Heating products and electrical cable distributor Pitacs Ltd has selected Forterro’s ERP and Warehouse Management Solution, Orderwise Cloud, to drive automation, improve operational efficiency, enhance ecommerce and support the next stage of the company’s digital transformation.
Founded in 1990, Pitacs is one of the UK’s largest manufacturers and distributors of heating products and electrical cables, with brands including luxury, sculptural heating AEON, trade favourite Ultraheat, Pitacs Heating, Pitacs Cable, TIME Cable and TIME LED.
The business had been using different systems from different vendors for ERP and WMS for many years, but with increasingly disparate processes and mounting inefficiencies, the company recognised the need for a modern, integrated ERP platform.
“Orderwise Cloud gives us a fully connected solution to replace multiple disjointed systems,” said Farrukh Lodhi, Finance Manager, Pitacs. “Our teams had been coming up against challenges around accessing data, making key business decisions and driving automation across each department.
“Orderwise solves these challenges by delivering one single solution which has the functionality and tools to continue to drive the business forward. We’re excited about the potential of the platform to support our ongoing ecommerce growth and position us as a more agile, responsive organisation.”
With ambitions to expand its ecommerce capabilities, Pitacs was looking for a trusted solutions partner with a proven track record of delivering similar projects and working with companies in the same sector. Orderwise Cloud offers the tools and functionality to support these goals while unifying all departments into a single, easy-to-use system.
“Pitacs is a forward-thinking business that needed a scalable, flexible solution to match its growth ambitions,” said Tom Price, Director, Forterro. “Orderwise Cloud gives them the visibility and control they need to streamline operations and deliver on their digital transformation journey.”
Orderwise Cloud is a powerful ERP solution designed for distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and manufacturers. It helps businesses optimise workflows, connect processes, and improve warehouse management. Built on Amazon Web Services (AWS), it provides a secure, future-proof infrastructure with scalable access from anywhere.
Agrigem, one of the UK’s biggest distributors of plant protection products, has grown turnover by 80% and increased profit margins by 40% after adopting Forterro’s ERP and Warehouse Management Solution, Orderwise.
Agrigem offers thousands of products, including weed killer, moss killer, fertiliser, grass seed, biological controls, and equipment to homeowners, and those working in the horticulture, equine, forestry, sports and amenity sectors. Given the breadth and depth of its product range, Agrigem needed to streamline operations by managing these product lines, multiple payment methods and different customer requirements, which had previously been a significant challenge.
“We were in desperate need of greater efficiencies and to streamline our processes,” said Dave Best, Operations Director, Agrigem. “We had ambitious growth plans, and the set-up at the time was not going to support that growth. Not only is Orderwise inherently scalable but it has all the functionality we required to get on top of our operational organisation.”
Orderwise is an ERP solution deployed by wholesalers, distributors, retailers, manufacturers, and other businesses with complex requirements. It helps connect processes, optimise workflows, and revolutionise stock management.
It reduced the need for Agrigem to take on additional administrative resources as it grew by automating report generation, data imports, and other manual tasks. Furthermore, by having data presented automatically, Orderwise allowed them to make critical decisions faster and more efficiently, contributing to overall business growth.
“Investing in the right technology can set a business up for long-term success, and Orderwise undoubtedly falls into that category,” continued Best. “It takes away unnecessary decision-making and reduces reliance on manual processes, both of which have been highly beneficial to our ongoing growth trajectory. It has also made it much easier for us to offer overnight delivery throughout the UK, which is critical for customers.”
Since implementing Orderwise, Agrigem has also benefited from complete visibility into its operational metrics. This allows the company to act quickly and effectively, such as adjusting pricing or changing product ranges, thereby avoiding delays that could impact the business negatively.
“When customers use our technology in this way, we feel like we have made a major contribution to their growth,” said Tom Price, Director, Forterro. “Orderwise is especially suited to retailers, manufacturers and wholesalers. It’s very much our core user base, and we are constantly and iteratively improving the product based on the ongoing feedback we get from customers. Agrigem is a leader in its field and precisely the type of business we love to work with.”
What exactly does Extended Producer Responsibility entail, and how should logistics businesses respond? Carrie Tallett (pictured below), Senior Product Manager of Forterro’s Orderwise, unpacks some of the practical realities of EPR and explains why ERP solutions will be key to addressing EPR.
Acronyms in business and technology can be hugely confusing. This is even truer when two acronyms are anagrams of each other, and when one is the solution to the other. That’s what has happened as the UK government’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations come into force. Logistics, warehousing, and supply chain professionals face a fresh compliance challenge that extends far beyond recycling and packaging, and to which the answer could well be the right Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools.
EPR aims to shift the financial and environmental burden of packaging waste away from local authorities and onto the businesses that produce, import or supply packaging. It’s a principle that’s been long established in the EU and elsewhere, but for UK businesses, it represents a major shift in accountability, reporting and operational processes.
Lowdown on EPR
EPR is essentially about environmental stewardship. It encourages businesses to consider the full lifecycle of the packaging they use, not just how it’s disposed of, but how it’s sourced, distributed and recycled or reused.
Carrie Tallett, Forterro
The environmental impact of packaging, especially plastics and cardboard, has become too significant to bury one’s head in the sand and hope the issue goes away. EPR is about corporate social responsibility, traceability, and being able to account for packaging throughout the supply chain. It forces organisations to take ownership of the packaging they introduce into the economy.
This means understanding not just what packaging is used, but how much, where it comes from, and whether it meets sustainability criteria. For many businesses, especially those dealing with complex or high-volume logistics, that demands a new level of data granularity and reporting discipline that hadn’t previously been required.
The Midmarket Challenge
Large enterprises often have the technology and expertise to manage regulatory changes, but for SMEs and midmarket firms, EPR is a different proposition. Many of those smaller businesses simply don’t have the systems in place to track this kind of data. Manual spreadsheets and paper-based records are both still commonplace and the idea of mapping packaging use across an entire supply chain is overwhelming for them.
While micro-businesses are currently out of scope, small and medium enterprises must register with the appropriate compliance schemes and submit packaging data. For SMEs without ERP systems or established tracking mechanisms, this means either investing in new software or attempting to cobble together reports from disparate sources, such as delivery notes, purchase orders or invoices. This is time-consuming and simply not practical.
This is where the cost really starts to bite. EPR compliance isn’t just about paying registration fees – around £200 for small organisations, up to £1,500 for large ones – rather, it’s about dedicating time, resources, and sometimes consultants to set up entirely new reporting functions. It’s not just the purely financial cost, it’s the operational burden. And there hasn’t been nearly enough government guidance for smaller organisations, who are the companies that would most benefit from that guidance.
ERP – a Compliance Enabler
For organisations that do have ERP software in place, EPR doesn’t have to be nearly so demanding. The ideal is an ERP solution that’s transactional in nature, so an item can be tracked from the moment it enters the organisation, when it was booked in, who booked it, the supplier, batch and serial numbers, and packaging details – every piece of required information is there. This kind of traceability is essential for EPR compliance. It enables businesses to map packaging data accurately, submit required reports, and track their environmental impact over time.
Even more critically, ERP platforms allow companies to maintain data integrity at scale. Businesses can perform a ‘data health check’ to identify any gaps, then use import and edit tools to quickly bulk update product or supplier records. It’s really about mapping current data to the government’s reporting templates. If there’s a column in the EPR file that you don’t currently capture, you can easily edit that data, import it, and be compliant without needing an overhaul.
Cost Tracking and Price Adjustments
Another strength of ERP software in the context of EPR is cost visibility. As EPR becomes embedded, packaging suppliers will be looking to pass on their own compliance costs. ERP enables you to distribute those costs across your order lines and get a clear view of how it’s impacting your margins. That granular view matters. It allows businesses to make informed decisions about product pricing, rather than blanket price increases. If one product line sees only a 1% rise in packaging costs, but another sees a 5% jump, those adjustments can be made strategically, ensuring competitiveness while protecting margins. It’s about building resilience as much as compliance. If you can’t see how costs are changing at a transactional level, you can’t adapt quickly or confidently, and ERP gives you the insight to make such decisions.
EPR, DPP, and what’s next?
EPR also ties into broader trends in traceability and sustainability, in particular the emergence of digital product passports (DPPs), which are expected to become mandatory for certain products under upcoming EU regulations. EPR and DPP share a reliance on smart, effective traceability and you’re effectively tracking the same journey. The item that needs a digital passport will come in a box that’s EPR-applicable. It’s two sides of the same traceability story.
Looking ahead, it’s likely that EPR will likely extend further. While micro-businesses are currently exempt, that may not last. Similarly, suppliers who aren’t currently certified or EPR-compliant may face mounting pressure to adapt. It makes sense for businesses to partner with compliant suppliers now. It’s all about reducing risk and ensuring that compliance starts before packaging even enters the warehouse.
Lessons from PPT
EPR isn’t the UK’s first packaging-related legislation. The Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT), introduced in 2022, served as something of a warm up to EPR. It encouraged the use of recycled and sustainable materials, and many businesses shifted accordingly. While there’s not a direct link between PPT and EPR, the government saw the success of PPT in driving behavioural change and EPR feels like a natural continuation. And with sustainability front of mind for regulators, consumers and investors alike, there’s little doubt that more regulations are coming. Those who prepare early will not only avoid penalties but they may also gain a competitive edge.
For logistics and supply chain professionals, EPR is another reminder that data is king. Whether it’s compliance, cost management or customer satisfaction, having the right systems in place is no longer optional, it’s essential. EPR is just the latest example of how digital infrastructure underpins business resilience. Logistics businesses should see this not just as a regulatory hurdle, but as an opportunity to streamline processes, improve supplier relationships, and position themselves for a greener, more transparent future. ERP supports economic shifts like these for organisations all around the world. That’s why we need to think of ERP not as Enterprise Resource Planning, but Everyone’s Resource Planning.
Leon Paul, one of the world’s premier fencing equipment manufacturers, has transformed its warehousing and logistic operations and driven significant growth following its adoption of Forterro’s ERP and Warehouse Management Solution, Orderwise.
The 100-year-old family-run business produces and distributes 90% of its products from its London manufacturing and warehousing facility and had previously relied on a paper-based system. This was highly inefficient and resulted in a warehouse environment best described as ‘chaos’ and an estimated £150,000 wastage every year in lost time and products, according to James Fay, Commercial Director, Leon Paul:
“We had no control of ordering from stock to delivery, no barcoding technology in the warehouse, no form of KPIs to manage our performance. We couldn’t vet orders properly and weren’t even sure if products were being sent to the right places,” he said. “Morale was low amongst staff because they felt they couldn’t do their jobs to the best of their ability, and we were wasting money, time and products hand over fist. We were known for the quality of our fencing equipment, but our warehousing was far from Olympic standard. Orderwise was cost-effective and scalable, and it was actually recommended to me by a competitor, so it felt like the best fit for us right from the off.”
Since implementing Orderwise, Leon Paul has been able to automate many processes and see vast efficiency improvements. It has eased pressure on employees, improved order management and customer service, and delivered a ten-fold increase in order processing. Order shipping time went from an average of nine days to less than one day.
In a complex manufacturing environment — Leon Paul makes more than 3,000 SKUs, which can then become any one of 98,000 SKUs — Orderwise has become integral. It allows the business to make quick and informed decisions, and it has meant that when the company turned over £3.5m, there were seven people in the warehouse, whereas in 2024 (turnover of £10m), there are five.
Leon Paul has more than 75% of the UK market — including supplying the entire Team GB Olympic fencing team — and recently won the 2024 Kings Award for Enterprise in Innovation and Export, strengthening its recent strategy of focusing mostly on exports.
“To further our global growth plans, we needed a modern warehouse and an ERP system to support our e-commerce engine, ensuring our customers all over the world get the right product in good time,” continued James Fay. “Orderwise has done exactly that and more. Our global agents are also connected to it, and we now all have the information to make smarter, data-based decisions about the business.”
Orderwise is an ERP solution that provides wholesalers, distributors, retailers and manufacturers with a platform for growth. It was initially deployed by Leon Paul in operational logistics, sales, and customer service, followed by accounts, and is currently being implemented in the manufacturing plant.
“Leon Paul is an iconic UK manufacturer, rightly celebrated for its quality, longevity and commitment to fencing,” said Jon Roberts, Director, Forterro. “Our ERP solutions are all designed with specific industries in mind, and we are very proud that Orderwise has played a role in Leon Paul’s success.”
