The company imports and supplies high-quality clothing to major South African retail chains and family-owned stores while also catering to clients in neighbouring countries.
Business case
Before they moved to LS Central, Lazkam relied on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP and an outdated POS system that has since been discontinued. The company recognized an opportunity to deploy a modern, more flexible solution, capable of centralizing sales, inventory management, customer information, and accounting.
The goal was to streamline operations and enhance efficiency across the organization. With a hundred employees spread across four locations in Gauteng and one in Cape Town, Lazkam required a cloud-based solution to simplify its IT infrastructure and provide real-time access to data from any location.
Solution
The management team at Lazkam evaluated several solutions before selecting LS Central, LS Retail's comprehensive, cloud-based POS and retail management software. LS Central provides complete control over key business processes. These include inventory, sales, reporting, and more across multiple locations - all from a single platform.
Lazkam chose LS Central due to its reputation as a globally recognized retail solution, supported by extensive customer feedback and reviews. The company believed choosing a solution that works seamlessly with Microsoft technology was a good way to foster ongoing innovation. The Microsoft interface also facilitated the transition, as the company was already familiar with the platform.
Lazkam entrusted local LS Retail Diamond partner, Braintree, to implement the solution and is pleased with the process. “Maintenance and implementation are something that Braintree does very well,” says Zuhayr Tayob, Managing Director at Lazkam.
Braintree and Lazkam executed the implementation in phases, ensuring a smoother transition while providing added security and control. “What made this partnership so successful was the investment of time and effort made by Lazkam in the migration process, which enabled us to gain an in-depth understanding of the strategic vision underpinning the need for this software upgrade,” says Grant Van der Westhuizen, Sales Manager of Business Applications at Braintree.
Benefits
Since implementing LS Central, Lazkam has enjoyed several benefits that have greatly improved their operations, including:
- Accurate inventory management - Lazkam considers the Replenishment for LS Central module a game-changer for their operations. “We used to do replenishment manually, capturing stock totals with no real tracking of assets,” says Tayob. “LS Central has greatly improved our efficiency, we see a clear benefit with the system’s streamlined approach.”
- User-friendly interface - LS Central’s configurable permissions ensure employees access only the information relevant to their position. “The single coolest thing I have seen on LS Central is that it allows you to filter anything, anyhow, anyway,” says Tayob. “It is a really important feature that should not be underestimated by any company.”
- Reliability and scalability - Initially, Lazkam had concerns about fully transitioning to Software as a Service (SaaS), mainly due to internet reliability in the region. However, running the system in the cloud has brought significant advantages, including greater flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and enhanced operational efficiency. “While the transition to a new system wasn’t immediate, moving to LS Central quickly became seamless,” says Tayob.
LS Central SaaS has not only streamlined daily operations but also set Lazkam on a sustainable path for future growth. “We may have initially overstretched, but we’re glad we made the decision,” says Tayob. “We selected software that not only meets our current needs but also allows us to grow into it. This wasn’t a short-term decision, but one for the next 20 to 30 years, where the provider is just as important as the software itself.”
