Cutting-edge ERP solution for timber and furniture manufacturer, S&C Group

Emley, UK - 21st May 2007 - S&C Group of Knottingley, West Yorkshire, is a highly successful business, enjoying significant growth.  An ERP solution from Access Supply Chain is helping the company improve the speed and efficiency of its processes as it sets to boost turnover by nearly 200 per cent inside two years.

When the company began in 1993, S&C's focus was on cut-to-size sheet timber, which it continues to supply to this day to large DIY outlets and the building trade. Now, the firm has three divisions and is a highly successful manufacturer of TV and audio stands for the UK and global marketplaces, making stands from medium-density fibre board (MDF), glass, steel and aluminium. S&C's success belies its size - with just 80 employees, it counts household names such as Toshiba and Philips among its customer base.  At nearly £26m, turnover is up from £14m in the previous year and is budgeted to exceed £40m next year.

With its existing IT system creaking under pressure and production schedules planned manually, the company decided it needed a new ERP system to underpin its drive towards lean manufacturing.

From the start, financial director Gareth Ackroyd could see the Access Supply Chain system had the functionality and capability to help drive the business forward.  "It has excellent links to our scheduling system, and is fully integrated from start to finish. That was critical for us in terms of the system selection, and it has proved to be the case," says Gareth. Also, the system can easily flex to accommodate the different requirements of the three divisions. "The sheet timber work, for example, is a simple process but was incredibly difficult to pin down in terms of software control - now, we have a great solution to manage this aspect of our business."

For Gareth's finance department, speed and efficiency now underpin every process. "We can run accounts far quicker than ever before. For the end of month accounts, we no longer need to carry out a manual stock-take - this alone probably saves us 30 or 40 man hours each month. And a purchase ledger clerk probably spent a couple of days each month matching delivery notes for goods received accruals - it was incredibly labour intensive before, now it's there at the press of a button."

With an eye to the future, the group is anticipating further growth. "The sheet timber revenue is increasing 20 per cent year on year, and we expect to grow the furniture and glass parts of the business even more," says Gareth. "We have all the functionality we need now and we're confident we have a solid system to support every aspect of our business," he concludes.

ASC.210507.LS.S&C