Nicki Smith

Happy New Year!

Are Your IT Software Systems Ready for 2021?

Companies who have put off making changes to IT software systems to help cope with what was being referred to in 2020 as our “new normal” and what really is now just “normal”, should act now.

If you haven’t already made sure that your systems are ready for what 2021 has in store for us, you should be looking to make these changes as soon as possible.

As many businesses now face managing their day-to-day operations with some or perhaps all of their team working from home, it’s more important than ever to have a good solid software system/s in place to help your team give the best possible service to your customers.

Some of the areas which really need to be addressed or reviewed might include:

Reporting

If the information is in your system but you can’t access it quickly and easily, your decision-making will be much more difficult and delayed.

If your system reporting gave you the exact information you need, in real-time and when you want it, with useful alerts – you can react so much quicker.

For example, receiving alerts when your best-selling product’s stock goes below a certain level to enable you to trigger the procurement process or if you are sitting on a lot of a certain product which might need business focus to sell-through.

If your competitors have this information at their fingertips, and you don’t – you will be missing a trick.

Warehouse Barcode Scanning

Where can you make improvements to your pick, pack and despatch process?

KFA’s ScanB1 Barcode Scanning solution for pick, pack and despatch can reduce errors, speed up the despatch process and automatically update your backend system with the despatch information.

The pick process is planned based on where your stock is located in the warehouse to use the most efficient route around the warehouse for the pick teams. You can also set up ‘wave picking’ to pick multiple orders at once and a dashboard will show you exactly what is going on in the warehouse, what stage each order is at and who is working on the order.

No need to print pick notes anymore as the scanner screen becomes the pick note.

Will your 2021 begin with a business review of how your software systems cold work better for you?

If your New Year review of your IT software systems identifies areas you require assistance with, get in touch with our team here.

IBM i (AS400) Integration with BPA Platform

If you are looking for an IBM i (AS400) integration solution that will automatically perform database extractions via ODBC, transform (e.g. XML to record set or record set to XML) and load data between your IBM i database and other business systems to streamline manual business processes, we can help!

Or is there a requirement to be notified of critical business changes as and when they happen via email or SMS by dynamically monitoring database activity in IBM i?

KFA Connect can provide an IBM i (AS400) automation solution which provides manufacturing, distribution, banking and insurance organisations with the ability to connect IBM i quickly and easily with other business systems to automate the transfer of data and streamline costly, time-consuming data entry tasks.

BPA Platform, from Codeless Platforms, will provide IBM i users with additional business process automation capabilities such as document and report automation, automated alerts and notifications and the ability to enhance workflow approval processes.

KFA Connect are BPA Platform partners and our speciality lies in order management. We can help manufacturing, distribution, banking and insurance companies with seamless integration solutions.

For more information – get in touch today.

Visit our IBM i page here

Sending Goods Post-Brexit… Are Your IT Systems Ready?

We know the negotiations between the UK and the EU resumed last Thursday, after a week-long stand-off. But it’s still not clear what the final outcome might be regarding a ‘No-Deal Brexit’ and how that will affect our trade with Europe from 1st January 2021.

The UK has left the EU and the transition period after Brexit comes to an end at the end on 31st December 2020.

It’s fair to say we’ve all been a bit distracted this year with COVID-19 and this may have led to companies taking their eye off what still needs to be done.

UK companies looking to start trading in Europe and those who are already sending goods from the UK to Europe will most certainly want to be ready for what comes next…

All UK businesses who are involved in international trade will have to make changes, which need to be in place ready for 1st Jan 2021 and will apply to goods sold to EU countries.

At the moment, UK companies can sell goods to anywhere in the EU with no restrictions, and without having to pay additional import taxes and duties.

From January you will be required to use the same import and export processes that are used for the rest of the world for non-EU countries who do not have a trading agreement with the UK or EU.

An export declaration will need to be made in order to remove goods from the EU or UK customs territory and an import declaration will also need to be made to enter goods into either the EU or UK customs territory.

It’s the sender’s responsibility to ensure they are customs compliant and non-compliance will likely result in items being delayed, returned or further charges being levied.

You will need to provide your courier/s with additional information electronically in order to move your goods between these territories. How your IT systems will be able to provide information such as the following, should be urgently considered:

• Information on the sender – including Country of Origin
• Information on the Recipient
• Parcel Contents
• Parcel Weight
• Value of Goods
• Trade Tariff (or HS) Code

This data will be required in addition to a Customs Declaration (CN23) – to meet new customs requirements and ensure no disruption to your shipping after 1st Jan. You can read more here on the GOV.UK website.

In addition to this, if you haven’t already – you should also consider what changes will need to be made regarding transferring personal data.

KFA Connect are well-placed to help businesses ensure that the required information is available electronically from your own internal IT systems and sent to your courier/s with seamless integration and no manual input. In most cases, we can achieve this by utilising BPA Platform – (integration platform) to get your systems talking to one another and also with your third party providers – such as your courier/s.

Want to find out more? Get in touch today.

COVID-19 has completely changed the way customers interact with businesses.