“We hold a wide range of stock for people who buy standard engineering parts,” says Simon Booth, WDS Finance Director.
“Our offering is next day delivery on over 14,000 parts from stock, and if we don’t have it - we will get it, and it will be delivered to the customer by the date we promise.”
The Challenges
Because WDS places such a high priority on service levels, the company knew it needed an MRP manufacturing system that would work to optimum re-order levels and integrate with every other part of its business.
The company was using Cimpac, an inflexible and outdated system, which made it difficult to access information.
“It was virtually impossible to get a clear picture of what was happening in the business,” says Simon.
“As a company, we knew what we were aiming to do, but the tools we had weren’t good enough.”
Following a successful management buyout in 2009, investing in a state-of-the-art IT system was seen as a key element in the new owner’s plans for the future of WDS.
The Journey
The objective was to find a system that could leverage MRP and graphical production planning to provide a step change in stock availability and delivery to-promise execution, at the same time without raising inventory levels. The selection was quickly narrowed down to Epicor, EFACS and Access.
“As a company, Access was a better fit because it’s a UK organisation predominantly supplying to UK businesses,” says Simon.
“We liked the people we met at every stage; we thought Access’ team were people like us, and they took time to understand our business. As for the software, there was a critical difference in MRP. We wanted to work to re-order level, which Access could support, but Epicor wanted to work to forecast.”
The Solution
The company chose Access ERP, a manufacturing and financial solution that integrates into third-party solutions such as GoldMine
CRM, Preactor and a UPS system.
“We were pleased with the integration functionality,” says Simon.
“It’s reassuring when a software company is upfront about what it can’t do. Instead of competing with Preactor or GoldMine, Access developed the functionality to link its software with the best of breed for graphic planning and CRM.”
The Implementation
Although WDS experienced some issues during the implementation, the company was impressed with the professional way Access managed the situation.
“Some of the relationships with our staff and individuals at Access are probably closer because we worked through each issue,” says Simon.
“It’s a real partnership, and it’s a testament to us that Access remained focused on resolving everything in a structured format.”
The Results
“WDS is now operating significantly more efficiently. It’s difficult to see how we could sustain this level of activity with our current headcount without the new system,” says Simon.
Improves performance & increases profits
Through a carefully orchestrated strategy, the management team have been able to bring the business back to strength, to previous profit levels with the help of the Access ERP.
“The system gives us a clear picture of where the business is going, and as we’re getting busier, we’re able to do more without increasing headcount,” says Simon.
“We’re now as profitable as we were before the recession even though our turnover is not as high because we have a lower cost base.”
Successfully meets customer demands
Having the right amount of stock on hand to meet customer demand is vital to WDS’ success. Access ERP’s sophisticated MRP tool allows the business to work to stock re-order levels, managing some 14,000 product lines.
“With MRP, we can use probability statistics to calculate the different combinations of demand,” says Simon.
“This is helping us meet our target of filling 97% of all orders while reducing stock levels by £200,000. For us, a measure of success or failure is whether there’s stock available to meet the next order.”
Stronger reporting reliable information
Previously, the company’s reporting was limited to the standard reports its previous system provided. That’s not an issue with Access ERP, which allows users to configure any report to their precise needs.
“Financial reports are much faster to produce, and the information is accurate,” says Simon.
“We’re now reporting on our sales and cross-margin position on day one after the month end. Before, we would have waited until day 10, and often it would be wrong.”
Stronger reporting is leading to improvements in overdue works orders. WDS cleverly set up a report to track its overdue works orders. The report captures how many orders are overdue, ages them like an aged debtor into weeks and presents the information in charts.
“The reports are fired off to the manufacturing team as an incentive for them to reduce their overdue orders,” he said.
“During the past six months, there has been a healthy 40 per cent reduction in overdue orders.”
Improves productivity and accountability
Access ERP has transformed the way WDS operates - and the results are impressive.
“Our finance controller now has more time to produce management information such as sales analysis or raw material input costs,” explains Simon.
“She’s been able to perform a detailed analysis on our customer credit notes, which has improved our credit control and reduced profit loss.”
The system has helped WDS tighten its sales process as its telesales team now receive a daily promise review report from Access TaskCentre.
“The information highlights delivery dates given to customers for out-of-stock items, where these are shorter than the system’s default lead-time,” says Simon.
“The report discourages our telesales team from providing unrealistic dates and keeps satisfaction levels high as the business is delivering on its promises.”
Furthermore, WDS’ exception reports ensure the warehouse now ships 99% of available orders the same day.
“The reports brought to light the fact goods were not being shipped promptly on Friday afternoons,” says Simon.
“Armed with this information, we were able to reorganise working hours and recapture a lost hour each week.”
Encourages professional development
Before the system went live, WDS was able to pinpoint business processes it could refine. For example, the company noticed bottlenecks were holding up reports, so it decided to widen the skill base of its staff.
“We’ve made big strides in having at least one person in each function able to develop either a basic or Crystal report,” he explains.
“If you have a narrow skillset, then an individual can easily become a bottleneck because they can’t keep up with what business needs.”
Once Access ERP was in place, WDS was able to introduce highly targeted incentives for teams that meet their targets.
“We’re starting to measure our works order due date performance to track how many are on time,” says Simon.
“Our manufacturing team now have a vested interest because they can earn an extra 6% each month. We wouldn’t be able to do this before Access SupplyChain.”
Reduces overtime costs
Access’ consultants worked with WDS to create a workflow so it can run a perpetual inventory rather than a Year-End stocktake. The tabular entry means inputting information is faster, plus it provides a full audit trail.
“With our previous system, we had to do a full stock count, which took a weekend to complete and cost us close to £3,000 of overtime,” he said.
“Now our guys select a group of parts to count every day, and our auditors are happy with the results.”
Workflow forms have also enabled WDS to identify empty bin locations and also allow the UPS system to immediately print the necessary dispatch labels without re-keying, eliminating errors.
"They’re really helpful to collect and collate information that’s not part of the core system.”
Improves sales and marketing reports
Prior to the Access system, creating a customer quote was a cumbersome process. The sales team had to start a live order to actually get the prices; they’d then have to cancel the order and email the quote to the customer. By integrating GoldMine CRM with Access ERP, the sales team is finding it easier to respond to customers.
“Shortly after we went live with the system, this was one of the biggest improvements we noticed,” says Simon.
“Staff are able to access the information straight from the system. We’re saving at least five minutes on every quote. As soon as we type the order, we can instantly print it to PDF and off it goes.”
GoldMine is a pot of gold for the marketing team, who use it to mail e-shots to customers.
“The openness of the data makes it easier for them to analyse the information and target our key audience,” he said.
Company-wide benefits
Other benefits WDS is pleased with:
- Engineering drawings are automatically embedded in works orders; with 30 orders being created a day it is saving up to 5 hours a day.
- Pro-forma invoices are delivered to customers within seconds; previously this took between 15 minutes to 2 days.
- Integration between Access SupplyChain and Preactor means no manual input is required and planners now immediately if materials are not available. The machine work lists help focus the manufacturing team’s time on business priorities.
Summary
“Access SupplyChain is making a massive contribution to our ability to execute our strategy; our growth back from recession and our profitability firmly demonstrates that,” says Simon.
“Access is fundamentally ingrained in the business, helping everyone to do what they do to an excellent standard.”