Computer Services Group get green light at Transport Systems Plc

Transport Systems Plc is an AIM listed company providing traffic management via its two operating subsidiaries: Forest Traffic Signals Ltd (FTS), and Forest Highways Ltd (FH). Legislation and contract documentation have changed over recent years to increase the responsibilities of both contractor and client for the design and implementation of traffic management.

FTS and FH operate in Newport (inc. Head Office)a, Bristol, and Southampton providing three services: hire services, street works and major projects. They also provide layout design services and traffic flow modelling to estimate the affect road works will have on traffic queues, the length of delays and even the number of breakdowns expected.

The existing IT systems had been in place for 5 years and were in need of some radical updating. As Katrina Matthews, Transport Systems Plc, explains "We had to invest in our internal systems to provide the right management information to enable both of our businesses to grow and to give our parent company the information required to plan future development of the group. Our existing accounting system was not flexible enough for this. We were contacted by CSG about upgrading to a later version of our existing system, but when we had a demonstration it was obvious it was still not going to be flexible enough for our business."

Katrina met with CSG and outlined the major issues that were affecting the Group. CSG came back with the solution of Sage MMS accounting to integrate and enhance the already planned Protean Hire software. Katrina added "We needed the ability to integrate with our new Protean Hire software, our management reporting system on Microsoft Excel and SAGE Winforecast, and to have the facility of loading information from Excel into SAGE easily. As this was a major investment for the future we needed to get the right development platform and as Sage MMS is a Microsoft .NET application it was felt that Sage MMS was leading edge."

Since installing the MMS solution Katrina has achieved their original requirements - they have increased control over costs within the business, and are able to produce live management information to aide more effective decision making.

Katrina is also pleased with the relationship with CSG, "The after sales support from CSG is professional with excellent response times. They speak to us jargon free so we understand the issue and they ensure all of these issues are resolved efficiently and effectively. They also review our business requirements on a regular basis which is helpful when you have a growing business." concludes Katrina.

To find out if Sage MMS could help transform your business call CSG on 0845 051 5506 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it