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Century
Homes
5.1. The eBusiness Solution
The Century Homes eBusiness initiative is essentially
a business-to-business application aimed at an established
network of suppliers and customers in Ireland and the
UK. The aim is to enable employees and customers to
log-in to the in-house network, via a company web site,
where they can view current stocks, raise orders, make
payments, query their account balance and track orders
and deliveries. It will enable improved customer service,
and these facilities will be available online 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week. Other customer service issues
will also be handled online with accessible technical
information and advice and FAQ sheets for merchants.
Additionally, the project will replace manual processes
with system driven processes, which will release resource
to perform more value-added work. This will make it
much easier for people to work cross functionally within
the company.
It is also intended that principal suppliers will switch
to electronic ordering. Suppliers will also have access
to the in-house network, where they can check stock
levels of their products, generate re-order requests,
check account balances and get paid electronically etc.
The proposed solution is part of a long-term strategy
to transform the business into one that is fully integrated
electronically. The medium term aim is to be the sector
leader in adopting eBusiness to improve efficiency and
customer service, making it easier for customers to
do business with them.
5.2 Project Team
A core project team was set up, and for many people
the project became a full time job. In fact, Gerry was
quick to point out that dedication to the project goals
and to cohesion within the team were key to success.
Many spent personal hours over evening and weekends
determining how to maximise the new software and systems.
5.2.1 Internal Team
Gerry was involved throughout, providing strategic links
and advice. Project details and internal communications
were handled by the IT Manager, Sean McElvaney and the
Technical Manager Jim McBride. The Financial Controller,
Bernie McAdam, drove the financial system upgrade.
Gary Treanor focused on the engineering side of the
company automating processes to ensure that the systems
provided the customer information that was flowing through
to the front-end web site. Sean was assisted by dedicated
resource from within the IT team and by short-term temporary
resources available to support the team.
5.2.2 External Team
This was a difficult aspect of the project to manage
especially at the project specification and grant application
stages. They needed specialists in Lotus notes, Access
Dimensions and web design. So they ended up with three
consultants and the internal team had to pull the pieces
together much like a jigsaw.
Nebula (www.nebula.ie)
was responsible for software development and Notes links.
They mapped out the overall system requirements and
specifically the information flowing into the web site.
They developed the bridge between the back office systems,
Access Dimensions, and the web site. Web design was
driven internally with Actov8 providing the end product
and the credit card transaction technology. There was
further third party support in translating the web site
into different languages.
5.2.3 Third party selection
Lotus Notes Consultant: Century Homes had used various
‘Notes houses’ in the past, so the selection
of a Notes supplier was simply a matter of meeting up
with a few of their preferred companies. It came down
to the best service at the right price, offered by Nebula.
Gerry explained, “I was reluctant go down the route
of sheer tender as you don’t have enough time to
talk to each company about what you’re looking
for.”
Accounting systems: For five years Access Accounts was
the company accounting system. They recently developed
a new product called Dimensions to service medium to
large companies. After due consideration & examining
other competitor software products they decided to upgrade
to Access Dimensions as a cost-effective software solution
that met their requirements, including web compatibility.
Web Design: Century Homes decided to employ Actov8 to
do the web development, considering them both professional
and innovative, having seen the quality of their work
on a customer’s web site.
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