ERP case study for Wine, Beer & Spirits - John E Fells

John E Fells Fine Wine EDP ERP and E-Commerce business solutions

ERP for Fine Wine Distribution

About

John E Fells & Sons (‘Fells’) is one of the UK’s leading Fine Wine distributors. A family-owned business that imports and distributes premium wines worldwide, serving a diverse market, including retailers, restaurants, fine wine brokers and major supermarkets. They also produce premium gift packs for some of the country’s most prestigious names such as Harrods, Fortnum & Mason, John Lewis and Selfridges.

Mixed John E Fells Fine Wine for De Facto Software ERP

Challenge

In an increasingly dynamic and competitive industry, businesses must be able to easily spot trends and adapt to sudden changes.

  • Seamless Management of International Trade (Import/Export): Managing various tariffs, taxes and duty charges efficiently.
  • Legislation Changes: Brexit immediately impacted guidelines with import and export regulations, where goods needed clear, intricate details displayed including ABV, commodity codes, weights and case quantities.
  • Consumer Demand: Consumer preferences are constantly evolving, influenced by factors like health trends, environmental awareness, financial pressures and lifestyle changes across different age groups and demographics.
  • Disparate Systems: Fells were operating multiple business functions, often leading to duplicate data entry, which increased the risk of errors and limited smart decision-making. A single system was needed to consolidate all essential functionalities within one platform.

ERP software for Wine, Beer & Spirits

"It’s essentially the lifeblood of Fells. Without a system that covers everything, we wouldn’t be able to operate in the way that we do."

Ben Conradi - Finance & Operations Director

John E Fells & Sons

Solution

We identified their key business needs and implemented tailored solutions, through De Facto Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). The functionality provided access to real-time inventory visibility to support accurate decision-making.

  • Unified Platform: One powerful and flexible platform eliminated the need for multiple data platforms and manual inputs. Hosted in the cloud, our business management tool automates data consolidation and analysis, which enhances security, efficiency and reporting capabilities. It also meant the team could access the database anywhere, at anytime.
  • Powerful Reporting & Analysis: Using the Business Intelligence (BI) integration, De Facto ERP empowers users with Reporting and Data Analysis tools to identify industry trends and sudden changes. Supported with real-time data, Fells can now easily adapt and make accurate business decisions to address them.
  • Flexibility: The flexibility of the software allowed the company to easily make amendments, such as the ‘custom-spend’ solution for Fells to manage their budgets seamlessly within the ERP, as a fully integrated unit. This provided greater financial control with fewer restrictions on data input and reporting. ERP software for Wine, Beer & Spirits

"They have really knowledgeable staff that not only understand the software, they understand our business and how we operate, which is really valuable."

Ben Conradi - Finance & Operations Director

John E Fells & Sons

 
Fells Case Study
 
Fells Case Study for De Facto Software ERP