Supermarket giant Morrisons announced in its preliminary results for the year ending February 4 2007 that it will invest £110 million in new IT platforms for its trading, warehousing, distribution, payroll and financial systems in a three-year upgrade programme.

In a bid to rationalise and future-proof its systems following the Safeway acquisition in 2004, Morrisons replaced its existing electronic data interchange (EDI) system with one from Freeway Commerce in September to streamline its supply chain processes. This system can be used to send orders and receive invoices electronically from more than 430 suppliers.

The IT overhaul collides with Morrisons’ target date for the

£1.6 billion Safeway integration completion and is rumoured to be a result of teething problems. Currently Morrisons is not commenting on this speculation, though it seems likely that this announcement is influenced by the past actions of Safeway, which until the acquisition was known for adopting cutting edge systems, as the first supermarket to implement Chip and PIN and make early trials of RFID technology.

In a statement accompanying Morrisons’ preliminary results, chief executive Marc Bolland suggested the company had not changed its view. “We will not be seeking to implement any ‘leading edge’ technology, as we believe our competitive advantages come in other areas, such as in-store service,” he said.

Morrisons has a tradition of developing its core systems inhouse and being reluctant to take up new technologies. However, Bolland said: “Systems are fundamental to the efficient operation of any large retailer, and the Morrisons systems platforms have served the business well. They are now approaching the point of needing to be changed and updated. Most of the core systems in Morrisons have been developed in-house, over many years, and some are up to 30 years old.”

The Freeway system taken on by Morrisons in September will enable the company to shift to internet-based processes in the future. The retailer has also introduced a new database to provide supply chain information on stock and sales to its suppliers.

TWINNED TO TRADE

Twin trading, a company that seeks to actively use trade to restore equal marketing relations, has invested in Freshware, a complete business management system designed for the produce industry.

Due to go live on April 1, Freshware has been selected to provide a flexible advanced system with professional financial reports that integrates with Twin Trading’s existing database.

Twin Trading endeavours to strengthen producer organisations, facilitate small producer access to markets and campaign for fairer trading systems and assists thousands of suppliers get their products to market at a reasonable price and their businesses growing.

Twin had been managing with a small database designed and managed by a member of staff on an occasional basis. It was a basic database, and as Twin grew, the firm started to encounter problems with financial reporting.

Twin then started exploring alternatives to their system. It was only in the first discussions with Freshware the company realised it did not need to abandon its system altogether, but could integrate it with Twin’s existing database.

Lynda Bridger of Twin Trading said: “The key thing for us was system flexibility because we are a fairly small company. We needed a system that was designed to meet our needs, not the other way around. Freshware is great because it has been adapted for us. We didn’t have to change our processes for them, which was a huge relief.”

Currently, Freshware is working on further enhancing Twin’s system by making improvements and fine tuning. Tests are also being carried out to ensure the system is foolproof and fully functional.

Twin Trading has set up various companies including Cafedirect, The Day Chocolate Company and AgroFair UK. With time saving software in place, the company is set to grow even more this year.

EURODIX SOLUTION

Chelford group company SSI, a provider of ERP and supply chain management solutions for regulated industries, has announced a major order for its TROPOS ERP solution from Eurodix.

The SSI TROPOS ERP solution will provide comprehensive supply-chain visibility and replaces multiple spreadsheet-based reporting for Eurodix, which imports over six million boxes of fresh fruit from all over the world for leading UK supermarkets.

Eurodix can now achieve full visibility across its supply chain by replacing cumbersome spreadsheet reports with a fully integrated ERP system, from tracking consignments of fruit arriving from overseas growers, to delivery and packing at the company’s Peterborough site.

Happy with the change, Eurodix managing director, John Hawdon said: “Each department was running its own system, mostly through spreadsheets. The limitations of running disparate reporting methods were becoming obvious and, as a result, information could not be shared effectively throughout the company. In the end, we decided that SSI’s solution offered the best flexibility and capabilities.”

IN TOUCH WITH TECHNOLOGY

Index Computer Systems has recently published a white paper on how to avoid getting locked into inflexible systems, in conjunction with Microsoft Business Solutions Data Management Solutions. Outlining the advantages of Microsoft Dynamics AX as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System, the paper advises businesses to take on such flexible technology in order to adapt to the ever-changing and competitive market.

Maintaining that flexibility is the key when taking on an ERP system, Index claim that Dynamics AX is “a packaged yet highly flexible ERP solution” and can easily be adapted to suit each individual company’s process while also catering for its specific sector, currencies and languages.

Amongst Dynamics AX’s attributes listed in the paper, the reader will discover that the system has DIY upgradeability, as changes can be made to the user interface extremely quickly.

FARM E-FORUM

Marketestalls.com is launching an online farmers’ market forum.

The online trading site has itself enjoyed massive success since its creation a year ago, boasting more than 60 e-stalls selling organic produce and other food lines as well as handicrafts. New stalls are joining at a rate of two a week.

Now, the site’s creators have founded farmersmarketforum.co.uk to allow the online community - including traders, shoppers and market organisers - to come together to swap advice and information.

Pamela Robson, creator of the forum, which now has more than 50 registered members since launching in February, said: “Since Market eStalls was launched a year ago I have continuously received questions from traders and shoppers - some of which have been quite bizarre.

“Before the forum, there wasn’t really anywhere you could go for this sort of help. There is an official farmers’ market website which has the basic information such as times and dates of events - but nothing that offers advice or a place for enthusiasts to interact.”

Along with the forum, Robson has also set up a quarterly newsletter for members, stallholders and shoppers, providing them with the latest news.

The website works by allowing sellers to rent a space or e-stall for less than £1.75 per week. On each

e-stall there is space for photos, descriptions, background information, and links to their own websites or addresses of where buyers can find them in the real world. Buyers can place orders and pay directly on the website.

“I’m really excited about the forum. Thousands of people either trade or shop at farmers’ markets and this forum is a central point for the whole community,” said Robson.

MICROSOFT VISTA - IS IT A SYSTEM FOR SORE EYES?

Windows Vista is the long-awaited successor to Windows XP, coming five years after the launch of its predecessor. The operating system contains hundreds of new features. David Hurley, managing director of Anglia Business Solutions, explains how Anglia employees have dealt with the system for the last three months.

The first noticeable feature of Windows Vista is its crisp, clear graphical interface. This shows a marked improvement over Windows XP. It includes a feature called Windows AERO, which includes new transparencies, live thumbnails, live icons and animations. Feedback from one of the most frequent Vista users described the experience of working with the software as the best yet, for the following reasons.

Firstly, the networking environment offers vast improvements over the previous communication environment. This is particularly useful for those with multiple network requirements, for example an office with public and private wireless network plus an additional home use facility. Moving machines between these networks has become very straightforward. The network centre within Vista allows users to simply configure connectivity and the software allows the machine to be quickly connected to the various environments.

This is particularly valuable taking the machine from the office to home. The VPN setup is simple and the ability to quickly log the machine on and commence working has saved hours within the Anglia internal environment. This visual environment allows tracing of connection issues together with diagnostic support for problems, and is strong in the wireless environment.

The search feature is one of Vista’s strongest, and will play well with the users. It provides a complete index on all data areas on the machine. This will revolutionise working practices, as it will enable users to retrieve files not only by file name but also by file content. This feature is also carried through into the Office applications. This carries a real business payback, given the amount of time knowledge workers spend searching for information.

Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) is standard within Vista and, even if not moving platforms, is worthwhile considering downloading the upgrade for its anti-phishing security features. The improved printing from the browser window is also worth mentioning. In the past, printing web pages has been a hit and miss affair, whereas with IE7 less paper is wasted in getting the desired result.

Again, these are tools that are really only of use to laptop users, but what an improvement. The ability to launch either of these modes and get instantaneous results makes leaving the office in the evenings a quick task, and then once home the rapid return of the system from hibernation make this another big plus from a user perspective.

Overall, Vista performs well, providing that it is installed on suitable hardware. Since the first Betas of the product were released, the system has been tested on a range of hardware internally at Anglia. It has to be said that suitable memory, a fast disk and a good processor all ensure that the final presentation and user experience are satisfactory.

However, laptop users may find that battery life is reduced compared with the XP version in the current Vista release. A useful tip is that reverting to the manufacturers’ drivers for screen, audio and disk has restored the battery life to being on a par with XP.

There is probably no pressing business reason to rush out and upgrade your entire PC & Server operating systems immediately. However, as new computer systems are introduced, they will invariably be built with Vista installed. If upgrading existing equipment, caution is advised as there are still a few minor niggling problems. These are quickly being ironed out and the new environment is beginning to show real tangible benefits over the older operating system. The general impression is that Microsoft’s $10 billion investment in a new operating environment is money well spent.