Trafalgar Scientific is an independent distributor of laboratory equipment and consumables focused on industrial microbiology products for the food and beverage industry. The business continues to grow and evolve and as part of that development, they needed a new IT technology partnership.
The growth of Trafalgar Scientific lead to the organisation outgrowing its systems and processes. They needed a different approach to their IT that would enable them to maintain an excellent customer service level whilst also growing the business into existing and new markets.
EBS were approached by Trafalgar Scientific initially to improve their service and security that was currently provided, as well as challenge Sage 200 to see how far the system could take the business. They were experiencing inefficiencies within the system that they knew were having a detrimental impact on the organisation.
The solution: a true IT technology partnership
EBS’ first step was to listen to Trafalgar Scientific’s concerns about their Sage system. We spent time understanding the pain points they were facing and carried out a Business Process Review to get a clear picture of how their current systems were configured and working. From there, we suggested a support partnership where we could tackle their issues in phases – starting with quick, high-impact fixes, and then moving on to longer-term solutions to address more complex challenges. The plan was to break it down into three phases, with several projects in each, all designed to be completed within 6 to 12 months.
One of the phases involved software development to enhance the existing Sage 200 system's Price Book, tailored to the unique pricing process used by Trafalgar Scientific. Previously, their biannual pricing review required 10 people and took three weeks to complete, as they had to review 135 million price records. With EBS Development, this process has been streamlined to just two people reviewing 60,000 price records in a single day, significantly reducing both time and effort.
Thanks to the success of this approach with their Sage system, Trafalgar Scientific asked us to take a deeper look at their IT infrastructure, covering areas like security, wireless connectivity, and more. After reviewing everything, we worked with them to create a plan that shifted their IT support to EBS. We applied the same phased approach to improve their IT reliability and security, helping them build a stronger, more secure system which would not only bring benefit now but also prepare them for their future plans.
Why EBS? An experienced technology partner
From the initial move of their Sage support to increasing reliability and improvements to the infrastructure, including modifications to the servers identified through the EBS IT health check, the partnership has continued to grow.
We would not have been as successful as we have been without the support of EBS. They are a wonderful asset to the business.
Monthly meetings take place between EBS and Trafalgar Scientific enabling EBS to act as their IT department and an added-value extension of their team. The approach allows Trafalgar to be confident they can react to changes in industry regulations while also enabling them to plan for the future and generate new ideas.
EBS has been fantastic in developing our system and making us feel much more secure in our IT landscape. They've implemented numerous system efficiencies and made hardware improvements that have sped up our operations, allowing our staff to use their time more effectively. The regular catch-ups make us feel like valued customers, and we always see continuous progress, which gives us confidence that we’re in good hands.
