Force Technology

Under the joint management of directors Jake Minear and Michael Doust, the company has seen its business expand by a factor of ten, with an aging DOS-based accounts package just not able to cope with the increased workload.

ÒContinuing our growth rate and market position is not just a matter of maintaining the cutting edge of our products,Ó said Jake. ÒWeÕre now in a phase where we are growing so fast our accounting and distribution system needs to be updated to be able to cope with growth over the next five years.Ó

He explained that his business involved providing next day delivery of a very wide range of items such as leather cases, hands-free kits, batteries and chargers to major retailers throughout the country.

“With anything up to 300 invoices covering some 500 transactions every day, you need to have strict accounting systems,” he continued. “However, upgrading to a new system to handle the workload is fraught with danger.”

Our company was fortunate to be introduced to the JIWA Financials package by a network specialist. “The JIWA team worked long weekends, early mornings and late at night with our staff to ensure a smooth transition. It was far easier than I had imagined,” comments Jake.

”While we can’t yet quantify any savings, there is no doubt that we now have a system that will easily keep pace with our company’s growth and can be easily expanded if and when required. I’m more than happy to recommend it to other sales and distribution companies in our size league.”

Providing a practical answer for the sales and distribution company whose needs fall between the capabilities of entry level shrink-wrapped products and the comprehensive but over-priced American imports, JIWA is a fullyfeatured client/server package. It manages sales orders, purchase orders, debtors, creditors and inventory in a holistic manner to meet the specific requirements of Australian business.

It was developed in Visual Basic and C using ODBC to access a Microsoft SQL Server back end. Being a full Windows application, JIWA Financials looks to the user very much like Excel or Access, which means little re-training is involved when converting to the package. Jake says the JIWA team was extremely receptive to feedback, immediately making alterations to the program to improve its operation to meet Force Technology’s specific needs. “They really made sure everything went smoothly and that our staff could use the package to ultimate potential.”

”The reporting is incredible. It is so much more flexible than our old system. If we require another module, we only need to ask and JIWA organises it out-of-hours ready for seamless installation here.”

“Again, training and support has been superb, with phone calls promptly returned and fast advice always available. This kind of service is critical to a company like ours.”

Force Technology will soon have the capacity to provide instant electronic feedback to clients on the availability of ordered items - no waiting till the next day to find out that the items could not be supplied. The company has expanded to all states and the next step is to link all offices with the main system, a challenge that Force Technology and JIWA are looking forward to meeting together.

Force Technology International Pty Ltd
Mr. Jake Minear - Director

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