A SMALL but growing Worcestershire business has been helping the "big boys" streamline their business.

DataScan Systems Ltd, based in Stoke Prior, near Bromsgrove, offers a complete range of data collection technology products and is sole UK distributor for Escort Memory Systems (EMS), from California, USA.

Recently, the company was approached by Clark's Shoes, which holds up to three million pairs of shoes in its UK distribution centre, in Street, Somerset.

"They daily handle around 80,000 pairs of shoes, both in and out of their UK warehouse, with stock arriving from manufacturing plants all over the world," said Paul Mason, DataScan's managing director.

"The successful tracking of around 10,000 packs per day at despatch was becoming an issue due to the age of the existing hardware. They sought advice on how best to improve their situation by the provision of a system that was 100 per cent reliable."

Peter Manley, Clarks IT project manager, said the new system had "transformed" their dispatch area.

DataScan's other clients include Jaguar, Toyota UK, Kellogg's and Dell Computers.