Nimans Ltd
Dakota Helps Distributor Nimans Keep Technology Moving
Experts in delivering technology to its expansive customer network for over 35 years, Nimans Ltd has established itself as the ‘go-to’ distributor for technology-based products, services and solutions, including IT hardware, telephony systems, security AV and UC cloud platforms from over 200 branded suppliers.
Equipped with the knowledge and experience to understand how technology has transformed and continues to shape businesses and business processes over the years, Nimans helps its partners to make informed product choices that support them and ultimately the end user.
With over 10,000 orders being processed each week and an impressive £20M total stock holding, Nimans is dedicated to providing a robust and reliable level of customer service to all of its clients, both large and small. And with the promise to process orders on the same day of receipt for next day delivery, Nimans is a slick and fast-paced operation with a glowing reputation to boot.
When its printers needed to be refreshed in order to keep up with demand and performance, Nimans turned to Dakota Integrated Solutions to help future-proof its mission-critical printing hardware.
The Problem
Having an existing estate of Zebra Technologies S4M light industrial printers which were patched to switches and had been in service for almost a decade, Nimans took the decision to replace these devices with the IP-based Zebra ZT220, a light industrial printer designed to provide reliable printing within a wide range of applications and industry sectors, thanks to its ease of use and host of user-friendly benefits. Offering fast installation and integration with minimal operator training required, the ZT220 is a reliable and cost-effective printing solution.
Chris Musgrave, Distribution Manager at Nimans, comments, “We decided that we needed to upgrade our printers. Taking into account the ZT220’s range of features and benefits, including the ability to run straight off the network thus taking advantage of its ethernet connectivity capability, this was the perfect printer for our business. Since our printers are mission-critical for us, it was imperative that we upgraded to a more suitable, future-proof device and Dakota furnished us with the necessary information in order to make this decision."
"The fact that we can also buy all of our labelling supplies
from Dakota means that they are very much viewed by us
as a complete solution partner in terms of all of our
printing-related requirements."
Chris Musgrave, Distribution Manager at Nimans
The Solution
The new printing solution which Nimans now has in place ensures a robust and smooth goods out process within its distribution centre (DC).
Musgrave comments, “The swift and accurate printing of our labels is critical to us as a business. With so many orders being shipped from our DC on a daily basis, over 99% of which need to be delivered next day, it is imperative that we have reliable and dependable printers in place so that we are not faced with a horrendous order backlog. If a printer fails then we are faced with a huge problem, but thanks to Dakota’s recommendation, we can now continue to enjoy a stress-free distribution process.”
John Greenwood, Systems Integration Specialist at Dakota, comments, “Nimans has been our customer for over twenty years, so we know their business and its inner workings well. We were extremely comfortable in recommending the ZT220, as well as the Zebra LI4278 scanners in order to assist Nimans with their goods out processes.”
Musgrave continues, “In addition to the printers, we also bought Zebra LI4278 Bluetooth® handheld scanners, which enable us to effectively harness critical serial number information from the barcode labels on our products due for delivery and upload this data instantly onto our cloud-based warehouse management system (WMS). This provides us with an immediate snapshot of what we have sent to whom and when, further enhancing our customer service levels and providing a valuable insight into the critical information required in case of any product returns or recalls.”
The Result
The results of Nimans’ new product installations are compelling.
Musgrave explains, “The new Zebra products which we purchased from Dakota now form a critical component of our business. All our orders continue to be sent accurately and on time, however we are now able to effectively and consistently gauge what has been sent to whom and when. Reliability is key; without accurate products within our distribution centre the whole process grinds to a halt and we are unable to deliver on our next day promise, which is critical to us as a business as our customers always come first. We are very appreciative to John at Dakota for recommending these products to us, and this latest phase in our journey with Dakota has only served to strengthen our existing and long-standing relationship. Dakota’s strength definitely lies in its wrap-around approach to customer service. Not only do they recommend the most suitable products for our requirements, they also take the time to fully understand what these requirements are in order to make the most appropriate hardware suggestions, and that for us is invaluable. We would never look for an alternative supplier other than Dakota, and we very much look forward to continuing our relationship with them in the future.”
