TAG Catering Equipment discusses the difference that bespoke reporting has made to their daily operations

Who are TAG Catering Equipment UK?

TAG Catering Equipment UK is an award winning supplier of commercial kitchens. They supply equipment to kitchens across the hospitality industry, from acclaimed five-star hotel restaurants, to festival pop-ups.

Founded in 1988, TAG attribute their success to their highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce, and a customer-first approach.

With a mantra of quality, flexibility and innovation, using the latest CAD software for 3D modelling, TAG are able to show their clients exactly how their kitchens will look, and more importantly, how they will function. But at TAG it’s about more than installation, with outstanding aftercare, clients enjoy piece of mind that their kitchens are protected if repairs are required. And TAG kitchen engineers start work at 5am, so they can fix any issues before service begins!

On top of these outstanding benefits, TAG are environmentally minded, with awards for their green credentials. Their detailed sustainability roadmap is focused on increasing efficiency to reduce energy consumption, great for the environment and for their clients’ bottom line.

We spoke to Dean Kahl, TAG’s Marketing and Systems Manager about business reporting and how TAG manage the not-so-small task of dispersing, monitoring and supporting field-based engineers

The Problem: The time, errors, and frustrations of manual reporting.

In any industry, being able to report on data from within the business is crucial. In layman's terms, businesses need to know what’s working and what’s not.

However, the need to report on business data becomes ever more crucial in businesses with a service-based element, where time is money and there are set requirements, such as client response times. So for Dean, in a business focused on fitting and supporting kitchens across the UK, robust data reporting is a must.

Dean has long used Simpro® to manage his business data but explains that he was finding the process of getting the information he needs out of Simpro to problematic.

“We wanted deeper reporting than the generic reporting that’s available via Simpro. In our opinion, the reporting in Simpro wasn’t that clear, this is likely to be because it wasn’t relevant to our business model, which is quite unique. I found that it’s quite easy to misinterpret the reporting in Simpro, and often I couldn’t quite get to the exact information that I wanted. For example, it couldn’t show us our key performance indicators (KPIs). Basically, we wanted a different kind or reporting, and reporting that was easy to understand. But collating data from multiple systems was proving to be a very, very, very manual process.”

The Solution: How using Tugger® alongside Simpro has brought reporting clarity

Why Tugger? Dean explains how he heard about Tugger and why he opted for Tugger to solve his data reporting issues.

“I spent some time on Google, trying to find a solution and I found Tugger. I also spoke to our Simpro Account Manager because Tugger is a Simpro partner. It seemed like Tugger was an obvious solution because our choices were; go through a very manual process with different systems, use Simpro’s generic reports, or use Tugger!”

What about Data Reports? Tugger offers free template reports for Simpro users. These reports are based on the data that most Simpro users want to see but it’s not always the case that one-size fits all. TAG Catering Equipment have a unique business model, in that they design and install kitchens, but they also provide ongoing support, so there are very distinct and different areas to their business. Dean explains how he used Tugger to get reporting that fits his unique needs.

“Initially the free reports were the appeal, so we planned to pay the modest monthly subscription fee to enable us to access to the free reports. But as we got deeper into the reports, we realised that we needed a bit more information, and that’s when we discovered that the Tugger team were happy to produce bespoke reports for us.“

“The ability for Tugger to produce bespoke reports within Power BI means that anything is possible. For example, during the process of creating the reports, our requirements changed and we adapted the scope. Tugger has gone above and beyond what was quoted to get us what we need. This flexibility and approach really aligns with our business. It’s noticeable that Tugger don't say “no” they’re happy to work alongside us.”

“Tugger also excels in communication with an incredibly responsive approach. They’re always ready to hop on a call whenever needed. This personal touch makes their service truly exceptional and rare so if people want bespoke reports, they should speak to Tugger.”

The Results: Is Dean enjoying the business reporting he dreamed of?

Dean has very specific requirements and a strong understanding of the business data he needs to see, but he was struggling with the complexities of Power BI, multiple data streams and inefficient generic reporting. So what is Dean’s data reporting like now he is using Simpro alongside Tugger?

“Tugger has transformed our reporting process completely, empowering us to gain deeper insights into our overall business activity for management reporting, particularly against sales targets. This deeper insight is enabling us to make effective, more informed decisions and has enhanced our daily operations.”

“The bespoke reporting has really made our life easier, because it's exactly the information we want, presented in exactly the right way with no fluff around the edges. Now we can pinpoint specific aspects of our business with ease because Microsoft Power BI’s complexities are eradicated, resulting in a substantial impact on our reporting and data utilisation.”

“Tugger has simplified the complexity. Previously, we relied on manual methods, piecing together data from different systems or settling for Simpro's in-built reporting. With Tugger, reporting has become straightforward and remarkably clear, making it easy for us to get what we need. The delivery of the reports has also been exceptional, meeting our exact expectations flawlessly.”

What is different about Tugger? Dean shares the three things that he thinks sets Tugger apart: “Communication is very good and extremely responsive. There is enormous flexibility in the approach, and the end product is exactly what we want. If anyone reading this is considering Tugger, I recommend that you don’t look anywhere else for bespoke reporting!”