One of our favourite jobs in the New Year, here at TVision, is to celebrate the new additions to our “10 years plus club”. This initiative was started in 2019 as part of our 20th anniversary programme. We wanted to recognise and thank those clients who had been TVision clients for over ten years and, as a result, with whom we have built strong and lasting relationships. Upon joining the “10 years plus club”, our clients receive a certificate to hang on the wall as well as a thank you hamper from Fortnum and Mason.
This year, however, was very different. In January, we were in the midst of our third national lockdown and our clients, like us, were mostly working from home. As a result, we did not want to send out the thank you hampers until the clients were back in the office and all staff were able to enjoy the spoils.
One of this year’s new members of the “10 years plus club” – the Dudman Group – were recently in the position to finally receive their hamper. So we took the opportunity to have a chat with Chris Brant, their IT Manager, about how Dudman’s came to be a TVision client and how their relationship with us has grown and evolved over the last ten years.
Alex Williams (AW): Thank you, Chris, for agreeing to speak with me today. And thanks for sending us your picture with both your hamper and new company truck. It’s always great to see our clients celebrating the ten years we have been working together. Can tell me a bit about how you came to start working with us all those years ago.
Chris Brant (CB): We began working with TVision back in 2010 because our previous NAV partner had lost some staff and with them the knowledge of our system and the customisation work that had been done. TVision presented us with a plan of action to get us back on track with finishing the customisation work and resolving some outstanding issues. Prior to that, we had moved to NAV in 2008 when we had outgrown Sage in terms of the number of transactions we were processing.
AW: Since then, have your updated or upgraded the system at all?
CB: From the outset it was clear we were going to need to customise a system to accommodate ready mixed concrete. Early on in our NAV journey we decided to create our own system to integrate with NAV to keep the integrity of the sales and invoicing process but allow us the flexibility to implement business logic and integration with other services, such as address lookup, route planning, paperless work flow to name a few.
AW: And how many users do you now have on the system?
CB: We have maybe 15 users of the NAV client across accounting, sales and purchasing but the data that is held within NAV is then accessed via our custom sales interface by more users. It is primarily used for accounts (both sales and purchase ledger), payments, fixed assets, purchase order/invoice processing and payroll.
AW: Why have you kept going with TVision as your partner for 10 years plus?
CB: TVision have supported us really well over the last 10 years with any change requests we needed for the customised objects. The system itself is very stable so we actually don’t raise many support tickets but if our processes change and we need to alter anything we know it will be done. Even though TVision didn’t start the implementation of NAV for us, you definitely helped us complete it in the early days and have supported it ever since. Our next challenge is to upgrade it to Business Central!
AW: Chris, thank you for taking the time to talk to me. And here’s to the next 10 years of the Dudman Group and TVision working together.
About the Dudman Group
Dudman Group of Companies sell aggregates and ready mixed concrete and provide haulage services to the construction industry. Steve Dudman founded the business over 30 years ago and has been recognisable across Sussex for the fleet of maroon coloured vehicles. In that time, they have been involved in many large projects including the construction of Brighton General Hospital, the Hindhead tunnel on the A3, the Amex Stadium at Falmer, the i360 in Brighton and many other business parks, industrial units and housing developments. They also serve smaller customers who require material for residential projects such as extensions, driveways and bases for garages and sheds.
About TVision Technology Ltd
TVision deliver efficiency, control and growth by having one of the largest and most experienced Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central teams in the UK. In addition to deep technical know-how, every member of the team takes real pleasure from implementing solutions that are just the right fit for your business – no matter what industry you are in, including Bevica our drinks industry specific solution. That’s why our customers stay with us for the long term, whether they are implementing a new system, enhancing their existing deployment, or looking for an outstanding support partner.
by Alex Williams, Marketing Campaigns Executive, TVision
