Customised pen and paper system cuts paperwork, increases data accuracy and streamlines order handling

Customised pen and paper system cuts paperwork, increases data accuracy and streamlines order handling

Moss Bros, UK’s number one formal wedding menswear hire specialist wanted to streamline the order management process, improve market forecasting and ensure customer satisfaction.

The company considered several solutions and ideas, all of which failed. For example, it evaluated a PDA-based solution. In this case, the PDA screens were too small and the required training was very extensive.

Finding the right solution

Eventually, Moss Bros selected Magicomm, which had the specialist range of skill sets necessary to build a customised application using Anoto Digital Pen and Paper technology for data capture.

The application required Microsoft and Linux development expertise. Among the benefits spotted, was the fact that only one hour of training was required for staff. And the solution provides real-time management of information.

After a three-month pilot, the company went live with the solution. It has been commercial for about two years now and currently around 350 pens have been deployed in 130 branches all over the UK.

“The staff love it; it is very easy to use. This is a professional way of moving forward and a way of centralising the information out of 130 stores,” commented Andy Morgan, store manager at Moss Bros, Covent Garden, London.

Supporting flexible processes

Here is an example of how it works. A couple is getting married. They arrive at a London branch of the store to choose styles and place an order for the wedding party, consisting of the usual entourage of groom, father of the bride, best man and ushers.

All details concerning the order are recorded with the digital pen on a hire form with Anoto’s dot pattern. The pen looks and feels like any standard ballpoint pen, but contains a tiny infrared camera and processor, which enables it to “read” and digitise text as it is written on the form.

The information is then transferred from the pen via the Bluetooth node in the store, to the head office where Magicomm’s software checks stock availability, product codes are matched and, in less than 20 seconds, the order is returned to the store and presented on the computer screen connected to the till. So by the time the sales assistant and customer have walked across the shop floor, the order has been processed. The order is confirmed, a copy is printed and handed to the customer who pays and then the order is logged.

The digital pen and paper solution has streamlined Moss Bros’s wedding hire processes, while the customers still enjoy the same personal service that they always have. Errors, for example wrong size, can now be detected in real time. And staff save a great amount of time, as they no longer need to locate orders originated in other stores across the UK.

Delivering centralised visibility

For example, if one of the groom’s ushers is fitted out in a branch in another city, the staff can immediately identify the order and ensure that the usher is fitted in the same style that was chosen by the couple in London. As every wedding party is unique, Moss Bros needed Magicomm to develop a solution that would allow for flexibility such as this – picking up the clothes at whichever shop is desired by the customer.

“The pen is a massive advance, but a small step in reality, from the user point of view and from the customer point of view,” said Andy Nash, head of Hire at Moss Bros.

The staff have much less paperwork to deal with – the hire agreement is now two-part instead of six-part. Moss Bros has also made important improvements when planning for the future. The company can now quickly identify which styles are selling better than others and whether or not there is enough stock to cover the future demand for the ranges. The visibility is almost instantaneous, as opposed to months behind schedule in the past.

Moss Bros has made an investment amounting to more than £2 million, of which the provider said the digital pen and paper solution was a significant part. The return on investment was fast – in less than six months, the solution had paid for itself. And there is an environmental aspect. With the new solution, Moss Bros’s paper consumption has been reduced by 66%, corresponding to over 1.2 million paper copies per year.