A Moldovan footwear manufacturer is growing its business substantially with help from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Advice for Small Businesses programme.
Chisinau-based Oldcom SA has been able to open three new shops, increase revenues by 10%, launch 50 new items of footwear, and begin exporting to the neighbouring Ukrainian market – thanks to productivity improvements in a project co-funded by the EU under the EU4Business initiative.
Working with a local ICT consultant
The EBRD Advice for Small Businesses unit helped Oldcom find the right ICT consultant to introduce a new information system to manage its daily operations more efficiently.
The company, which founded in 1994 and began manufacturing its own footwear in 2005, has experienced dynamic growth, but this has brought with it several important challenges.
Lacking any specialised information management software, Oldcom had difficulties managing and processing information on stock, sales, production, and material supply.
This sometimes led to errors in decision-making, increased the company’s costs, and at times caused some customer dissatisfaction.
Business software suite improved productivity
The EBRD-recommended consultant came in and:
- Performed a complex analysis of the company’s business activities
- Developed a new automated enterprise resource planning system, called “Business Suite”, fully adapted to the company’s needs, and
- Trained Oldcom’s employees on how to use the new system.
With Business Suite in place, Oldcom says it is now “very satisfied” with the outcome. The project only cost a total of €25,500, of which €10,000 was provided under EU4Business, while Oldcom paid the remaining €15,500.
The new information system has integrated seven different departments, enabling the company to dispose of more exact information on production costs and volumes, available stocks, sales and expenses.
This means that Oldcom’s management can now forecast sales more accurately and thus plan the purchase of raw materials more efficiently.
One year after the project’s completion, turnover has increased by 10%.
Almost a third of revenues now come from Ukraine
The company continues to grow, expanding to the Ukrainian market. About 30% of its turnover now comes from exports to Ukraine.
It has also enriched its product range from 80 to 130 different types of footwear and hosiery.
As a continuing process of management improvement, the company now plans to implement a product bar-code system, which will allow the remuneration of employees based on productivity.
Date
2012-ongoing