Burberry employs over 2500 staff across multiple manufacturing sites, warehouses and retail stores worldwide. The company also sells through a distribution channel of speciality retailers in multiple countries. The UK head office is in London with warehousing and manufacturing spanning a further five sites around the UK.

Protex has enabled Burberry to have an integrated business and financial system that provides visibility of information across the different parts of the business.

The Challenge
The previous system was originally written as a sales order processing and manufacturing system and when further modules such as purchasing and invoicing were added they were not fully integrated. Also all financial interfaces were manual, which resulted in re-keying of information resulting in inaccuracies, delays and duplication of effort.

The search for a new system was driven by several factors; firstly the existing system was proving extremely difficult to change. Secondly Burberry had been changing for some time from being a manufacturing, wholesaler and retailer of clothing to being one that bought in products as well as diversifying into many different product lines. These factors lead to the decision to recruit a consultancy to help the search for a solution that best fitted the business.

The Solution
Burberry enlisted Deloitte to act as consultants on the project. Initially six companies were shortlisted and sent an Invitation to Tender (ITT) that listed all of Burberry’s current and future business requirements. Each supplier’s submission was reviewed resulting in a shortlist of three companies including, Datel. The project team then visited each of the suppliers and discussed the business requirements in more detail. Each member of the team scored each supplier in terms of product fit, knowledge of the industry as well as other qualities that were important to their business function.

Datel and its solution Protex were finally chosen, after Burberry looked at various systems including other industry specific solutions. Burberry also felt that the Datel representatives knew and understood more about the clothing industry than the competition.

All modules from the Protex suite have been implemented across all six UK sites with 250 users. The solution is used in all areas of the business including manufacturing, warehousing, purchasing, sales and distribution.

The Benefits
With head office, manufacturing and warehousing based at different locations throughout the UK and overseas, the Protex system has provided Burberry with greater financial control and delivers improved efficiency in warehousing and manufacturing, whilst enhancing customer service.

Eamonn Hayden, IT Manager at Burberry commented, “Protex is a flexible solution. Although Protex is a ‘fashion-minded system’ and is equipped with many specific requirements of the industry as standard options, many companies are unique in many ways. User defined control panels allow Burberry’s to customise the system at any time and modify it to suit changing circumstances.”