Rapid Racking
 
Category:       Office storage
Sector:         Relational databases 
Size of firm:   106
Location:       Cirencester, Gloucestershire 
Website:  www.rapidracking.com 

Established in 1986, Rapid Racking is one of the UK's leading suppliers of storage, racking and shelving systems for business, commercial and industrial use. Efficiency and speed are key to the company's success.


Objectives 

Approximately 3 years ago, Rapid Racking first invested in a web presence to, as David Gregory, IT Manager says, "provide something that wasn't there." "Initially we invested in our website because everyone else was doing it. Now it is projected to be a large part of our business," he adds.

The company wanted another channel over which to sell its storage solutions and extend its customer reach. A website would also provide an additional marketing tool for promoting the company to web users, a large proportion of which would use the Internet.

It also wanted to invested in ICTs to improve efficiency within the business and uniting processes such as accounts and sales into one system.


Solution 

At the centre of the Rapid Racking operation is an extensive business management system. The system helps office staff run accounts system, orders, stock control, deliveries etc, on one interface through a linked database.

According to Gregory: "From the customer order to the delivery of the product everything is handled by the central system." Order information, stock control and deliveries are all linked to the one central programme. 

Each piece of information only has to be entered once and it is then automatically reflected across all sides of the business. As a result, the company can provide a fast and efficient customer service. The whole process is automated so customers are kept fully up to date with the status of their order and informed immediately if any item is out of stock.

Additionally, it has a fully transactional website which allows customers to view stock. place orders and pay - all online. A log-in system allows customers access to their own account, which shows their previous orders and means they only have to enter details such as delivery address and payment information once.
 










Results

The centralised system has allowed Rapid Racking to make cost savings. As data is not replicated the company has much greater storage space and simpler maintenance and upgrade checks. 

www.rapidracking.com receives 1 million hits a month and online orders now account for 8% of the company's annual turnover, though Gregory says that the internet is "projected to become a large part of our business."

He adds: "There is continuous development such as our marketing tool so more hopes are to be realised."


Challenges 

Gregory says that it has been important at Rapid Racking to phase in new technologies gradually "rather than introducing it quickly and asking people to get on with it."

He says that the greatest challenge lies in training staff to use systems and thus time must be taken to ensure that all employees are comfortable with existing systems before more introduced.

He also warns against the temptation to 'adopt technology for technology's sake." Any investment in ICTs, as with any element of business must be with a sound business benefit. "Always make sure it's a business decision," says Gregory.


The Last Word

Rapid Racking has just invested money in a new marketing tool which has the potential to have a large effect on its business and plans to integrate CRM (Customer Relationship Management) technology to allow it to contact suppliers directly. Gregory says: "Our technology has had a knock on affect across the company and has helped the business no end."