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Corney & Barrow ERP System Selection

PMC have demonstrated real professionalism throughout the process. They have achieved in a matter of weeks what might have taken us many, many months and the expertise of their consultants has undoubtedly helped us to make a good and well informed business decisions at project critical times.

At 230 years old, Corney & Barrow is one of the longest established Independent Wine Merchants in the UK. The original shop, opened by Edward Bland Corney, was on Old Broad Street in the City of London, selling a small selection of Port, Sherry and Bordeaux. Since then it has grown nationally and internationally, into every sector of the market. Now with two royal warrants to their name, their Head Office remains City based but they now have global reach with offices in Scotland, Hong Kong and Singapore. Their business has expanded to include fine wine brokerage and, through a sister subsidiary, Corney & Barrow Bars Ltd, a chain of bars and restaurants throughout London. The company’s vision is to be the leading Independent Wine Merchant in all its markets through the sale of Corney & Barrow exclusivities to the end consumer.

The Business Challenge

Corney & Barrow has complex stock requirements because of brokerage and bonded stock considerations. Not only do they have to deal with the same stock management issues confronting all companies, but have to do so whilst adhering to strict import/export tax regulations as well as being able to apply the additional margin calculations inherent with any brokerage. The company's existing stock management solution lacked the functionality to cope well with these complexities and was becoming increasingly difficult and complicated to support or expand.  Consequently, Corney & Barrow decided that it was time to go to the market to select a new ERP system on which it could continue to grow its business for the next decade in the form of a more scalable standard package that provided the increased functionality it needed.

Corney & Barrow knew that before they could make a decision about what solution to implement, they needed to accurately document their current processes to ensure that 1. those identified as mission critical could be seamlessly migrated to the new ERP system, and 2. the more onerously manual tasks could be singled out for improvement.

The Solution

PMC led a two-phase engagement:

Phase 1:  A comprehensive mapping of Corney & Barrow's current processes.

PMC facilitated a series of workshops and one to one interviews with key stakeholders.  This led to over 100 detailed "Swim Lane" diagrams mapping all of their current business processes.

Phase 2: A formal selection process to identify a new ERP solution.

PMC then applied its proprietary 5- stage methodology. Tried and tested with previous clients over many years, this methodology ensures that a comprehensive set of business, technical and functional requirements are produced against which prospective suppliers can then submit proposals. Importantly, this allows proposals to be compared on a like-for-like basis.

Results

PMC were able to apply their industry knowledge and on behalf of Corney & Barrow to arrive at a solid business decision based on expert industry insight, delivered through a proven and efficient selection process. The result was a better and much faster decision than they could have made on their own.

Following their decision as to which ERP solution to implement, Corney & Barrow continues to work with PMC to ensure that the project is set up for success from the outset by calling on specialist project management and testing resources to supplement their in-house teams.