Latham's Steel Security Doors

From a family-owned UK business to thriving down under

Latham’s is a family-owned brand leading the way in steel security door production. Known for their innovative and customer-centric approach, the business have established themselves as the leading supplier in the UK. This success has paved the way for Latham's to venture into the Australian Door Market, where their operations are not just thriving but setting new benchmarks in the industry.

Watch the system in action

Here, we speak to Alex Latham, Managing Director, Chris Hardy, Operations Manager, and Nick Attfield, Marketing and IT Manager at Latham’s Steel Security Doorsets. Talking to the team, we learn what’s changed for the business over the past few years, taking a look at their future steps and goals through the next door.

Implementing OrderWise

Keen to reduce the unnecessary and costly legwork in their business, Latham’s needed end-to-end business management software across every department to enable fast and frictionless processing of their custom goods from start to finish.

“We needed efficiency, really. We needed a CRM and standardisation across the board, so every department could be taught a process once that could feed into every other department seamlessly. We needed something scalable that could keep up with the growth of the business and something that we could customise to our own needs.”
Nick Attfield, Marketing and IT Manager

They chose an OrderWise ERP and WMS solution, complete with software for Accounts, Business intelligence, KPI Dashboards, Manufacturing, Kitting, Ecommerce, CRM, Transport Management and more.

Offering the flexibility, connectivity and scalability the business was searching for, the aim was to boost a seamless fulfilment that worked for both their team and produced the highest possible levels of service for the end-consumer too.

“We tend to do things a little differently to most people, we don’t conform to traditional patterns of working, and OrderWise saw this. When choosing a software provider, we were looking for someone willing to work with us. And because we tend to evolve at such a quick pace, it was somebody willing to put those changes in and work with us through everything we needed.”
Chris Hardy, Operations Manager

The OrderWise Solution

Since implementing their end-to-end OrderWise ERP and WMS solution, the Latham’s business has seen success after success as they continue to expand their operations with confidence.

“It’s a business that’s growing at a really quick rate. Over the space of 12 months, we were in a completely different place to where we were back then, so we’re just coming on leaps and bounds, year-on-year.”

- Chris Hardy, Operations Manager

Manufacturing and Trade Store Management

Manufacturing their doors entirely in-house, Latham’s Steel Security Doorsets can control their production efficiently while accurately recording all their costs, labour, equipment, builds and components using OrderWise Manufacturing.

Moreover, with the ability to manage multi-stage builds, sub-assemblies and flexible product specification, OrderWise Manufacturing can cater for the business’ quantity of bespoke works orders too. The configure works order tool within their sales order processing allows for further customisation.

“Ultimately, we rely heavily on OrderWise to run this for us now. Investing in our infrastructure has allowed us to take control of all our manufacturing processes. Management and staff deserve credit too, to keep the staff skilled and ultimately happy, but the long and short of it is that OrderWise takes the legwork out of this.”

- Alex Latham, Managing Director

Logistics and express delivery

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the businesses moved ahead with the OrderWise Proof of Delivery (POD) application and the Transport Management module. Revolutionising how the Latham’s team manage their order processing and delivery calculations, the software enables easier communication with their customers when they needed it most.

“OrderWise has allowed us to optimise everything from the moment the sales order comes in... We can also send out notifications if it’s coming out via a third-party haulier and, as well, if it’s coming by a courier like Royal Mail. So, once goods go to despatch, after that point, our customers are getting a text message or an email to let them know and keep them in the loop.”

- Nick Attfield, Marketing and IT Manager

Taking customer payments

The Latham’s brand was conscious that they needed to make their consumer journey as frictionless as possible to give the optimal experience to their valued customers.

Integrating OrderWise with their Amazon and eBay marketplaces, Latham’s Steel Security Doorsets and Hardware can ensure the stock availability and pricing is updated in real-time across their listings.

Using a payment portal, Latham’s can provide quotes with live payment links to process card payments seamlessly. Moreover, this also enables bulk orders to be placed at the customer’s convenience and handled smoothly for the Latham’s team too.

What’s next for Latham’s?

Latham's recent expansion into Australia marks a significant milestone in their journey of organic growth and innovation. Embracing new opportunities in this dynamic market, the business are introducing an array of new product lines and pursuing additional certifications, demonstrating their commitment to enhancing and diversifying their offerings.

Having recently introduced a fabrications division, where, manufacturing yet more products in-house, the business is looking forward to expanding the scope for their stock doors to be used in more markets and opening sizes.

“We’re fortunate to be an ecommerce driven business. There’s been a continued focus on our online presence and we look forward to integrating with our websites on both Hardware and Doors sides of our business with OrderWise. What we’re really looking forward to is that first order that comes straight in off the website and is in the system to be sent straight down to manufacturing with no hands in the middle – it’s there and waiting to go.”

- Chris Hardy, Operations Manager