Never too late to automate

August 2026
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Published on the 26/08/2026 | Written by Abel Software

AT A GLANCE

Victor Hydraulics

INDUSTRY

Distribution

THE COMPANY

Reid & Twiname are prominent suppliers of motor body hardware (for buses, caravans, motor homes and trucks); marine, automotive and upholstery textiles; and industrial, outdoor and canvas fabrics.
Established in Auckland in 1924, the wholesaler and distributor sources products from hundreds of suppliers and manufacturers representing some of the trade’s top brands.
The company employs 25 people and is based in Mt Wellington, Auckland. It also operates a warehouse and customer services team in Christchurch, serving South Island businesses.

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

A simple, flexible and fully integrated ERP system to replace a series of old manual systems.
ERP functionality across financials, inventory management, sales and despatch to improve overall efficiency, automate workflows and optimize performance.
Accurate, real-time visibility of critical business data.

SOLUTION

All-in-one, easy-to-use system to automate inventory management, sales processes, costings and financial control.
Abel’s Mobile Sales App with selected functionality to support the sales team on the road.
Automated courier shipments using Starshipit, an Abel-integrated tool that streamlines the fulfilment process, from ordering the courier to tracking the goods to their destination.
Quick access to accurate, consolidated data for management and reporting across the business.

BUSINESS BENEFITS

Fast, accurate data integration with a quick implementation.
A single, flexible system with a comprehensive range of functionality and features.
Automated business processes for improved productivity and overall efficiency.
Automation of Landed Cost calculations to streamline costings and accurately set sales margins.
Integrated financials and reporting tools that provide the visibility and confidence to assess performance and make the right business decisions at any time.

CONTACT DETAILS
Abel Software
W: www.abelsoftware.com
New Zealand
T: +64 9 526 5210
Melbourne, Australia
T: +61 2 9888 3355
Sydney, Australia
T: +61 2 9888 3355

With a growing catalog of specialist products imported from around the world, wholesale distributor Reid & Twiname called on Abel to optimize their supply chain processes, from sales and inventory management to despatch and financial control…

No business thrives for over 100 years without knowing how to adapt.

Established in 1924 to supply parts and trimmings for horse-drawn coaches and a burgeoning automotive industry, Reid & Twiname is now a leading business-to-business supplier to New Zealand’s motor body hardware, transport and outdoor textile industries.

Over the years, as these industries grew, Reid & Twiname expanded to meet their needs. The New Zealand-owned company now supplies over 2500 locally sourced and overseas products – everything from eyelets, truck toolboxes and classic car accessories to automated awnings, marine carpets and the durable fabrics on the seats of Auckland City buses, trains and ferries.

“We see our business as a partnership with our customers,” says Managing Director Grant Stewart. “We need them as much as they need us, so we’re big on building long-term relationships and we do that by providing them with high-quality products and unbeatable service.”

“If a product fails or they’re struggling with something, customers know we’ll do what it takes to fix it, even if it’s not necessarily the fault of product. That’s who we are. We’re all in this together.”

“Customers also rely on Reid & Twiname’s industry experience and vast product knowledge”

Grant, for one, has worked for the company for 44 years, and jokes that “my CV has only one line – Reid & Twiname.” But having started as a lunch boy and moved up the ladder through warehouse, sales and customer service roles, he knew every area of the business inside and out before becoming Managing Director in 2012.

Two years later, after years of relying on slow and fragmented manual systems to manage supply chain operations, Grant and his team decided they needed an ERP system to integrate and streamline their business processes and optimize overall efficiency.

“Our old systems were a mixed bag of paper spreadsheets and manual tasks,” says Finance and Administration Manager Bernard Rooza. “But with Abel we saw an opportunity not only to get rid of this manual work and improve our processes, but to fully integrate them into one system. That was our motivation. It was a big plus to have all our modules working together without the need for add-on systems.”

A key driver for choosing Abel ERP, Bernard says, was improved inventory management. “Now, with a single integrated system, we always have a good handle on what’s in stock at any point, and our stock reports are aligned with financials. It makes a big difference.”

One of the first major benefits Abel delivered was to automate costings for Reid & Twiname’s wide-ranging inventory of products, which are imported from over 300 suppliers in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, China, Japan and other countries. Before Abel, one person spent most of a week every month manually calculating the cost of overseas freight, duties and other import fees for every product.

“With Abel, we now get accurate landed costs and true costs of every product with just the push of a button,” Grant says. “This is a massive improvement that has delivered huge savings, which alone enabled us to recover the project costs in less than a year.”

Thanks to Abel’s bin management functionality, Reid & Twiname have also significantly accelerated order picking at their 30,000-square-foot Auckland warehouse. Instead of relying on memory or guesswork to pick orders, the warehouse team now receive picklists from Abel with exact bin locations and the most efficient picking order. Grant says this feature delivers big savings in operational efficiency, especially their monthly restocking shipments to the company’s, 11,000 square foot, Christchurch warehouse.

“We ship two containers every month with about 500 items,” Grant says, “so you can imagine how much time we save now because of Abel. When we first informed our warehouse supervisor about this feature, he was overwhelmed!”

Grant says another selling point was Abel’s Mobile Sales App, which helps the sales team on the road instantly share and display information with customers – like product information, availability and pricing – and then submit orders directly into Abel.

“It’s a significant tool for us,” he says. “Abel keeps enhancing it by adding more information our Area Managers require, and they swear by it. They don’t have to waste time logging into their laptops and syncing with wi-fi. We look more professional and it enhances our ability to get the sale over the line, and to successfully complete the transaction.

As finance manager, Bernard says Abel’s core financial tools and automation make his job easier while improving the company’s bottom line.

“In our old system, our month-end close was an absolute mission,” he says. “It had too many manual processes and the only way to retain old reports was to print them out. With Abel, the close just happens every month and it’s a non-event. This is another massive benefit for us.”

Grant says another game changer has been Abel’s Credit Limit feature, which establishes maximum outstanding balances for each customer. “With Abel, our collection rate has improved significantly,” he says. “This is a big boost to our working capital and gives us a competitive edge.”

Twelve years later, Grant says Abel continues to add value to Reid & Twiname’s business. Future improvements include automating more inventory management processes, sales forecasting and enhancing the website so customers can see search information on inventory, availability and pricing.

“We trust Abel and see them as an important partner,” Grant says. “I especially like having someone who knows our business and can talk to us in a language we understand. They are passionate about what they do, and have been exceptional in resolving issues, quickly.”