Save Time and Money  By Making Full use of your Computers     Companies can usually achieve far more with their computers than they are currently doing.  Routine operations may be being carried out in a much more time-consuming or error-prone way than necessary, or critical operational decisions may be being taken without all the relevant information readily to hand.  Web sites may not be producing the results that they should.   Method Computing have been working with businesses since 1990 to address these issues by making the best use of databases, spreadsheets, web sites and other software to fit in with the individual needs of our customers.   Some examples of specific things that computers can be very good at are:   Reducing time consuming “grind” work. Cutting down on day-to-day errors. Speeding up your response time to sales enquires etc. In-depth analysis of your data to better understand trends in your business. Increasing your sales with effective web sites.   To get a better idea of how some of these things might actually be done please look at the examples below:    Databases - Organising and Understanding your Data Spreadsheets - Business and Technical Analysis Custom Programming - When do I need it ? Web Sites - Boosting your Sales

Method Computing has been helping businesses with their computing for over 15 years.  He believes that people just don’t realise how effective computers can be in increasing profits and eliminating unnecessary manual tasks.  While most tasks are now computerised to some extent, the way this is done is often far from optimum.  People usually end up with a sort of semi-manual system with a lot of operations still unnecessarily done by hand.   We have not found a business that couldn't significantly benefit from more effective use of computers and will enjoy the challenge of seeing what he can do for your business.   CALL NOW ON 020 8941 8925 FOR A FREE INFORMAL DISCUSSION  “The system you have developed has saved me from employing an extra full-time administration person”.  Watercare Ltd   “We have far more flexibility now than before we started using your system”.  HPS Ltd

Databases - Organising and Understanding your Data

Databases are useful if you have large sets of data that you need to search or process in some way.  A database can contain a single list of data such as the list of stock in a warehouse or it could contain a number of interrelated lists.  An example of interrelated lists would be the database of a car part distributor which contains a list of his parts, along with a list of equivalent parts available from various suppliers and a list of car manufacturers' original part numbers.  Each list can contain any number of individual pieces of information.   A list of parts might contain part number, selling price, dimensions etc.  Even photos or drawings can be included.

The power of a database comes from the ability to search the data in any desired way and present the results in a user-friendly form.  Searches can be simple or complex and can involve one or more of the lists in the database.  Continuing with the examples above, a simple search might look for all the stock in the warehouse older than a certain date.  A more complex search would be needed if the car part distributor was asked for a quote on a part when his customer only knew the manufacturer's original part number.   The database would need to first determine the distributor's own part number and then look up the potential suppliers of that part.  The results then might be presented in the form with the lowest supplier price first enabling the distributor to easily work out his most competitive selling price.

Databases are not limited to searching and retrieving records, calculations can also easily be performed.  For example he warehouse owner could easily find out the average age or total value of the stock in his warehouse.  The distributor could get the database to calculate minimum selling costs for his parts taking into account lowest purchase costs, minimum margins, transport costs, exchange rates for foreign suppliers etc.  All database outputs can be presented in a number of ways including on-screen, printed reports, spreadsheet outputs etc.   

Spreadsheets - Business and Technical Analysis

Spreadsheets are a tool that most companies use, but few use them close to their full capacity. Many businesses use them mostly for the compilation and maintenance of lists of data, possibly with some calculations involved.  Many people are familiar with the basic mathematical functions of a spreadsheet (adding columns of figures, multiplying one column by another etc.) but they are often hesitant to go further. 

Much more is usually possible.  Taking spreadsheets a step further the following types of analysis are possible:

- Creating best and worst case scenario models for sales and profits.

- Predicting stock levels and optimising re-ordering.

- Cash flow projections.

- Calculate stock performance and turnover.

- Modeling business risks and uncertainties using statistical functions. 

As well as this type of analytical application it is often possible to create straight-forward but useful tools that are helpful in the day-to-day operation of a company. Any business that is making considerable use of calculators in their operations may well be able to benefit from similar types of spreadsheet .

As an example assume that you are running a distribution business that uses a number of suppliers in different countries as alternative sources for particular items for resale.  Exchange rates and transport costs vary on a regular basis. You wish to be able to quickly determine the cheapest supplier at any time and work out the minimum selling cost.  

A table containing a list the items from each supplier and the cost price in their home currency could be set up in advance (from the supplier's price list). The table would be laid out in a grid so that each row contained the costs for one particular item and each column contained the items from one specific supplier.  

At the head of each column would be a single cell containing the exchange rate for the country of that supplier.  Transport costs for each supplier might have up to three elements: 

1)  A fixed cost per shipment.

2)  A cost per item (or per kg etc).

3)  A percentage of the total cost of the items.

Each of these three elements would be entered in a specific cell at the head of the corresponding column. The only remaining piece of information then needed is the number (or quantity) of items required.  A specific cell would reserved for this value. Whenever you needed to know the cheapest supplier and minimum selling cost (e.g. a telephone enquiry from a customer) the spreadsheet could then be used to instantly perform all the calculations required without further input.  

There are many types of potential application similar to the above example that can help simplify the day-to-day operations of a company.

Custom Programming - When do I need it ?

For some applications the only practical way to approach development is custom programming. Applications requiring large amount of graphical input/output or performing very complex calculations (and for which no software currently exists) would be good examples.  

The main reason to create a custom application is to have software that fits in exactly with how your business runs.  Most businesses operate in a way that is to some extent standard to their industry, and to some extent unique.  If the industry is large and includes many companies that operate in very similar ways it is very likely that good industry specific software will exist. However the nature of business means that many companies operate in non-standard ways.  Businesses always need to find unusual, more profitable ways of doing things.   Either the whole, or an aspect, of the business may exploit a unique niche in its market.  That niche may be the key to its profitability.  These sort of areas often do not fit into standard packages and may benefit from custom programming.  

In other instances the main benefit of custom programming may come down to making user input as straight forward and error free as possible and in ensuring that the output as clear and user friendly as possible.  Both Excel and Access contain a full programming language (Visual Basic) so most requirements could possibly be fulfilled to some extent.  However, custom programs can be designed to follow much more closely the natural flow of the task involved.  For example, many people who need to repeatedly perform a business task quickly build up in their mind a defined sequence of events to follow.  Once established they do not like to depart from that sequence.   In this type of scenario a program that asked the user to enter inputs A, B and C in a specific order might be much less error prone than the user having to find the correct cells themselves in a spreadsheet.     

Custom programs also come into their own if there are a large number of people using a program or if you wish to distribute an application to a number of people.  Standard applications generally require you to pay a license fee per user.  This can often quickly outweigh the cost of custom program development. 

Web Sites - Boosting your Sales

More and more people are using web sites as a  "Shop Window" for their business.  This has usually taken the form of a description of the company, what they do, and in certain cases, a facility to allow customers to purchase online. This can be a very effective method of drawing in business.  However, web sites can also be a powerful tool in helping you to gain feedback on how customers (or potential customers) perceive your business. 

While browsing your site people will begin to form a view of your company and whether or not it is the sort of company they wish to do business with.  There can be a number of aspects to this, not only what it supplies and at what price, but also what sort of company it appears to be.  In order to address this issue a good web site should clearly illustrate the company's "Marketing Message" - i.e. the sum of all the reasons why potential customers should come to you rather than go anywhere else.  In most cases webs site contents are simply borrowed from other marketing materials (such as brochures etc.).  This means that the marketing message they contain is effectively the same.   

Lack of response to your web site can mean one of two things - 1) Your business is not promoting itself as effectively as it could, or - 2) The business is not providing exactly what the market is looking for.

Refining your Marketing Message

If your business is not promoting itself as effectively as possible a web site can be a very good way to experiment with alternative approaches. Monitoring response to your site can provide a very accurate indication about how your business is perceived.  Until recently this has been quite a slow process because it takes a fair amount of time to design a web site and wait to see the response.  However, turnaround time can now be greatly speeded up by the use of new web site promotion tools such as PPC (pay per click) advertising.  PPC is available on Google and other sites and can be very cost-effective.  When someone does a search on Google a list of sponsored links is shown on the right of the screen. Links are in the form of a three line advertisement.  Your  advert will appear if the search words the user has input are contained in a list you provided when you set up the advertisement.

When someone carries out a search on Google we know that they have something in mind that they are trying to find. They are also often in the process of making a purchase decision. They will click on the advert that appears to be most closely matched to what they are looking for. Monitoring how often your advert is clicked on for particular search terms gives you a very good indication how well your message is getting through to the customer. Experimenting with your advert is very easy and is a powerful way to match your marketing message with what people are looking for.  

When you are happy with the response you are getting, your web site can then be designed or amended to match the message contained in the advert.  

While there is a cost involved in this process, the expenditure involved is often relatively low.  Unlike many forms of advertising it is clear what you are getting for your money.    Refining the "marketing message" in this way can avoid a lot of waste on other methods of advertising.

Refining your Business Strategy

Experimenting in the way described above could possibly suggest that you are not serving the best sector of your market.

Take for example two general alternative business strategies that are applicable to many industries:

1.  General market.  (Supply products or services of a standard quality, mainly competing on price - e.g. Ford cars).

2.  Niche or premium market.  (Supply products with an enhanced value, usually charging a premium - e.g. Mercedes cars)

It may become clear, for example, that in current economic conditions there is relatively more interest in the general market.  Depending on your type of business, this may enable you shift the focus of your business to more profitable areas.   

What Method Computing can do for You

Method Computing offer an affordable comprehensive service from working with you to determine the best way forward for your individual situation through to implementation of the solution.  

There are three key elements to consider when seeking the best software solution for any business:

- What can be achieved with standard packages? (Often Excel and Access)

- What is available off-the-shelf specifically for the industry?

- Do I need something specially written?

We will look at all three approaches in order to arrive at the optimum and most cost effective solution.  A rough comparison of some of  the pros and cons of  these methods is shown at the bottom of this page.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to discuss any aspect of your computer requirements.   We are always interested to hear what people are doing and answering any questions.  Please click on the contact tab above for further details. 

Comparison of Various Approaches