With a team of 5 delivery drivers operating in two shifts, sandwiches are delivered to customers on a daily basis, with the old stock being removed. With the previous manual system, the drivers had to issue a hand written receipt to the customer for the stock that they had bought and returned. When some of Sandwich Supreme’s larger customers began to request electronic invoices Hazel McDermott, Managing Director, began to investigate electronic mobile sales solutions, as she realised that to have the manual invoices entered electronically would require new staff. Having no previous experience with computers, the task of transferring to an electronic system was a daunting one. However after contacting BNE Electronics, Hazel felt confident that the support she would receive would allow them to be able to easily transfer to a new system.

System

A CASIO IT-3000, operating BNE Electronics’ VanPOS software is taken by each of the delivery drivers as they visit customers’ to deliver and return stock. The customer route is calculated on the terminals, indicating which order to make deliveries in. Any sandwiches sold or returned are scanned and the customer signs for the stock on the IT-3000’s touch screen. The terminal then issues either a signed delivery noted or an invoice depending on the customers preferences. Some customers pay for the goods at the time of delivery, and so the drivers’ details are also attached to the invoice. This ensures that both the customer and the driver have a record of the transaction, eliminating disputes about payment.

"The system has paid for itself in less than one year..."

Back in the office all the transactions are downloaded into the SAGE® accounting software, from where customer invoices are sent electronically. The history of the terminal use is also collated in a CSV file. This includes the drivers’ mileage, as well as a record of payments received during the delivery thereby ensuring the driver deposits the correct amount of money at the end of the shift.

Benefits

The main benefit for Sandwich Supreme has been that they have been able to easily submit electronic invoices to their customers who requested them. As Hazel says, “The system has paid for itself in less than one year because I didn’t need to employ additional staff to cope with the requests for electronic invoices.” The system is also easy for the drivers to use, as it is intuitive and eliminates the need to perform any mathematical calculations. This means that when Hazel employs new drivers they are able to learn the system very quickly, increasing their effectiveness from day one. Stock management is more robust and the itemised invoices that the customer receives and signs ensures stock shrinkage is minimised.