Quarterback's survey of Scottish SMEs has found that despite the difficult current economic climate, the vast majority are leaving themselves exposed to bad debt and the threat of failure by not implementing simple, and effective, process control procedures.

Over 230 SME’s with a mobile workforce across Scotland took part in the survey. Each company was asked eight questions aimed at determining the level of organisation, financial control and operational flexibility of small businesses.

Alarmingly, our survey found that 76 per cent of respondents do not know what it costs to run their business on a daily basis, while 44 per cent admitted that they had in the past either not invoiced, or failed to bill a client for some completed work. more>>

Coneworx Ltd, the traffic management specialist company based in Cleland Lanarkshire, have moved to larger premises and now schedule 60 operatives using a 4 screen iQ layout.

Coneworx recently installed iQ's Part Tracker module to start managing their extensive fleet and signage assets.

www.coneworx.co.uk

Coatbridge based Ion Water & Environmental Management are now using a bespoke iQ water sample tracking system to streamline the processing of testing, reporting and issuing of certificates.
This has had immediate benefits: the whole process now takes 45 minutes a week compared to an entire day for one person.

Dalziel Services Ltd, mechanical and electrical contractors based in Motherwell Lanarkshire, have invested in an IQ system to provide a stable foundation for growth.

Dalziel's system will provide centralised scheduling, document management and invoicing linked to Sage Line50. www.dalzielservices.co.uk

Thursday 29 November 2007
Ewan Ogilvie MD of CVD Fire Protection picked up the Microsoft award for 'Impact of Technology on Your Business (less than 50 employees) at the UK Chamber of Commerce Awards 2007 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

(Ewan Ogilvie & Robert Epstein of Microsoft)

The company beat 9 other excellent regional finalists to win this prestigious award, presented by Robert Epstein Microsoft UK sales & marketing director.

CVD Fire won the Scottish regional final in October 2007 and use IQ modules to schedule and track costs on all their work which enabled them to significantly increase profit without adding more administration staff.

Coneworx Ltd, the traffic management specialist company based in Cleland Lanarkshire, have invested in an IQ business system to help schedule their rapidly expanding workload.

The company opened its doors in January 2007 with 14 staff and has already grown to over 40 by providing quality, reliability and service excellence to clients throughout central Scotland.

As a result of this growth, Coneworx MD George Miller needed easily operated systems to centralise their scheduling, control documentation and provide a foundation for expansion.

www.coneworx.co.uk

ION gets IQ

Ion Water & Environmental Management Limited will implement an IQ scheduling and process management system in December 2007.

Ion are Scotland's leading water service company. They maintain water services to prevent the spread of bacteria such as Legion Ella and E-Coli at thousands of sites throughout Scotland and the North of England.

IQ will deliver significant advantages to the Coatbridge company as they start their next stage of growth. Additional bespoke development will provide ION with leading edge functionality not previously available in their industry.

www.ionlimited.co.uk

Diamond Drilling & Cutting

Rick Jackson the Operations Supervisor at Diamond Drilling & Cutting in Jarrow has finally wiped his whiteboard clean.

After using the iQ whiteboard since March 2007, Rick has said the famous words " I don't need that anymore! ". DDC also use the Part Tracker inventory management control modules, as part of Quarterbacks' beta-trial.

The traditional whiteboard is still used for ad-hoc reminders about 'stuff and things' but Rick relies on his electronic whiteboard 100%, with the rest of the company using it remotely to book in work for sites throughout Tyne & Wear.

A case study report from Diamond Drilling & Cutting's IQ installation will be available in January 2008.

www.diamonddriller.co.uk

MK Piling get IQ

MK Piling in Oldham now have an IQ installation and are reporting significant time savings from day one. As a specialist contractor MK Piling is working throughout the UK on large scale construction projects.

Operations Director Harvey Banks said, "We chose IQ because it provides an easy way to support and administer our existing operations. The whiteboard enabled us to schedule work more efficiently and quickly from day one. Without thinking about it, that has probably saved me 8 hours every week ".

A case study report from MK Piling's's IQ installation will be available in January 2008.

www.mkpiling.co.uk

Congratulations CVD Fire Protection

CVD Fire Protection won the Scottish Regional Final in the UK Chamber of Commerce award, for the Impact of Technology on their growing business.

That impact was provided by IQ modules which enabled CVD Fire to expand profits by 60% without increasing administration staff . CVD Fire are now in the UK finals of this category, the results will be announced during November.

CVD Fire MD Ewan Ogilvie was presented with the award by the Rt Hon Dr John Reid in October 2007.

www.cvdfire.co.uk

Lanarkshire Chamber IQ Presentation

The IQ presentation to the Lanarkshire Chamber of Commerce took place on 22 August 2007 - read the report here>>