User Story: Hanson
Multi-dimensional database knocks out problems in company’s overweight spreadsheets
The Client
Faithful to the avant-garde spirit that has been ever present since its creation, Hanson has been designing and making precision appliances that anticipate consumer expectations for more than one hundred years. Its wide product range includes kitchen scales, bathroom scales and products for your health and well-being.
As an integral part of our everyday life, Hanson products are appreciated in every room of the house for their blend of functionality and modern design. From the kitchen to the bathroom their unique features make those moments when we look after ourselves and those we love even more special.
Today,
An international group Hanson is part of the Terraillon group, the European leader in bathroom and kitchen scales, exporting to more than 70 countries in all 5 continents.
The Group's international reputation is built on two well-known brands: Hanson and Terraillon.
The Hanson headquarters are located in Hertfordshire, UK. The Terraillon headquarters in Paris, France, houses international teams who work in collaboration with an Irish design office and some thirty researchers based in France and Asia.
Production is divided between different countries in Europe and Asia. Each year these international teams develop a continual flow of new products, which are at the forefront of technology enabling The Hanson and Terraillon Group to meet the diverse expectations of consumers around the world.
Yesterday,
Hanson was formed in Chicago by Marius Hansen in 1888. Initially producing cast iron weighing machines. Marius Hansen soon realised the potential for domestic scales produced in lighter materials.
In 1965 Stan Hansen, grandson of Marius, devised and patented the "strip lever" system for bathroom scales, which is now used by the majority of major scale manufacturers.
The current company was incorporated on January 19th 1984 and in March 1989 the company was purchased by the Terraillon Group.
The Challenge
Hanson UK had real difficulty in preparing Monhtly Management reports and reforecasting before implementing Infor PM10. Monthly Sales and stock data was loaded from Sage Line 50 into a spreadsheet model by Customer and Product.
The adding of new products and customers to the model was a “spreadsheet nightmare”.
Financial Controller John Barton spent a good part of his month just managing the spreadsheets. He was looking for a way to be able to manage change in his spreadsheets and to produce monthly forecasts more effectively.
The Approach
After some initial training John found that the Infor PM10 integration and the database were very easy to use and was soon building his own management reporting and forecasting model.
The Infor PM10 model contains all of Hanson’s sales and stock data by taking a feed from Sage Line 50. New customers and new products are added to the model as they are added in Sage and the forecast is automatically updated using a set of pre-defined rules.
The Result
As CFMS’s first Infor PM10 client in the UK Hanson have now been using Infor PM10 for almost four years. They have successfully produced their monthly accounts and forecasts using the software.
John Barton’s approach has really shown how using Infor PM10 can be totally integrated into the way an accountant manages reporting and forecasting. John has total control over the process.
“Infor PM10 really has let us get a real handle on the numbers” says John Barton and “I am a great enthusiast”.
User Stories:
Infor PM10
Click on the links below read how Infor PM10 has helped our customers.
"Infor PM10 really has let us get a real handle on the numbers... I am a great enthusiast"
John Barton,
Financial Controller,
Hanson