Firmans Marine has been based in the Hawkes Bay area since 1971, specialising in Boat and Marine equipment and offering knowledge and expertise around the industry’s premier brands.
“Orions simplicity is it’s strength.”
Nicole Viljoen, Operations Manager, Firmans
“When we went to the market to replace our software accounting system, we had clearly defined our requirements, ranking them from essential to ideal”, says Firmans operations manager, Nicole Viljoen.
“Ultimately SAM Dealership (Orion) made the cut because of some very compelling features and a close match to our requirement list.” Nicole recognises that complicated systems create an opportunity for error and omission. “SAM Dealership’s (Orion) simplicity is its strength. The ability to quickly locate issues such as inadvertent keying errors reduces stress and confusion.”
The integrated Point Of Sale was a major prerequisite. “I knew I didn’t want data being transferred through different systems. It needed to be all in one. The ability to add and support multiple users, each of whom has different access requirements and security levels, was important”
Productivity and efficiency reporting on the workshop staff as well as the Work In Progress reports assist to operate the unique requirements of the Firman’s service department.
Nicole reports that the installation of Orion at Firman’s Marine has revolutionised the financial reporting visibility for management. “It has also played a key role in providing cost visibility to the Boat Sales department and ensured that margin reporting is precise. More information is available to us than ever before, this has enabled us to streamline our business, ultimately freeing us up to focus on our customers.”
Support and the Future
“The unlimited support that the SAM Dealership (Orion) help centre provides has been a tremendous benefit, particularly in the early days when we were still learning the ropes. It has been utilised by all Firmans staff. Our previous system was clumsy and full of errors. We now realise that it was overly complex and time consuming. The ease of our use of SAM Dealership (Orion) has put this in stark perspective and reminds us daily that our decision was the correct one.”
