Digital transformation brings different benefits to businesses. One of the things that is almost universal is the time savings that come from introducing technology and building systems that automate day-to-day business processes. Having made some serious progress on its own journey into the digital world, workwear and merchandising business Involution is feeling the time benefits and feeling increasingly bullish about future growth.
While almost every business strives to make money and increase profitability, the same attention is not always given to saving time and becoming more efficient. It can be difficult in the thrust of the day-to-day rigours of running a business to think of anything other than fulfilling orders and delivering services, but this is precisely why time saving measures are so valuable.
Getting more time back in creating room to come up for air allows you to make improvements to how you run your business, which in the long run will make you more profitable too. Few businesses can aspire to becoming time rich, but one sure-fire way to create more time is to adopt digital technologies.
For Leeds-based workwear, clothing and merchandising specialist, Involution, its digital transformation journey is one that began in earnest around 2015, when Operations Director, Nathan Cookson, and the team realised they needed to do things differently if they wanted to grow. Nathan began looking at Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and CRM software that would enable the full business to be run and managed online. But there was nothing on the market that suited Involution’s needs so the team decided to make their own.
Nathan explains: “We’ve been on a journey towards building a fully bespoke ERP and CRM system that manages the entire business, from a customer ordering online all the way through to production, planning, stock, accounts and then out of the door.
Involution’s unique system is running 85% of the functions that it was designed to do, as well as driving efficiencies in other areas. To develop such a system Involution looked to the support available through the Digital Enterprise scheme, working closely with the Digital Advisors to secure a grant they would part-fund the development costs.
Nathan says:
“The great thing with Digital Enterprise is that it is very responsive, and the team were very active on questions and answers. As soon as our project finished, we reached out to them and claimed our funding and the money came back to us very quickly.”
Looking ahead, Involution will continue building out its end-to-end ERP and CRM system. Digital adoption has been a big part of why turnover has increased 250% over the last seven years, enabling the company to onboard 30 new hires. And the company has a keen eye on reaching the £10 million turnover mark by 2025.
The business is a great example of the digital revolution taking place across the Leeds City Region and is living proof of the time savings these techniques can provide. The Involution case study was first featured in the Digital Enterprise Digital Transformation Directory – access the directory here to read the interview in full.
Involution received support from Digital Enterprise 2.0. The programme was part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and closed on 30 June 2023.
Digital Enterprise 3.0 began on 1st July 2023 and is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
If you have a question about how our team and the Digital Enterprise Business Support Programme can help your business email us on digitalenterprise@leeds.gov.uk.
