A system that continues to grow
In 1999 ACC decided to acquire a new system, because they wanted a forward thinking Windows based fully integrated system, and they found that the Schilling Publishing system offered exactly what they were looking for. ACC got a system that continues to grow.
Over the years the Schilling system has continued to grow in line with our development. The system is always up to date with all the changes in technology, and we are very satisfied with its functionality. We were the first English company to implement this system, and we did experience some teething problems, but they have long since been solved. A new computer installation is never completely smooth or problem free, but our experience with the Schilling staff is that they are very helpful, and they have always been there for us whenever we need them, says ACC’s Financial Controller & Company Secretary Vanessa Shorten.
Schilling put to the test
Shortly after we had acquired the new system, the Schilling staff in Denmark was put to the test: In August 2000 we moved offices and after two weeks we had a major fault with the electrical supply which destroyed all of our servers and our brand new telephone system. It was a total disaster and we had no way of communicating with anybody. After a few frantic mobile phone calls to Denmark everything was taken out of our hands, and the next morning a Schilling engineer arrived from Denmark with a new server. By the end of that day our system was back up and running and our backup tape with all our data on was restored to the hard drive, and we couldn’t ask for more than that!
Outsourcing resulted in collaboration between ACC, Schilling and NBNI
Last year after running out of warehouse space, we decided that it was time to concentrate on publishing and hand over the distribution and warehousing problems. We had a lot of reservations about this move but right from the beginning we were looking for a distributor who was prepared to integrate and work alongside Schilling. We didn’t want all the effort and money we had invested in the Schilling system over the last few years to be lost in the move, we still relied heavily on the information it provided on a day to day basis. In August 2006, we transferred our distribution to NBN International in Plymouth. Schilling then solved this problem by way of setting up a download procedure which ensures that all of NBNI’s invoices are downloaded back into our system and update our records, enabling us to continue to produce our royalty statements and distribution reports.
IT Senior Manager at NBNI, Ian Wordsworth points out that
This change in distribution must not in any way degrade the effectiveness of their Schilling system. They seemed very pleased with their system, and I could see why. It was agreed that a daily transaction feed was required from the NBNI system into Schilling. Within a short period of time we were testing the interface and soon after it was go-live, which went extremely smooth.
An investment that pays off
A number of different modules from the Schilling system have been added to our list since 2000: a warehouse/dispatching system, a marketing solution that includes web shop maintenance, Onyx data, newsmail and advanced information sheet as well as a subscription solution. Our American company is now using the system as well, and we have experienced very few problems with all of these installations. The investment in the Schilling system is certainly one that pays off. The ongoing system maintenance costs provide you with the security of always being up to date. The system is continually developed according to the changes in the book publishing world. The system is growing constantly, and you will not suddenly find yourself in a situation where you need to change to a new system or where the operating system is no longer supported, Vanessa Shorten concludes
Read about ACC here: https://www.accartbooks.com/us/
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