Cafe Direct Infrastructure Solutions case study

Café Direct is a fair-trade supplier of coffee and tea. The organisation is structured in such a way that allows a number of operations to be outsourced to external parties, such as supply chain partners.

Pilbeam commenced working with Café Direct in 2000. Since then the company has experienced a consistent increase in turnover per annum, and employee numbers have increased from 15 to 22. They plan another increase of 20% or more on turnover next year.

Having fully investigated Café Direct's business systems and IT infrastructure, Pilbeam implemented the first stage of changes as follows:

• Implementation of an improved email system and new ISP - to minimise email down time.
• Assistance with office move, including network cabling, internal connections & switching equipment.
• Sales Reporting System Allowing multi-dimensional analysis of sales, providing a quick way to view sales from all angles for faster sales reporting. This tool takes data from multiple sources and combines it to create the full picture.
• Forecasting Analysis Tool

To ensure simple & accurate forecasting. The output of this system is sent automatically to various partner companies weekly by email, providing a whole package of data ready to analyse sales, stock, promotions etc.

Pilbeam is currently working with Cafe Direct on the following systems and tools:

• Raw Material Movement Tracking
• Central Contacts Database System Integrated into email, laptops, mail-merge etc
• Home working for Executives
• Development of a tool to tighten up supply chain, by checking how production partners are responding to changes in forecasting efficiency.
• Promotional Expenditure Approval & Evaluation System Analysis tool to ensure that promotional budget is spent as effectively as possible.

Consultancy Pilbeam Business Systems Solutions is a leading IT consulting services management firm in the UK.