About the client

Robson Handling Technology is a fourth-generation, family-owned UK material handling provider with over 100 years of industry experience. They design and deliver innovative handling solutions for customers across a wide range of industries worldwide.

The challenge

Robson manages multiple large-scale machine builds that involve sourcing and coordinating components from numerous suppliers. Their requirements included:

• A bespoke purchase order system to manage complex procurement processes.
• Integration with existing software, including their Sage accountancy system.
• Tools to monitor supplier performance in terms of quality and delivery.
• The ability to record detailed inspection and quarantine data for incoming deliveries.
• A secure, role-based system to ensure staff only had appropriate levels of access.

The solution

Hero developed a bespoke internal application to manage the complete purchasing process, from requisition through to approved purchase orders. Key features included:

• End-to-end purchasing workflow: from requisition creation, approval and conversion into purchase orders.
• Goods receipt tracking: with functionality to log inspections, quarantine outcomes and acceptance of deliveries.
• Supplier management tools: enabling monitoring of quality and delivery accuracy.
• Integrated stock control: linking procurement with inventory and wider business operations.
• Sage integration: seamless connection with the company’s existing accountancy software.
• Granular user permissions: configurable at role level, with ‘no access’, ‘read’, ‘read/write’ and ‘execute’ options across the system.
• Customised reporting: delivering quick, consistent and accessible insights into procurement and supplier performance.

The impact

• The purchasing process has been streamlined and standardised across complex machine builds.
• Quality control and compliance have been improved, with detailed inspection and quarantine tracking.
• Visibility of supplier performance has been improved, supporting stronger procurement decisions.
• Efficiency and accuracy have been increased by integrating purchasing directly with stock control and Sage.
• Data security and governance have been enhanced with highly customised role-based access.