WilldooIT properly understood what our business needed and delivered on it. Angelina was fantastic throughout, she is always available, attentive and a very good business analyst. Everything reconciled within three cents once we moved across and we have barely needed support since.

About Watson Specialised Tooling:

Watson Specialised Tooling is a third-generation family business, closing in on 50 years in operation. What started in engine reconditioning for the automotive sector has grown into precision engineering for industrial markets. Today, the business specialises in honing technology, servicing the mining industry with hydraulic cylinder repair and is the Australian distributor for Sunnen Products Company.

Industry:

Manufacturing/Engineering

The challenge:

Watson was running three separate systems, with a lot of manual, paper-based work and duplicated effort between them. Staff was wasting lot of time constantly switching between these platforms just to get a full picture of the business.

We have been searching for a replacement for seven to eight years, looking at options including Xero, Unleashed and Microsoft's enterprise platform, before settling on Odoo. The goal was a single, all-in-one system giving a daily overview of the business, with inventory management and sales as the top priorities.

The implementation:

Implementation went very smoothly, helped along by a strong internal project champion at Watson. Balances reconciled within three cents of the old system once everything was migrated across, which was great. 

WilldooIT's implementation consultant, Angelina, was on the project for six months and she was always available, attentive and a very strong business analyst. The whole process was thorough enough that Watson hasn't needed ongoing support calls since go-live.

The result & benefits

Since implementation, Watson has seen exactly the outcome they set out for: a simpler, faster-running business.

• Three legacy systems replaced with one ERP (inventory, sales and accounting now run through a single platform).
• Full visibility over everything coming in and out of the business, in real time.
• 24/7 access to accounting.
• Manual, paper-based processes significantly cut down.
• Improved efficiency and time savings across the business.

Nearly 50 years in, we finally have a system built for how the business actually runs today.

Why WilldooIT and what was your experience working with the team?

From the first conversation, it was clear WilldooIT properly understood the needs of the business and had the confidence and capability to deliver on them.

That understanding carried through the whole implementation. Angelina, WilldooIT's implementation consultant on the project, was on hand for six months not just to configure the system but genuinely attentive and sharp enough as an analyst to get under the skin of how Watson actually operates. 

It is that level of engagement that gave Watson the confidence to hand over a nearly 50-year-old business's core systems and trust the process.

The result speaks for itself with balances reconciled within three cents once everything was migrated and the implementation was thorough enough that we have not found the need to lean on ongoing support since. 

For a business finally leaving a system it had outgrown decades ago, that is the kind of experience that builds trust, not just in the software but in the partner who delivered it.

– Michael Watson • General Manager, Watson Specialised Tooling