We are Evans Depport Solutions, a software company in Blackpool, Lancashire. We specialise in process mapping, business analysis, automation and API integration, and we build the system that replaces the spreadsheets when that is the right answer.
Spreadsheets are not the problem. Running the business on them is.
A spreadsheet is a brilliant tool for sums, models and a one-off look at the numbers. Keep using it for that. The trouble starts when it becomes the system: several people editing it, the business depending on it being right, and nothing stopping a wrong number going in. These are the signs we see most often:
- Two or three versions of the same sheet, and nobody is sure which one is current
- The same information typed into more than one place: the sheet, the accounts, the courier site, an email
- One person who understands how it all works, and things stop when they are off
- A weekly or monthly report that takes hours of copying and pasting to build
- Mistakes found by a customer, a supplier or the accountant, not by the business
- No record of who changed what, or when
- Decisions made on figures nobody fully trusts
What we do
- Process mapping: how the work really flows today, step by step, in plain words, so everyone can see it on one page
- Business analysis: where the time, the re-keying and the errors are, and what fixing each one is worth
- Automation: data moving between systems, reports that build and send themselves, alerts when something needs a person
- API integration: connecting the software you already pay for so it talks to each other, instead of staff copying between screens
- Replacing spreadsheets with a proper system: a database with backups, access control and an audit trail, and screens for each person's job
- Live dashboards, so the numbers are there when you need them, not when someone has had time to build them
How a project runs
First we listen. Tell us where the bottlenecks are, under NDA if you prefer. Then we map the process as it is today, with the people who do the work, not just the people who manage it. That map is often the most useful thing in the whole project: it shows the steps that are done twice, the hand-offs that get dropped and the jobs only one person knows.
From the map we agree what to fix first, usually the step that costs the most hours or causes the most mistakes, and quote it as a fixed price. We build in stages and run the new way alongside the old one until the numbers match, then switch over. Your existing data comes with you; nothing is lost in the move.
Where we have done it
For YAGI Logistics, a packing and fulfilment company in Blackpool, we mapped the whole warehouse first, from goods arriving to goods going out, in plain words, page by page. Each page of the map became a screen in the warehouse management system we built for them. The system reads the supplier's delivery paperwork so the lines do not have to be typed in, sends put-away jobs to handheld scanners, and works out each client's storage charges from what actually happened.
We run our own business the same way. Every night our pipelines update a database of 5.7 million UK companies: finding websites, checking contact details and verifying email addresses. Our email campaigns send on a schedule, replies are sorted automatically, and a monitor pauses a campaign by itself if bounce rates rise. Nobody copies anything into a spreadsheet.
What it costs
Process mapping and analysis can be a short piece of work on its own, and you keep the maps whatever you decide next. Automation and integration work is quoted as a fixed price after a scoping call, with no hourly surprises. Every piece of work is about either saving you time and money or making you money; if it will not pay for itself, we will tell you.
The technical detail
Mapping and analysis
- Process maps drawn in Microsoft Visio: one page per process, plain words, the people who do the job named on it
- Current-state map first, then the agreed future state, so the change is clear before any build
- Time and error logging on the steps that hurt, so each fix has a number against it
Automation
- Python and Node.js for the automation itself, PowerShell for Windows and Microsoft 365 jobs
- Scheduled jobs in the cloud on Azure Functions or on a machine on site
- Email automation over SMTP and IMAP: reports sent out, incoming messages read and sorted
- Browser automation with Playwright for systems that have no API
- Alerts by email when something fails or needs a person, and a log of every run
APIs and integration
- REST APIs and webhooks, with data passed as JSON, CSV or Excel
- Microsoft 365 and Entra ID sign-in, Azure, PostgreSQL, Companies House data, email platforms and verification services already connected in our own systems
- Online shops, marketplaces, couriers and accounts packages connected through their published APIs
- Spreadsheet data moved into a PostgreSQL database with validation, required fields and unique IDs
Questions people ask
Do we have to stop using spreadsheets altogether?
No. Spreadsheets are great for analysis and one-off calculations. We move the day-to-day running of the business into a proper system, and you can still export to a spreadsheet whenever you want.
What is a process map?
A plain-words picture of how a job gets done, step by step: who does what, with which information, and where it goes next. It shows where work is repeated, delayed or lost, and becomes the plan for what to automate or build.
We are not sure what we need. Can you still help?
Yes. That is what the business analysis is for. Tell us how the business runs and where it hurts, and we will map it and come back with what we would fix first and what it would cost.
Can you connect the software we already use?
Usually, yes. If a system has an API we connect to it directly; if it can only export files, we automate the export and import so nobody does it by hand.
How long does an automation project take?
A focused automation or integration usually takes two to four weeks. Replacing a set of spreadsheets with a full system takes longer, and we build it in stages so you are using parts of it within weeks.
Is our data safe?
Every system we build has backups, access control and an audit trail, and is designed with UK GDPR in mind. Your data stays yours.