSueRydercharity.

“ThreeyearsagowhenIjoinedthecompanyithadnofullEPoSsystem.Ithadasolutiondependentonpaperandmechanicaltillsandtherewasonlylimitedaccesstoacentraldatabase.Itwastediousforthestorespeopleandnotrelevantforthe21stcentury,”hesays.

ThecompanyhadoutsourcedverylittleofitsIT,exceptitsnetworkandcallcentre,whichmeantmostofitstechnologywasheavilycustomisedandsourcedfromahefty100suppliers.ThismeantaheavyworkloadfortheITteamofonlyninepeoplewhohadalargeretailorganisationrelyingonthem,whichstraddled450stores,about50otherlocations,3,300employeesand12,000volunteers.

Taking the cloud-based routeFisherhasbuilttheITteamupto23peopleandhasanobjectiveofcappingthedepartmentat30,whichhesayswillonlybeviablewiththeadoptionofaverydifferentstrategytotheonethathashistoricallybeeninplace.“Wearegoingdownthecloud-based,managedservicerouteaswellasmakingabigreductioninthenumberoftechnologysuppliers,”heexplains.

Thelargeststepinthisdirectionsofar,saysFisher,istheEPoSprojectthathasinvolvedtheselectionofK3todeliveracompletenewEPoSsolutionbasedonMicrosoftDynamicsNAV:“WepickedK3becauseourstrategywasaboutmovingeverythingtothecloudandbuyingSoftware-as-a-Service.ThisisonofferfromK3andenablesustostillhaveonlyasmallITteam.Whereverpossiblewewillbeabletobuyhighqualitycloud-basedapplicationswithbest-practiceprocessesandavoidcustomisation.”

Fishersaysthereisagrowingbeliefwithincharitiesingeneralthattherewouldbegreatbenefitstobehadfromstandardisationwherebytheyareeffectivelysharingthedevelopmentcostofthetechnologysuppliers:“Theindustryisjustbeginningtorecognisethisandsoftwarevendorsarebecomingmoreinterestedinthenot-for-profitsector.It’slargeandnotverywellequipped.”

ThenewEPoSsolutionisbeingrolledoutoveranine-monthperiodacrossthe455SueRyderstoresthroughouttheUKthatplugsintothenewcommunicationsinfrastructurethatFisherhasbeenworkingontopreparethestoresforthenewtillequipment.Theinitialrolloutwillbeonapilotbasisaheadofamoreacceleratedinstallationschedule.

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"We will have the ability to see across our whole store estate and learn from the stores that are selling more"Adam Fisher, Head of IS & IT Sue Ryder

EPoS and WMS working in tandemAlongwiththeEPoSprojectFishersaysworkhasalsobeentakingplaceonanewWarehousemanagementSystem(WMS)solution–alsofromK3,whichwilltie-incloselywiththeEPoSaswellasthefinancesystemsintermsoftheexchangeofdata.JustaswiththeEPoSitwillhaveadramaticeffectonthebusinessbecausetodateithashadextremelylimitedvisibilityofstock.

TheWMSwillbeparticularlyfocusedontherangeofnewgoodsthatSueRydersellsinitshighstreetstoresaswellasthroughitsonlinesiteanddedicatedeBayandAmazonchannels.Thesenewgoodsaccountforaround10%oftotalretailsales.

ThenewWMSsolutionwillalsomakeiteasierforthecompanytopursueitsobjectiveofsellinguseddonatedgoodsonline–forexamplethebikesitrefurbishesandvariousbedsthroughthedealithaswithHarveys.Ithasnotbeenabletodothistodatebecauseofthelimitedstockmanagementcapabilityacrossthebusiness.

Driving a myriad of benefitsBeingabletoaccessdataandinsightacrossthebusinesswillhaveadramaticeffect.IntermsoftheEPoS,Fishersaysthereisastrongbusinesscaseincludingareductioninoverheadsasitwillremovetheone-hourreconciliationthattakesplaceeacheveningbeforeeachstoreisabletoclose.ThereisalsotheopportunityforgeneratingmorerevenuebecauseitshouldhelpSueRydersellmorenewgoodsandgiveindividualstoresthefiguresonwhatexactlyhasbeensellingwell.

“Storemanagerswillnowhavethisinsight.Atthemomentalltheinformationthatgetspassedfromstorestoheadofficeislateandisallonpaper.Thepeopleintheshopsthereforehaveverylittleaccesstoinformation.Theywillalsobeabletoaccessemail.Itwillbeamassivetransformation,bringingpeopleintothefold.Itwillmaketheirlivessomucheasierastherewillbealotlesspaperwork.Wewillalsohavetheabilitytoseeacrossourwholestoreestateandlearnfromthestoresthataresellingmore,”heexplains.

BoththeEPoSandWMSsolutionsbringSueRyderthegreatbenefitofoperatingwithreal-timedata,whichFishersayswill“makeahugedifference”andsignaltheendofthecompanybuilding“patchydatabaseshereandthere,whicharenotjoinedup”

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"Having one version of the truth is a step-change for us"Adam Fisher, Head of IS & IT Sue Ryder

K3Retailpartnerswithbusinessestoprovideconnectedtechnologies,whichensureretailerscanreachtheirgoalsnowandinthefuture.Weintelligentlyapplyourtechnologytomakeretailers’liveseasierandbusinessesmoresuccessfulwithtoolsdesignedtoforevermeetconsumerdemands.

We support more than 800 national and international retail brands. LabelsfromEnglish Hertiage and OxfamtoHeals,RymanandTedBakerareabletopursuetheirbusinessgoalsbackedbytheexpertiseofK3Retail.PartoftheK3BusinessTechnologyGroup,K3RetailisaMicrosoftGoldCertifiedPartnerandtheUK’s#1MicrosoftDynamicspartner.The new possible to meet the new demand.

Single view of the truth“Havingthesevariousversionsofthetruthisnothelpful.Havingoneversionofthetruthisastep-changeforus,”hesays,addingthatthereisalsoplentyofworkgoingontocreatethesamesingleversionofthetruthwithinthefundraisingdivisionoftheSueRyderbusiness.

Thisinvolvesrationalisingthedata,improvingitsquality,andincreasingitstimelinessandeaseofaccess.“We’recreatingadataarchitectureatthemoment.ThiswillenableasingleviewofdonorswiththeirdemographicdetailsandinformationofalltheinteractionstheyhavehadwithSueRyder,whichcouldbeasadonor,patient,volunteerandemployeeatdifferenttimes,”explainsFisher.

ThecleansingprocesshasinvolvedthedigitisationofonemillionsignedGiftAidslipsofpaperthathadsatinfilingcabinets.“Theyarenowdigitisedandcanbefullyaccessedonlineandverifiedwhennecessary,”hesays.

K3Retail’spartnercompanyBMCAzurriishelpingSueRyderusethisdigitisationtodriveagreaternumberofpeopletoGiftAidtheirdonationsastheprocessmakesitmucheasierforthestoreemployeestosignpeopleup.

Potential CRM opportunityItisthefundraisingelementofthebusinessthatwillbethedrivingforcebehindthepotentialadoptionofaCRM(CustomerRelationshipManagement)system.“Withinthenot-for-profitssectorthepartofthebusinessthatbenefitsthemostfromaCRMsolutionisfundraising.TheviewonCRMisthatwe’renotyetreadytodeploy.Weneedtoworkonthedatafirst,tokeepitclean,consolidated,andhomogeniseitsuseonoursystem,”admitsFisher.

TodatetheworkwithK3hasgonefullytoplanandonschedule,accordingtoFisher,whosaysthestrongprojectmanageratSueRyderhasworkedeffectivelywiththeequivalentatK3,withthecombinationprovingtobeagoodmix.ThishasbeenanimportantpartoftheprojectsbecauseasFisherpointsoutITimplementationstodayarefrequentlymoreaboutpersonnelthantechnologyissues.

“Managingchange-whenitcomestoITsystemsorthewaypeoplework-isalwayschallenging,butwebelievewehaveasolidplaninplacetomakethewholeprocesssuccessfulacrosstheboard,”hesays.