// CASE STUDY //

Tom Price, Director at Forterro, said:“ PROCare is a strong example of how a modern, scalable ERP and WMS can unlock sustainable growth. By replacing manual processes and legacy systems with Orderwise, they’ ve gained the accuracy, speed and control needed to support their expanding national footprint. As the company grows it has everything in place to scale with it.”

Built on decades of ERP expertise working with distributors, manufacturers and retailers, Orderwise helps thousands of organisations simplify complexity, connect operations and scale confidently.

Adam Balmer, IT Manager, PROCare, spoke to Intelligent SME. tech about the partnership.

When PROCare was started, what gap in the market did you see?

PROCare was set up back in 2001 by our two directors, Anthony and Brian. They’ d both worked in plumbers’ merchants and could see there was a clear gap in the market – adapted bathrooms and wet rooms – that many suppliers avoided because of their complexity. Rather than simply selling standard bathroom products, they recognised an opportunity to specialise in an area that required deeper knowledge, bespoke solutions and a much higher level of service. That complexity became our strength. What started from a small local office has since grown into a national specialist, trusted by housing associations, local authorities and contractors across the UK.

What challenges were you facing with operational capacity before implementing Orderwise?

In the early days everything was very manual. Orders were handwritten on triplicate pads, sent down to the warehouse and then booked separately into Sage 50 later in the day. We was printing picking lists and the warehouse team were essentially picking by memory. That worked when we were smaller, but as we won more procurement contracts and the order volumes grew, it started to creak.

At that stage, the concern wasn’ t just inefficiency – it was that growth itself was becoming a risk. Without better visibility and control, there was a real danger that service levels would slip and the operation wouldn’ t scale in a sustainable way.

By that point, if we hit 50-60 orders in a day, it felt‘ mad busy’ and Sage started to struggle – it would run slowly, and time was increasingly spent resolving system issues. Our legacy set-up with Sage and a bolt-on pricing tool( PriceFlex) just didn’ t give us the visibility, control or stock management we needed to keep scaling efficiently.

What made you choose Orderwise?

In 2019 we looked at a few different options – including staying with Sage – and had various demos. Orderwise was simply the best fit for how we work. Crucially, at the time it could integrate with our existing accounts package, which was important because the accounts team didn’ t want to move off Sage all at once.

It also ticked some really key boxes for us: the ability to handle complex customer-specific pricing( what we call price sets) and much more advanced stock management than we’ d ever had before – including proper locations, picking bays and walk routes in the warehouse. That combination of flexibility, pricing tools and stronger stock control is what made us choose Orderwise.

What has been the biggest benefit since implementing Orderwise?

The biggest benefit has been being able to dramatically increase our capacity without losing control. Before Orderwise, processing 50 orders in a day was time-consuming; now we regularly handle 200 orders a day and a much wider product range. At the same time, our picking accuracy is around 99 %, to the point where ISO auditors have questioned the figures because the error rates are so low. Orderwise‘ just works’ – the prompts, the accuracy and the flexibility give us real confidence – confidence to take on more volume, win larger contracts and invest in growth knowing the operation can cope.

AT THAT STAGE, THE CONCERN WASN’ T JUST INEFFICIENCY – IT WAS THAT GROWTH ITSELF WAS BECOMING A RISK.

Intelligent SME. tech

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