Romac, a motor factor in
Derbyshire, has witnessed the
aftermarket’s IT revolution first hand
and attributes part of the company’s
growth in the past 25 years, to its
embracing of new means of
communication and trading.
Romac operates a five-branch
operation throughout Derbyshire and
Nottingham.
Each branch is strategically placed
five miles apart and its proprietors are
Pete Maciejewski and Ken
Rowbothom. Both were previously
engineers with a keen interest in the
automotive industry.
Each branch operates as a traditional
motor factor and has a retail store for
consumers – a formula that works for
Romac and further proof of the
increased crossover between factoring
and retailing in the aftermarket.
Requirements
Maciejewski explains: “In the past 25
years, we’ve used a system that fitted
in with our requirements.We weren’t
computer literate, but as the business
grew and our customer base evolved,
we identified that we could only go
forward with a new professional
system that helped us co-ordinate
with our branch network and manage
stock more efficiently.The solution
Romac chose was Activant’s T-21
distributor management system.
Maciejewski admits that he had
some reservations about the
installation of a new computer system
but with the system up and running
quickly and immediately yielding
benefits for the business, his fears have
been eased.
“The service from Activant has been
excellent,” says Maciejewski.“They are constantly evaluating our use of T-21
and how the system can be tailored
more to fit our requirements.”
Visibility
On a daily basis, Romac has
complete visibility of all stock holdings
and requirements across their
network, helping it trade more
efficiently. The branches are connected
together in real time and therefore if a
customer walks into a sister branch
five miles away, then the counter staff
have an extended stock base to search
through rather than simply the local
branch’s.
Rowbothom says:“T-21 has enabled
us to service customers even better
as we never have to turn away a sale.
Within half an hour, we can service
any branch with the product they
need to provide to the customer.”
Service
Maciejewski and Rowbothom are
firm advocates of excellent customer
service and it’s the facility to view
what Romac’s customer base is doing,
which proves fascinating reading for
the pair on a daily basis.“T-21, through
its ‘Info Centre’ and “Sales Analyser”
allows us to see what products and
brands our customers are buying or
equally importantly, are not!”
Integrated with T-21, Romac also
operates Activant MasterCAT
Electronic Catalogue. By keying in a
Vehicle Registration Mark (VRM),
MasterCAT can identify the correct
parts the installer requires and sell
them through T-21. A first time fit
policy to providing the correct part
for the job, first time, has proven to
pay dividends for this business.
MasterCAT is a key tool for Romac
as it is easy to use and according to
Rowbothom, has increased
productivity for the business: “MasterCAT is a great introduction to
computers for staff and allows them
to contribute fully to the running off
the business”.
Growth
Romac is looking to grow further
and now feels it can do so with the
help of T-21 and MasterCAT.“We are
very proud of what we’ve achieved,”
says Rowbothom.“Retailers in any
industry need to evolve, but we can
now do this as T-21 removes a lot of
paperwork and administration hassles,
allowing us to focus on offering quality
products and service to customers.”
