Stanco Exhibitions Ltd

“Having the administration of all this last-minute activity integrated with our back-office system enables us to be much more reactive when we’re out on site.”

Stanco is one of the leading exhibition design and construction companies in the country. It has enjoyed sustained periods of growth and now provides a total exhibition service, from the design and construction of award-winning shell schemes and bespoke stands to electrical contracting and floor covering. The International Spring Fair and the highly prestigious ‘Central Feature’ at the London International Boat Show are just two of its more recent projects.

Stanco was originally attracted to Access Accounts because of its true Windows applications. Back in 1998, when the company implemented its first Access solution (Access Accounts Horizons), Commercial Director John Sanderline commented, “This is an environment we are all familiar with and now the managers have access to as much information as the accountants. Even those with no formal accounts training can ask difficult questions of the system and examine information thoroughly.” He added, “Printing out non-standard reports, incorporating all the individual elements we need, is quick and easy. I can also work with my accounts data directly in Excel, without any need for intermediate data manipulation.”

Building a huge range of different stands at a wide variety of exhibitions requires software with strong project costing facilities. Stanco were keen that these be provided by a standard, packaged solution – John had seen many companies lose out when their customisations failed to keep pace with the core software. This is why he opted for Horizons, with its integrated Costing Module, and chose to adapt his existing processes to match.

In 2002, relocation of the company’s main support departments (from old Newport docks to parkland premises near Rogerstone in South Wales) brought a new set of challenges. In particular, it highlighted the need for transactions to be entered directly into the back-office accounts from remote locations, including the NEC Birmingham – where its main warehouse is located – and venues such as Earls Court and Olympia.

This is a major issue for Stanco because many companies wait until they have arrived at an exhibition before ordering items such as carpeting, furniture and electrics. Stanco representatives therefore need immediate access to up-to-the-minute stock information and facilities for taking new orders and processing payments, while they are working on-site. Initially, this was accomplished by linking the existing Horizons solution to a ‘thin client’ application. But, as business grew and transaction volumes increased, this became an expensive option.

Stanco’s local Access Specialist Centre soon unveiled the ideal solution. It recommended that, in order to gain the full benefit of integrated .NET technology, Stanco upgrade from Horizons to the flagship product of the Access Accounts range – a Client/Server Dimensions system.

The Dimensions.NET module enables Stanco employees to view accounts data and post transactions over the Internet, using laptops with landline or mobile telephone connections. This gives instant access to stock levels and completely eliminates the need for time-consuming, paper-based procedures. It also streamlines head office administration: transactions do not have to be re-keyed and automatically become a part of the daily workflow the moment they are posted.

John Sanderline is impressed with his new Dimensions system and, in particular, its .NET functionality. He says, "Having the administration of all this last-minute activity integrated with our back-office system enables us to be much more reactive when we’re out on site. This, in turn, allows us to build an exhibition with optimum speed and efficiency.”