dance. They liked the system, but felt it was a
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little too expensive. But the demonstration was convincing and jargon-free, and also emphasised the many uses to which a computer could be put in a business.
Shortly afterwards, another contact, who worked for Northern Computers in Frodsham, proposed an Apple computer. A demonstration was again set up but this time the FarrelIs were sufficiently impressed to strike a deal. The Apple II, three disc drives and an Anadex dot matrix printer were duly delivered together with Jarman software covering PAYE, sales accounts, purchase accounts and nominal ledger. The complete package cost £5,000, about a third of the cost of some of the alternative systems Farrell Transport had looked at.
All was not plain sailing, however. Indeed, several times during the first three weeks Joan Farrell felt like throwing the whole system out of the window. But she persevered, working with the computer from time to time while still operating the manual system — a standard procedure when starting off with a micro. Gradually, the computer took over more of the work load.
Now Joan Farrell and Ron Parkinson both use the Apple micro. They consider it essential that each should be capable of handling all of the computer operations in the other's absence. They have also produced duplicate magnetic discs for all of their programs (a normal security procedure when operating computers). These are stored in different location in case of fire or other damage.
The PAYE software was the first to be implemented. The magnetic discs also hold all personnel records in addition to the PAYE capability. Typically the manual PAYE process took two to three days in between running the busy traffic office. With the Apple micro, the whole job can now be completed in one hour.
According to Ron Parkinson, queries for claims, letters and problems with loads just used to stack up while the manual accounting stystem was being run. This does not happen any more using the micro.
Following the PAYE software, the next two programs to be introduced were sales and pur chase accounts. Invoicing is on pre-printed continuous stationery, giving an average throughput of up to 100 invoices in half a day. All of the invoicing is prepared on a Monday to cover the previous week's business.
The sales journal print-out also provides a useful running report on weekly totals. Previously when invoicing had been completed it was necessary to transfer the details manually to a sales ledger. With the micro the whole job is virtually a one-shot operation with invoice information being available in ledger form from one input of data.
Next job for the computer is the nominal ledger, although Farrall's has been delayed in introducing this system by the company's auditors, whose presence held things up temporarily. Joan, who intends to put Farrall's current financial year figures into the nominal ledger as soon as possible said: "This will mean that experience and intuition can be replaced by hard copy from the computer'.
Joan added: "I now know enough about this machine to appreciate the major contribution it makes to reducing our workload and I'll make sure that it continues to do so. For what it cost us the computer has been a minor miracle. We now manage to do everything in two days when previously it took us five or more."
One example of the time saving capability of the micro is in the preparation of invoices and payroll which under the old manual system could take anything up to 12 hours to complete for one month. The Apple ll now does both jobs in 40 minutes without any supervision. The net result according to Eddie Farrell is that he now has more time to run the fleet and earn money — a basic requirement for any operator.
Farrell has already considered other uses for their micro. "We could cornputerise vehicle costs, fuel and tyres", says Joan. "Some haulage contractors might find this desirable, but we really haven't time and our experience in the business does• count for a lot. We know when a vehicle is not being operated profitably and can take the appropriate measures."
"We recently looked at a system to record tachograph information. It might be useful, but it would need to be completely automatic rather than requiring us to input all the information into the computer manually".
Had there been any breakdowns? Joan explained that there had been a minor problem with the printer some months back, but Northern Computers quickly sorted it out. Farrell now has a maintenance contract with the company, although according to Joan, "Touch wood we haven't needed to call them".
Many operators may consider that they do not have enough vehicles to warrant a microcomputer, but Eddie Farrell is more than convinced of its advantages for small fleets: "Knowing what I know now I'd get one if I had only 10 vehicles. There's just no comparision to it on cost and It won't want a month's holiday either?"