UK companies must have effective systems to avoid unnecessary and costly errors, an IT specialist claimed last week.

David Hurley, managing director of Anglia Business Solutions, told delegates to the company's fresh produce seminar: "There's an increasing pressure and when your operating on such low margins, it doesn't take a lot of errors to chuck you into a loss situation."

He said having an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution means data has to only be inputted once into the company-wide system.

Without an integrated ERP system, data is often entered several times between different departments, increasing the possibility of mistakes being made.

Bob Rose, Anglia's business development manager, said consolidation was driving change throughout the industry. "Companies are getting bigger and to continue growing they are being challenged to do more with less.

"It's a very fast paced industry, and its no longer acceptable to wait to the end of the month to see data, you need to have real-time visibility.

"What do you measure your business on, what are your key performance indicators that tell you whether you've had a good day or not?"

He added: "An IT solution has to make the business more efficient, and if it doesn't, it's just throwing your money away."

Hurley said Anglia's LinkFresh FP3 solution, a Microsoft Navision-based system, is designed to allow each company to adapt the system to suit its individual needs.

He also pointed to Microsoft's backing, making the product a safe bet for the future: "Microsoft Business Solutions has budgeted £2.5 billion for research and development, and it is aiming for domination of this sector, looking for 50 per cent market share."

Redbridge Caterfresh is a company that is in the process of rolling out the LinkFresh system and Reg Jackson, systems and IT director, said he chose the solution to replace a wide number of disparate systems to create a clearer structure.

He said the Anglia and Microsoft product gave his company greater control on issues like management reporting, stock control and traceability, and allowed the business to be more efficient.

Anglia is also working on adapting its system to allow mobility, something it describes as Surround Technology. The idea is to allow agronomists out in the field to link into the ERP programme remotely, using satellites.