The Health Store invests in Accord with wall-to-wall Voice

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: The Health Store invests in Accord with wall-to-wall Voice.

Supply chain software specialist BCP continues to grow its client portfolio with the addition of new customer, The Health Store, which is making a 300,000 investment in BCP's Accord software suite, including wall-to-wall Voice Directed WMS, for its head office in Nottingham. 

The Health Store is one of the UK's leading health food wholesalers with customers across the UK, Ireland and Europe. Founded as a co-operative in 1932, it now supplies over 600 retailers with a comprehensive range of Natural and Organic foods, vitamins, natural body-care and sports nutrition products.

BCP (Business Computer Projects Ltd) is one of the UK's top suppliers of specialist supply chain software to the food and drink wholesale industry and has been a leader in introducing Voice directed WMS to the UK market, installing the first wall-to-wall Voice WMS in the UK food and drink sector in 2002. Clients include BWG, Musgrave, SPAR, ADM Londis, T Quality and Creed Catering.

The Health Store had been considering investing in Voice technology for several years, initially looking at either a middleware solution or a full Voice WMS. As investigations progressed, however, it became clear that the company's incumbent wholesale solution was no longer adequate for its needs and that the project should be extended to include replacement of that.

Fully aware of the comprehensive nature of BCP's offering, the decision to invest in Accord was sealed by two factors the introduction of a new Accord manufacturing module and seeing the Accord solution and fully integrated Voice WMS in action at Pedigree Wholesale.

Tim Ryan, The Health Store's commercial director, said: "We were initially looking for a Voice solution to bolt on to our existing system, but BCP's Accord Voice directed WMS outclassed specialist standalone warehouse offerings, and when we saw it working as part of a fully integrated Accord solution we realised that was just what we needed."

The 60-user system encompasses the complete Accord software suite from Purchasing through Sales Order Processing to Financials with the Voice WMS using Vocollect Talkman T2x hardware supplied through BCP partner Psion. The system will be implemented in phases over the next few months in order to be fully live by the end of the year.

Tim Williams, BCP's distribution director, commented: "Accord is an excellent fit to The Health Store's requirements without the need for any bespoke work and should deliver significant real-time benefits quickly, strengthening its position in the very competitive market in which it operates. We welcome The Health Store as a BCP customer and look forward to supporting its business as it grows." 

About BCP
Founded in 1979, Business Computer Projects Ltd (BCP) is a systems house specialising in supply chain software solutions and warehouse management systems. Its Accord systems offer end-to-end, web enabled supply chain solutions for delivered wholesale, cash & carry and retail distribution. Dedicated versions are available for the food and drink sector. The Accord Voice Directed warehouse management system offers wall-to-wall Voice functionality across the warehouse. BCP implemented its first end-to-end Voice directed WMS in the UK food & drink wholesaling sector in 2002. Some 90 per cent of all BCP's Voice warehouse implementations give wall-to-wall Voice control across the warehouse. BCP clients include SPAR, Musgrave, BWG, Pets at Home, Foodlink Bahrain, Pedigree Wholesale, T Quality, ADM Londis. 

About The Health Store
The Health Store is a Nottingham-based cooperative wholesaler that has been trading for over 76 years. The company supplies stores throughout the UK, Ireland and many parts of Europe.