About Professional Paper Supplies

Established in 1999, Professional Paper Supplies is a family-owned business that began in the paper manufacturing industry. Seeing an opportunity in the market, the owners began to buy and sell paper products and today have over 20,000 product lines, specialising in janitorial and catering supplies. Based in North Yorkshire, PPS are the region’s largest independent supplier of cleaning materials, janitorial supplies and catering disposables.

Partnered with OGL since: 2011

Company Location: York

Company Website: www.ppsupplies.com

OGL Software takes care of all core processes for Professional Paper Supplies

Professional Paper Supplies are a busy and growing janitorial and cleaning supplies wholesaler, and back in 2011 they partnered with OGL Software to help give them the visibility they needed to be more efficient and profitable. Previously on Sage 50, PPS did not have full visibility of stock movements or product and customer data, which hindered their ability to accurately predict stock levels.

As Jangro members, PPS were aware of other group members who were already using OGL Software. This made their decision to choose OGL much easier as they could see the benefits that the other members were already realising.

“The system just works. We have confidence that it’s doing its job so it’s not something I have to think about.”

Speaking to the General Manager, they said: “For us to grow we needed the visibility and data to make improvements. Sage didn’t provide us with the ability to do the reporting that we can now. OGL Software has helped us to manage our stock better. Our warehouse has minimal space, so we need to keep stock of products that will sell and not take up warehouse space with products that are slow to move. OGL Software gives us the data we need to know what to buy and when. Looking at past order trends we plan stock for the next two to three weeks and we wouldn’t be able to do that without the system.”

OGL Software has become the digital core for PPS, helping them to keep business-wide operations running smoothly. “OGL Software is used throughout the whole business from placing a customer order to sending it through to the warehouse to pick and ship. The finance department use it to invoice, monitor credit and place orders with suppliers. And the sales team use it to secure orders and to add and track their activity.

“The sales order screen helps us easily place a reorder. We often get customers call up and say, ‘I’ll have what I ordered last time’. This could be difficult with the product lines we sell; for example, we sell multiple types of toilet roll. So being able to quickly see the customer’s order history we can place that reorder, which helps improve our customer service and speed of service. If a customer calls, we can input an order into the system within two or three minutes and that’ll be sent to the supplier and shipped within two to three days. It’s a quick and easy process and we’re confident in the system to manage this.”

“OGL Software gives us the data we need to know what to buy and when. Looking at past order trends we plan stock for the next two to three weeks and we wouldn’t be able to do that without the system.”

Having central access to customer and product data was particularly useful during the March 2020 lockdown as a smaller team of staff had to take on the roles of other members of the team. “At the start of lockdown, we had just a few people in the business, so they had to do the jobs of other employees, which they’d never done before. We were able to pick up those roles because we had access to all the customer information, which was key for taking orders, especially as demand increased.”

PPS also use OGL’s IT solutions, including remote monitoring, cloud backup and IT support, which ensure their ERP system and servers are performing and their data is protected. “We invested in OGL’s IT services because the data we hold is critical to our entire business. If we didn’t have our data, we wouldn’t be in business. We previously had another IT supplier, providing ad hoc IT support, but we wanted a company who we could just pick up the phone to contact and we liked the idea of having all our IT services under one roof with OGL.”

OGL’s fully integrated ERP software and IT solutions give PPS the peace of mind that all processes are being effectively managed so they can concentrate on doing what they do best, as well as diversifying and growing the business without the worry of the everyday admin taking over. “The system just works. We have confidence that it’s doing its job so it’s not something I have to think about.”