I am looking for a customised software package for delivery system.
Its going to be for a small business - taking orders over phone,
populating into the relevant field such as name, address, telephone
number, things ordered, and cost for the same and so on...
Is there any ready-made pacakge available in UK? if yes, let me have a
list of the same...

---

Request for Question Clarification by aceresearcher-ga on 10 Feb 2003 13:41 PST

ayurmohan,

If you can be a little more specific about the business type, it might
enable Researchers to provide a better, more targeted Answer for you.

Regards,

aceresearcher

---

Clarification of Question by ayurmohan-ga on 11 Feb 2003 08:08 PST

Itz going to be a small business.
for example, a pizza delivery counter or chicken & chips delivery
counter.
customers call from home ordering for some stuff - person taking the
order via phone should populate relevant fields like name, address &
contact number and items ordered etc., and then it should be delivered
- till delivery it should be tracked in the system - we are looking
for such a type of package which can be modified to suit our needs as
well.

---

Request for Question Clarification by aceresearcher-ga on 11 Feb 2003 09:19 PST

ayurmohan,

I strongly encourage you to not try to make a decision on software,
until you have determined for certain what your business will be.
There are many nice little "niche" software packages out there
specifically designed to handle the special circumstances involved
with different businesses, such as pizza delivery, dry cleaning,
selling collectible items, etc., and you will not be able to take
advantage of such special features if you invest ahead of time in a
software system without knowing how you will be using it. Furthermore,
if you choose a package before you choose your business, you may end
up with software that is not well suited at all to your business.

For companies, no matter how big or how small, knowing how a software
system will be used is one of the key decision-making tools necessary
when selecting that software system -- AND the hardware to run it.
This is a good way to make sure that the money you spend on software
and hardware ends up being a good investment, and that your system
will continue to meet your needs for more than a year or two.

Regards,

aceresearcher

Most medium-sized accountancy packages will have Sales Invoicing and
Stock Control modules. Have you looked at the Sage range?
http://www.accountingsystems.co.uk/ 

Sage Instant Accounts Plus includes basic Stock Control: 

"Create a record of all the products you sell. Record a description,
sale price and unit of sale for each product. Store an image with your
product record.
  Invoice your customers with customer and product details taken
automatically from your product records. Invoice your customers for
the services you provide.
Apply settlement discounts and record carriage charges. Add extra
details to your invoices such as a customer's order number, their
contact details, notes about the order and any settlement terms.
Generate and print product credit notes for your customers. Print
invoices whenever you need."

It's priced about £200 plus VAT for a single user. You would be wise
to discuss with your accountant to ensure that the system you choose
is (a) fully compliant with UK and EU legislation (especially VAT) and
possibly (b) compatable with the accountant's own systems allowing
export of data for final account preparation and auditing. If you have
existing accounting systems you will also want to integrate your
choice with those systems.

If you can indicate which industry you are in, others may be able to
suggest industry-specific solutions.

Owain

My suggestion for an accounting package was assuming a more mail-order
type business rather than chicken-and-chips.

For chicken-and-chips bear in mind the system will have to operate in
a kitchen environment and be used by kitchen staff (unless your
business will be big enough to have a dedicated phone answerer) who
are unlikely to be trained in database entry. Also, the industry has a
high staff turnover so the system has to be very easy for new starts
to pick up quickly. That poses hardware and software reliability and
usability issues.

I'd really suggest a manual (ie paper) system. What about a
pre-printed 2-part no-carbon-required form, with listings of all the
menu items, so the call-taker just ticks or writes the number required
adjacent to each item. Or just spaces to write the menu items as
ordered. Money column and a total to pay box at the bottom. Have boxes
for name/address, Call taker initials, food cooked by/despatched
initials, delivery driver initials, time call taken, time food
despatched, etc.

Keep one copy on file in the kitchen, send the 2nd copy out with the
food. That gives the driver the delivery address. At the end of shift
you can tally up the cost of food sent out by each driver and compare
that to the money they bring back; if any complaints are received you
can check who cooked the food, who packed and despatched it, as the
staff initial each stage of progress. Also avoids duplicating or
omitting food for orders.

If you have each form sequence numbered, you can give the caller the
sequence number. If they call again, it's easy to pull the copy form
from the pile and tell them 'driver Bob left with the order at
8.05'...

Multipart carbonated forms are readily available from commercial
printers.

Owain