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PMC’s Engagement with GHM!

We couldn’t have achieved this without the on-going help, support and dedication of PMC. Their technical knowledge and experience at handling projects of this scale were invaluable in successfully landing the store IT systems.

GHM! is part of Pepkor Europe, which is part of Pepkor Group, a South African based retail group established in 1965. The expansion into the UK was spearheaded by former Asda CEO Andy Bond and ex-Bain & Company consultant Mark Elliott. GHM are typically in out of town locations, for example in Hinckley and the Isle of Sheppey and have now opened six stores. 

The Business Challenge

GHM! engaged PMC to provide set up, design and implementation of their store systems. PMC were chosen due to our previous exposure and experience of GK software, Domain setup and HHT Solutions. 

The Solution

PMC set-up, configured and optimised the Central GK SAP 12 Systems. This involved the installation of key estate management systems including the integration to Microsoft Dynamics back end. From the central installations, a build was developed to provide the base for the POS solution which was then adapted and customised to the client requirements.

As part of the build, PMC created a POS Gold Build which would allow for a large-scale deployment. Involving a number of technologies, a build was devised which could be used for both new stores and rebuilds.

Our role for the HHT solution was to provide the integration between Microsoft Dynamics (managed by Circon) to Avery Dennison's Store Manager Application. This solution was to be used on a number of devices within the store to provide the functions of product searching, stock on hand, stock counts/adjustments, shelf-edge labels and pallet receipt. We were set the challenge of providing a solution which contained accurate data on stock, prices and orders within a refresh period of fifteen minutes. To achieve this we used our internal database experts to design and build an end-to-end database environment. As the integrators, we took on the role of designing and specifying the technical solution from end to end including the application. Once the developers from Avery Dennison began building the application PMC provided the oversight, management and testing of all releases.

As part of setting up the store's environment, consideration for the management of devices, users and policies was required in order to provide security and scalability. This required the creation of a stores domain. PMC were tasked with designing, implementing and configuring the store’s domain that GHM would adopt. Joint workshops with GHM! agreed the standards, requirements and specification of the domain. PMC then set about designing, implementing and configuring the domain architecture. To ensure that the solution was manageable, it was vital to agree both internal and external processes that both companies would adopt to aid the support of the domain.

Once the environment had been set up and configured, the next step was to implement the agreed store structure.  A number of steps were completed including creating the users, devices and policies which were to be applied to that store from the domain. A new store configuration process was created to ensure that when a new store is required, all aspects are set up before go live. We were responsible for managing the all stages of stores systems set up including the domain, GK and HHT environment.

PMC are also providing Level 1-3 support, HHT support and Active Directory support. This means that going forward PMC are the main third party provider for GHM!’s store systems.

The Result

The first six stores went live and all openings were a success for both the project and GHM! The GK infrastructure delivers the requirements that GHM! require today and we are working with GHM! to deliver a road map for the future.

PMC has created a strong and positive relationship with GHM! in which they trust both our delivery and our values.