Access and Renthal receive top honours at Manufacturer of the Year Awards

Renthal wins 'IT in Manufacturing' category at prestigious awards

Winner of the 'IT in Manufacturing' category: Renthal's Tom Wade and Laura Birchall are pictured with Craig Such of Access

Huddersfield, UK - 18 November 2009 - Access, the recently rebranded mid-market consultancy, software and solutions provider, has received recognition once again this year in the Manufacturer of the Year Awards. Cheshire-based customer Renthal has won the 'IT in Manufacturing' category for the outstanding success of its Access Supply Chain solution, which has dramatically reduced lead times to customers.

This award goes to the manufacturing company or plant that, in the opinion of the judges, best demonstrates significant progress in designing, implementing and successfully operating an information technology infrastructure across all its business processes - and most importantly can show definite returns on the investment by doing so.

Access customers have been shortlisted in these awards for three years running and were also crowned winners in 2007. The Manufacturer of the Year Awards was held at the Tower Hotel in London on Thursday 12th November; Renthal was one of seven candidates to be shortlisted in the 'IT in Manufacturing' category.

World-renowned for its manufacture of motorcycle products, Renthal needed an ERP solution to integrate every area of its business and to underpin its growth plans for entering new markets and expanding its operations in the USA. Renthal sells its products in 42 countries which includes supply to major OEMs such as Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki in Japan.  Recognised as the number one worldwide brand, it has also seen 142 World Titles and 111 US Titles won using its products. Renthal is now looking to repeat its success in the mountain bike market, which saw huge interest from world class athletes following its launch at The CORE cycle show earlier this year.  Technology is forming a key component in helping to obtain this business objective.

Renthal's managing director, Tom Wade, who collected the award, commented, "I'm absolutely delighted to receive this award. Our Access Supply Chain system has delivered considerable return on investment, which includes saving 250 production man-days due to new stocktaking procedures. This means the shop floor is no longer out of action for five days a year. That really has had a positive impact on the bottom line."

"There have been many other improvements too. Order processing now only takes a couple of minutes compared to a few hours when they had to be manually input; automated bar-coding from the sales order being received to printing out the bar code has saved the equivalent of one person's time; customers can be updated immediately on the progress of their order because all the information is readily available in the Access system; and generally peaks and troughs experienced across the business have been smoothed out, including spikes in warehouse activity towards Month End. This has resulted in a much steadier workflow, requiring less resource to service."

The Access Supply Chain system has also been integrated with Renthal's new US website so that online orders can be processed without the need for any manual interventions or additional headcount.

Craig Such, director for Access, commented, "We're very pleased to see Renthal win this award with Access Supply Chain. Tom has an exceptional understanding of how technology can help achieve business success and this award is testament to that commitment."

For more information on Access, its consultancy and software solutions contact Gareth Evans on 01582 465 100 or visit www.theaccessgroup.com. Alternatively, keep up-to-date by following Access on twitter, www.twitter.com/theaccessgroup      

About Access

• Access is a consulting, software and solutions provider, serving the mid-market.
• The consulting services are backed by 65 accredited consultants, providing business software expertise. They operate nationally out of nine offices in the UK and Ireland.
• The software portfolio provides solutions to meet the needs of the whole organisation, helping to reduce complexity and increase efficiencies at every level. In addition to accounting and finance, Access also offers manufacturing and distribution, professional services automation, accounting for carbon emissions, reporting, payroll, document management, service and contract management and CRM and sales automation solutions.

• Accreditations and memberships:
  • Microsoft Gold Certified Partner
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
  • Business Application Software Developers Association (BASDA)
  • HM Revenue & Customs: Payroll Standards Scheme

• Awards 2008 and 2009:
  • Accountancy Age Award 2008 for the best 'Mid-tier Software Package'
  • SIFT Media Software Satisfaction Award 2008, for the second year running, in the category of best 'Mid-Range Software'
  • SIFT Media Software Satisfaction Awards 2009, Green Software Provider of the Year Award
  • Shortlisted for 2009 Accountancy Age Awards for Mid-tier Software Package and Construction Computing Awards for Construction Accounting Software of the Year and Environmental Product of the Year

Access.181109.HC.ITManuAwardWin