What does the system do?
Estimating, job processing, stock control of raw and finished goods, purchasing, invoicing and sales and marketing.

Why did you choose this particular system?
I actually chose a system written by Compass Business Systems. However, Shuttleworth called me to say they had completed an acquisition of Compass and would only support the Compass System for a limited time. Therefore, I opted for the Shuttleworth software instead. I was really impressed with the estimating and stock control aspects.

Did you look at any other similar systems?
We looked at Compass and Tharstern.

Why did you make the purchase?
We felt our old edition of the Jenem system needed replacing with a fully integrated MIS, as our business had doubled in size since its installation.

What features do you particularly like?
The stock control and estimating functions.

Is there anything you dislike?
Some of the templates cause us a few problems.

Is there anything you wish it had that it doesn’t?
A product specification area without the need for templates.

How reliable is it?
It’s very reliable.

How easy is it to use?
There are a lot of screens to go in and out of, so it’s fairly complicated for new users. But, with good training, we usually find most users adapt.

What’s the quality like?
Good.

How fast is it?
Fairly fast.

How much time or money has it saved?
The main area where we have saved time is the stock control. In this area alone, it has saved our administration staff a good 50% of their time per day.

Has it won you any new work?
It helped us in gaining the BRC/IOP accreditation, which means we are continually audited by our major customers. If we fail these audits, we would not win any new work or maintain our existing work.

Were there any difficulties experienced during the installation or after?
The implementation manager wasn’t on-site on the day we went live. It would have helped tremendously if he or she had been. However, Shuttleworth were very helpful in the transition from the Jenem.

What about the pre- and after-sale service?
It’s been excellent.

Who do you think the system is right for?
Both commercial sheetfed and reel-fed label printers.

Under what circumstances would you buy another?
Only if we grew out of the Shuttleworth system, or if they were unable to offer us long-term support.

Supplier’s response
Andy King, joint managing director of Shuttleworth, says: “It was a challenge along the way, and we had to work very hard to give Superior Labels what it wanted, but our combined enthusiasm meant that, in the end, we were able to provide a system that met its requirements. As for the lack of an implementation manager on-site, we have since evolved our implementation methodology and now we would expect one member of our implementation team on-site for going live dates.”
Price On application
Contact Shuttleworth 01536 316316