Exporting with more ease

Technology plays a key role for any exporting company, irrespective of its size. Here are examples of how enterprise resource planning software and online payment software are making the difference for two Irish companies.

Streamlining processes and efficiencies

Due to its rapid growth in global markets, fast-growing Irish technology company Electronic Product Services (EPS Global) needed to invest in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that would allow it to flex and turn as markets needs demanded.

Employing over 200 staff across Europe, EMEA, Asia and the US, EPS Global has implemented a Sage 500 ERP solution to manage the financial and management information within the group. This will help streamline processes, improve efficiencies and provide accurate reporting capability and full visibility of work in progress.

"It is imperative that we have reliable, accurate and up-to-date information available to all key decision-makers within the group. We wanted a solution that could link the financial information across the entire group, automate accounts, integrate with other system we are using and save finance employees' hours every day," explains Mick McCarthy, CEO of EPS Global.

EPS selected FDS Technology, a Sage business partner, to optimise the business and to provide consultation, installation, implementation, training and ongoing support services. FDS Technology implemented the Sage 500 solution to manage the financial and management information within the group. "One of the main business requirements that any global electronic component distributor faces is to accommodate their vendors' reporting requirements."

"The management of ship and debit programmes, point of sale and inventory reporting and distributor price agreement claims are a very complex series of processes and need to be tightly specified," says McCarthy.

"FDS Technology, along with ourselves, developed our own ship and debit module that caters for this requirement and provides the management and controls needed to ensure that every sale is profitable."

Sage 500 also drives the company's customer service capabilities, as well as providing sales revenue pipeline data and comprehensive reporting capabilities, giving EPS Global instant access to valuable performance data.

"Because each company within EPS is self-contained, Sage 500 allows each one to operate under its own database yet share in the power of the Sage 500 programmes," says McCarthy. "If a new company is needed, FDS can have it up and running in a single day. Multiple currencies, multiple control accounts, shared digital forms and documents all using standardised layouts but individual company contact details and logos are all within Sage 500 capability and are perfect for global companies."

EPS Global purchased Sage 500 with a single company license and today it has over 15 companies operating all over the world, from the US to China.

EPS Global's servers are working 24 hours a day processing business transactions across the globe.