Apogee Deploys New Purpose Software System In France
Apogee Corporation, the leading European supplier of managed print services and digital document solutions, has deployed a new CBS service management system from Purpose Software in France. It has enabled Apogee to migrate data from a SAP-based environment and standardise business processes using an industry specific solution within its recently acquired French operation located near Paris.
According to Martin Randall, Group Financial Director at Apogee Corporation: “The transition to the new CBS system was successfully completed to eliminate disruption and ensure business as usual. This was particularly challenging as Apogee France was simultaneously relocating to new offices in Asnières Sur Seine. However, the project has reaffirmed our confidence in Purpose Software’s ability to help rapidly assimilate new businesses into our global operations.”
The new business, previously known as Sagemcom Documents VAR, has been renamed Apogee France and is the only reseller in the country to offer full nationwide service coverage, with sales of €35million (£30million) and 300 staff employed in Paris and 8 regional branches. Apogee has located its new Continental European Headquarters here to support its ambitions for growth throughout Europe which include further acquisitions in Germany and Spain which are already in the early stages of negotiation.
As a longstanding business partner, Purpose Software needed to localise its market-leading CBS service management software for use by the new French operation. The company’s project management consultants worked closely in partnership with Apogee’s French team to translate and fine tune the menus and text to meet all technical and operational requirements. Purpose Software also migrated all data from the SAP-based environment that was previously used across the Sagemcom Documents Group into the new CBS system. This included a wide range of customer, accounting, equipment, stock, job management and meter reading data.
“Apogee is now the only independent document solutions business in Northern Europe that offers true national service coverage across the UK and France,” continued Randall. “Purpose Software has enabled us to unify and standardise business processes and streamlined the production of management reports to give us greater control of our business operations.”
Purpose Software’s CBS system is now in daily use by 66 office based staff and engineers, both direct employees and sub-contractors, strategically located across France. It provides Apogee France with centralised control across all areas of the business including stock, servicing, invoicing and accounting. The system also eliminates the many manual processes that were required with the SAP system enabling staff to be redeployed to more productive activities. For example, it has automated the meter reading and billing processes that previously required staff to manually input the readings then work out the charges using a calculator before individually generating invoices.
“The ability of our software to be easily localised for other languages will assist Apogee in achieving its goal of becoming the largest independent document solutions company in Europe,” added Purpose Software.