The transformation of Blick SA into Stanley Security Solutions SA has placed Mike Lotter in the driving seat as the new Managing Director of the company. Lotter joined the company  in 2001 as Regional Sales Manager, rising to the position of Sales and Marketing Director.

Lotter took up his new position on 1 June 2008, a month ahead of the official  renaming of the company, on 1 July 2008. This process began in December 2003 with the acquisition of Blick SA’s UK holding company, Blick PLC, by Stanley Works, the US-based holding company of the global Stanley group, listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Lotter comments:

“There is a slight tinge of sadness in bidding farewell to the Blick brand – which has just celebrated 60 years of excellence in the Security, Access Control, Time & Attendance and Telecommunications sectors – but we are excited about the future as part of such an illustrious global group as stanley."

Lotter’s first focus is on extending the scope of Customer Support systems. A key objective is to put a new Customer Relationship Management team into action by the end of Q3 2008. The team will be totally focused on delivering excellent service to customers. He adds:

“This is a permanent process – not an event! Which is why we are putting a teamin place whose role is to continually evaluate

and implement change wherever, and whenever, it becomes clear that we could offer our customers better service by modifying our processes”.

In addition to transforming internal processes, Lotter will lead the company in a major exercise to transform the culture, training, systems and management style.

“I firmly believe that this exercise will reaffirm the company’s osition as market leaders,”

he adds. One of the first Customer Support initiatives Lotter is implementing is extending service to any customer – even Stanley did not install the original solution. He explains:

“Installation is only half of the story. Today’s sophisticated solutions require a wide range of support expertise that has often been underestimated in the initial purchasing process. Stanley has the skills – or will acquire them –to support any customer so everyone is welcome to discuss their requirements with us.”

Stanley offers a comprehensive range of Maintenance Contracts and Service Level Agreements designed to cover any level of service required. Personnel skills are another major focus.

"We are investing in our people with greater vigor as we believe this will lead to a far more positive customer contact experience. It’s not just technical skills we are upgrading. People are not just the brains of the company – they are the heart and soul as well, so we intend to develop the skills of everyone in the company to enable peak performance from each individual,”

adds Lotter.

The focus for 2009 will be on investment in internal systems. Lotter explains:

“All this activity is designed with one thought in mind: to deliver superior service to our valued customers.”

In July 2008, however, company is launching S-QUBE, its new Workforce Data Management (WDM) solution. WDM systems integrate Time & Attendance (T&A), Access Control (AC), Job Costing,
Alarm Monitoring, HR information processing, Payroll interfaces and integration into other ERP, planning and reporting packages such as SAP, VIP, PeopleSoft, Care, NaVision and Unique.

Lotter comments:

“Payroll is the single largest expense for most companies, so this is where the greatest protection is required against fraud, corruption and theft. WDM systems are therefore no longer just ‘nice to have’ but a crucial element of financial control, regardless of the size of the company. Productivity improvements can also be achieved with WDM systems.

Solutions are never carved in stone – innovation is, by definition, a process of renewal.
So we are confident that S-QUBE’s incredible feature range and flexibility is going to ‘wow’
our customers because S-QUBE enables users to integrate new technologies into most existing
solutions. It’s not always necessary to start from scratch!

Stanley has, naturally, used its highly-successful BlueLine solution as the platform for S-QUBE development, so existing BlueLine customers will find it easy to upgrade to S-QUBE.
The launch of S-QUBE at this time confirms Stanley’s commitment that the company will remain market-leaders in WDM solutions in Africa."

Lotter concludes:

"I’d like to thank everyone at Stanley, and all our customers, for their invaluable support in the past and assure them of my undivided attention in the future to improving and developing the delivery of
customer service at Stanley."