Michael Round Associates

What is our experience?

The first rule of being a business consultancy like Michael Round Associates is to know enough to be worth consulting! Here are just a few examples of our ‘real world’ business expertise and capabilities:

Distribution Logistics

We project managed the concept, design, construction and start-up of the most advanced grocery distribution center in Europe. The highlight of the project included:

• At the time it was the longest single span portal frame building in Europe.
• It was the first implementation of wire-guided fork lift trucks in Europe.
• All the related software was custom written and comprised several hundred thousand lines of source code. Michael Round was in total charge of the specification, testing and smooth implementation and integration of all these systems.

Phone Systems

One of the many smaller projects that we have successfully undertaken is the phone system for a small medical practice.

• The client needed the capability and features of a comprehensive PBX phone system, but found the costs to be very prohibitive.
• Michael Round showed the client how to gain all these benefits and more with capital investment of less than $100 and a monthly cost of less than $40.

Marketing

Over the years we have handled a huge variety of marketing assignments involving a wide range of specialties.

• One of the more interesting recent assignments has been the management of search engine pay-per-click ad campaigns. Initially it is easy to gain the impression that these campaigns are very simple to manage. The reverse is actually the truth and not to realize this can result in significant and wasteful use of the relevant budget. Michael Round has the experience and systems resources to maximize the value of your ad dollars.
• Michael Round has significant experience in the e-commerce arena. One of our clients was a local online retailer who enjoyed an average 3.7m page hits and 125,000 user visits per month resulting in millions of dollars in revenue. We were assigned the total responsibility for the design and development of this website. At its peak the site comprised 65,000 SKUs and more than 39,000 product images.
• Another Michael Round online project is the design and development of a sumptuous website for a prominent plastic surgeon. In this instance the emphasis was upon promoting the surgeon’s image and making his website a preferred informational resource.

Enterprise Computer Systems

In the Eastern US Michael Round was assigned total responsibility for the design, programming and implementation of an all-encompassing control system for a multi-branch hard goods retailer. This time the highlights included:

• Point of sale, purchase order processing, warehouse control, credit card processing, customer relationship management and much more.
• The source code for this project eventually comprised more than 600,000 lines.
• It enabled the customer to achieve a remarkable annual stock-turn ratio of more than seven times per year while at the same time retaining a service percentage of more than 70% – and remember that this is for a hard goods retailer!

Network Integration

A Michael Round Associates client recently asked us to evaluate a proposal for a computer network for their accounting practice.

• The proposal included a full-blown networked system costing some $15,000 plus monthly support fees of $900.
• We considered this to be far in excess of the client’s current needs and showed them how to get substantially the same facilities for less than $2,000 and with no recurring support fees.

Business Roll-Out

Michael Round was recently given the assignment of helping the largest independent joke and novelty manufacturer in the world manage their entry into the US market.

• Conducted market research and competitive analysis.
• Identified and negotiated leases for office premises.
• Advised on system integration issues.
• Recruited administrative staff and assisted in the recruitment and management of the field sales force.
• Researched and developed a comprehensive marketing strategy and plan.
• Assisted in trade show arrangements and presentations.