Timloc
Timloc is a leading UK manufacturer and distributor of
building products, mostly for ventilation and damp proofing. Formed
in 1968, Timloc products are manufactured and stored at its site in
Goole, East Yorkshire. UK-wide builder's merchant, Jewson, is a key
customer.
The challenge
Timloc doubled the scale of its business in four years due, in
the main, to a number of major successes with large chains of
builders' merchants. It was clear the business needed to reassess
its operations - some processes had developed to cope with the
surge in business, but these systems weren't sustainable to take
the business forward. And topping the list for action was the
software system.
Davin Coleman, Finance Director, comments, "Our old system had
been in place since the late eighties. It was a DOS-based solution
and very unstable. It used to crash fairly frequently and there was
no chance of extracting any useful data from it."
Part of his remit as the new FD, therefore, was to find an
alternative solution and manage the implementation. "But it wasn't
just a case of replacing our system with a more robust version - we
were looking for a strong manufacturing system, and were refining
our manufacturing processes to embrace best practice. We wanted a
new software
solution to reflect this.
It had to have strong Manufacturing Resource Planning
(MRP) credentials," says Davin. Without MRP functionality in the
existing software, Timloc's operations manager relied on holding
most of the crucial information in his head. "Clearly, this left us
exposed to significant business risk and we wanted to remove that
risk by introducing a system that could take the intellectual
property and store it effectively."
The solution
There was one solution in particular that Davin wanted to
investigate. "Access was a product I'd come across previously, in
another organisation. I had it in my mind that this could be just
the type of system we were after," says Davin.
"The reporting capability is great, it's so flexible.
As time goes on, we find we want more and more information - but
now this is easily available." Davin
Coleman
Finance Director
Access was evaluated, along with three other products. "We could
see immediately that Access was very much a manufacturing-derived
product, which was exactly what we were looking for. It was also
vital the chosen system was easy to use. The overriding objective,
though, was MRP - that was essential. We weren't interested in
running accounts and sales order processing as separate entities;
the new system had to be all-encompassing and had to link
seamlessly throughout every process. Access was the perfect
answer."
While system capability was key to its selection, the cost of
Access was also fundamental to the decision. "It's competitively
priced for what is effectively the same functionality as others
offer. Some systems were two or three times as expensive for the
same functionality. Access really is way ahead of the others when
it comes to overall implementation and cost of
ownership," he recalls. "They don't send a huge team in for months
on end; that's part of the reason we liked them."
Teamwork
All the Timloc employees were taken with the friendly and
approachable nature of the Access consultants. "They don't send a
huge team in for months on end; that's part of the reason we liked
them," says Davin. "We're a very close-knit company and some of the
consultants from other software suppliers seemed to cast a very
critical eye over our operation. It would doubtless have been a
much more rigid and formal approach, which wouldn't have suited us.
Access were incredibly open throughout the process and it didn't
phase them at all that some of our people weren't computer literate
at the start. The way they do business really appealed to us."
A smooth implementation
When the project started, the pressure was on to move to the new
system as soon as possible. "The old software system was creaking
so much, it was becoming a really pressing business issue," says
Davin.
Davin was Timloc's project champion; with his efforts and those
of the Access team, the pre-implementation work went "very
smoothly". Key users were taken to the Access office for training;
subsequently the Access consultant worked on site at Timloc to
continue the training and help overcome any issues. Davin carried
out some of the system piloting himself and found this highly
beneficial. "Rather than doing it all for you, the Access team help
you to carry out some of this work yourself. That was a huge
benefit for me. As a consequence, I got to know the system very
well before we went live. I know how it was set up, how the data
sits in the system, and how to install it on a new machine, for
example."
The switch across to the live system took place a few months
later. We were problem-free within weeks, which is pretty amazing,"
says Davin.
Reaping the benefits
Just a few months later, the benefits started to roll in. Sales order
processing is more efficient. "We saw improvements in that
immediately," says Davin. Also, the much-anticipated MRP benefits
are making a real difference. "We now have MRP running, our
operations manager is using it and it's giving us solid data to
work from. It's made the process so much faster for him - now, he
can raise his purchase orders and works orders based on real data,
rather than trying to calculate requirements in his head. It's
given us an extra control that wasn't there before." Another
objective was to improve availability of reporting. That, too, has
been achieved. "The reporting capability is
great, it's so flexible. As time goes on, we find we want more and
more information - but now this is easily available."
Timloc's customer service record is exceptional and, says Davin,
"With Access, we've effectively eliminated the risk of not being
able to meet our customers' orders on time. Our next-day service is
vital to this business so stock accuracy is critical. With all the
data we need at our fingertips, we no longer have to rely on a
storeman spotting an empty shelf. The system has sharpened our user
processes and we are much more efficient - this means staff can
spend more time on value added activities in the factory rather
than running around checking stock levels."
For the future, Timloc has to sustain its service capability in
order to fend off competitors. Like many manufacturers, its margins
are being squeezed and it has competition from lower cost
economies. It is the unerring drive for service excellence that
sets Timloc apart, and now, with Access, the company is confident
that it has the edge on technology too.
The second part of our director's guide is designed to help you improve the usefulness of your chosen ERP solution. Taking a comprehensive look at the functionality that's on offer, it breaks down key operational areas into clear, easy-to-read sections so that you can make an informed assessment of the specific features that will benefit you.
Find out more »
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