LeTourneau Sales and Service Australia (LSSA) is a leading supplier of technologically advanced mining equipment. Supplying true production machines, built to operate in the most demanding of mining conditions LSSA supports and distributes an extensive range of LeTourneau loaders and parts as well as supplying ongoing maintenance, repairs, and upgrades.

From 1990 – 2003 LeTourneau Sales and Services Australia (LSSA) was the official office for LeTourneau Inc in the United States. During this time the business comprised of a small team who had alliances with third party dealers to supply and distribute their product to the market.
     “In March 2003 the LSSA management team made a strategic decision to become a dealership who would supply and service directly to our clients. This meant that literally overnight our business went from an office representing the Texas factory to a team of 40 people responsible for all aspects of our own operations,” explains David Farrar, Le Tourneau’s Managing Director.
     “The change to our business model required a complete reinstatement of everything. All systems were to start anew – with nothing to be transferred across. Our investigations for a suitable accounting and software management system needed to be completed within a very tight timeframe. We needed a system that could be installed quickly and efficiently but would also stand the test of time and our requirements for the long term.
     There were many questions to be asked and issues to be solved. We had three months to complete a changeover which involved a combination of both hardware and software installation. We also needed to consider all aspects of training and how we would manage exchange rates, job functions and tracking work in progress.
LSSA went out to the market place and researched many systems suitable for a business of their size and industry alignment. We were attracted to the Axapta product and the fact it was a Microsoft ERP Business Solution. We also felt confident in the way it presented modules with the flexibility to expand the product as our company and needs would grow in the future.

A key influence throughout this process was our connection with Moore Stephens from an accounting perspective.
     We had an existing 15 year accounting relationship with Moore Stephens and had also seen them implement the Axapta product for their own internal accounting use. It was at this time we were also introduced to Moore Stephens Technology Australia (MSTA). Once we became convinced that Axapta was the right choice of product for our business, we then needed to establish a relationship with a service provider who could support it. Through their own installation and application of Axapta, we were impressed with MSTA and their knowledge of both the product and our business”, David said.
     Working with MSTA was a positive and proactive experience for LSSA. Together we worked closely to deliver against a very tight project timeline. We visited various Axapta operations and did our homework to fast track our own knowledge base and streamline the product to suit our business.

MSTA installed a team who were prepared to work the long hours, respond to the normal glitches to be expected of a project of this size and deliver a positive outcome. Since this time they have also responded to our needs by tailoring an ongoing support and maintenance agreement. They have setup a support mechanism with the capability to email our requests to the help desk and fully log all components of the job. We also have online access to review the jobs outstanding, the hours against it, where the project is tracking and the events that have taken place throughout the process.
     The biggest enhancement throughout this process has been the stability of a windows based software platform and its ability to respond to the little every day business quirks, yet still provide a stable operational system on a day to day basis.
     LSSA now has multi locations with over 15 regular users and 10 part time users in a supply chain using stock control, job costing, general ledger and cash control as primary functions.
     Reflecting back on the project, the LSSA management team collectively recognise the effort MSTA went to understand our business, industry and mining jargon. They certainly tried hard and the results today stand as testimony to the great job they accomplished,” reports Glen Nicol, Le Tourneau Australia’s Financial Controller.