TN Robinson, an electrical wholesaler and independent family-owned business has been a cornerstone of the community for over 100 years. With a turnover of approximately £17 million and 12 branches spread across the North West and North Wales, the company has established a robust presence in the market. However, their long-standing system, which had been in place for around 25 years, became outdated and cumbersome, necessitating a change to stay competitive and efficient.
Product naming note: TN Robinson originally implemented Intact iQ. That product has since been renamed GenetiQ. Historical product names are retained in customer quotes and references to reflect the customer’s experience at the time.
Moving on from a costly, inflexible legacy system
Before implementing GenetiQ, TN Robinson was relying on an ageing system that had become increasingly difficult to manage.
Over time, numerous bespoke software additions had been built around the system, adding complexity and making it harder to adapt as the business evolved. The underlying IBM iSeries hardware also required replacement roughly every five years, representing a significant investment of around £100,000.
System stability was another concern, with disruption at critical trading times affecting day-to-day operations.
Product management also created unnecessary administration. Non-database products, known internally as “specials”, were difficult to manage effectively, making it harder to retain product history and maintain accurate stock information.
When TN Robinson began exploring an alternative, the team deliberately tested how far the new system could adapt to its requirements.
"When we sat down with Intact, the objective was to try and get Intact to say, sorry, no, we can't. - And I never got that. That never happened."
At the time, TN Robinson implemented Intact iQ, which has since been renamed GenetiQ. The team found that many of the requirements previously handled through bespoke development could instead be achieved through configuration.
That flexibility gave TN Robinson greater control over how the system supported its processes, without having to rely on costly custom development for every change.
Making product management faster and easier
One example was TN Robinson's use of Luckins product data.
GenetiQ enabled the business to bring product information directly into the system, reducing the amount of manual work required when creating and managing product records.
"iQ allows us to pull products from Luckins straight through to the system. It uploads all the data, including images if we want them. And it's a very quick process. It takes a lot of time out of what the staff are doing on a day-to-day basis."
For the team, this meant less time spent maintaining product information manually and a more efficient way to manage the data needed across the business.
Building a stronger platform for the future
Eighteen months after the original implementation, TN Robinson was already seeing a positive impact across its operations.
Moving away from its previous legacy environment reduced its dependence on expensive hardware and gave the business a more reliable and flexible technology platform.
Just as importantly, the ability to configure the system around TN Robinson's requirements meant the company could continue adapting its processes without recreating the complexity of its previous bespoke setup.
GenetiQ has provided TN Robinson with a stronger foundation for modernising its operations and supporting the business as its requirements continue to evolve.