123insight MRP Platform Enhances Traceability
Reverie, a designer and manufacturer of carbon fibre composite products, has selected the 123insight manufacturing resource planning (MRP) software to improve visibility on stock and orders. The company previously relied on a series of Excel spreadsheets alongside Quickbooks accounts; however, this presented several problems. Parts could not be labelled or tracked easily, the company had limited visibility or forward planning of orders and, as data was fragmented, it had poor reporting capabilities.
Reverie was also running its website through a separate content management system, which was limited in functionality and required updating separately. Simon Farren, managing director at Reverie, had originally seen 123insight at the CIM event in 2003, but at the time the company was not ready to move forward to a more integrated solution. The following year, Farren realised that in order to win larger contracts, a better system had to be put in place.
He said: 'In 2004 we were bidding for a superbike contract, which required us to demonstrate traceability. 'I followed up with 123insight, attended an Evaluation Workshop and decided to take two licences. 'The prospective customer was happy with the procedures that we were planning to put in place, and this was a key reason for them selecting us. 'Using 123insight we were able to work under our customer's ISO9000 umbrella. 'I also feel that the Evaluation Workshop is essential to understanding what 123insight can give you.
'It's your first chance to use the product and ask questions. 'By walking through all of the screens we started to realise the power of the system,' Farren added. As the company's legacy data was already live in Excel spreadsheets it took just two weeks to migrate the data and go live. Farren said: 'We initially pulled the data into a test database to run some queries and check that the data had gone across correctly. 'We were very satisfied with how that went - it was much smoother than I thought it would be,' he added.
The company started with two licences - one in the office and one with shopfloor data capture. During the superbike project this was increased to five licences, with four utilising shopfloor data capture units. After going live, the company immediately noticed improvements across the board. Previously stock levels proved inaccurate, with staff having to check all items during a stock take. Now items are classified based on frequency of stock movements. Stock levels have been reduced by 10 per cent, with the number of errors seeing a similar drop.
As visibility on stock and orders improved lead times dropped, with an average decrease of 20 per cent. Reverie found that 123insight provided them with a framework of procedures to follow on a daily basis. Farren cited the workflow generated by purchase and works orders as being particularly beneficial. He said: 'With our previous accounts system we were not booking goods in. 'Now we have a system that enables us to check how well suppliers are performing, quantities are correct and tracking of partial deliveries or items that have to be returned.
'Works orders also provide us with similar benefits, detailing key operations, bills of materials, time to perform functions and even images of the part,' he added. Paperwork generated was reduced by 20 per cent, but Farren believes this could drop further in the future. 'We currently print works orders but the truth is we could rely completely on the on-screen data, and we have plans to go paperless within a year,' he said. Another feature that came in a free version update was the ability to set reminders.
Farren said: 'I like the fact that we can display a text message pop-up reminder when performing specific tasks such as creating a sales order. 'Little things such as using a specific carrier for a customer are so important to them but previously could be easily forgotten,' he added. Support has rarely been used, with less than seven calls per year logged. In 2007, Reverie talked to authorised 123insight partner Solweb about Web Portal, its e-commerce solution. This ties in seamlessly with 123insight, allowing Reverie's customers to place orders at its website and for them to be passed automatically between systems. Product information and images are automatically populated from 123insight's database.
In 2009, Reverie migrated to Access Dimensions accounts. Farren said: 'The key driver was to use an integrated accounts package where we could batch process invoices from within 123insight. 'Due to the integration between the two products we could view customer files and see immediately current and future orders, account information and so on from both systems. 'What was really attractive was that the same SQL structure is used. 'Also, in talking to 123 Insight, we know that there will be further integration in the next version,' he added.
Reverie was also running its website through a separate content management system, which was limited in functionality and required updating separately. Simon Farren, managing director at Reverie, had originally seen 123insight at the CIM event in 2003, but at the time the company was not ready to move forward to a more integrated solution. The following year, Farren realised that in order to win larger contracts, a better system had to be put in place.
He said: 'In 2004 we were bidding for a superbike contract, which required us to demonstrate traceability. 'I followed up with 123insight, attended an Evaluation Workshop and decided to take two licences. 'The prospective customer was happy with the procedures that we were planning to put in place, and this was a key reason for them selecting us. 'Using 123insight we were able to work under our customer's ISO9000 umbrella. 'I also feel that the Evaluation Workshop is essential to understanding what 123insight can give you.
'It's your first chance to use the product and ask questions. 'By walking through all of the screens we started to realise the power of the system,' Farren added. As the company's legacy data was already live in Excel spreadsheets it took just two weeks to migrate the data and go live. Farren said: 'We initially pulled the data into a test database to run some queries and check that the data had gone across correctly. 'We were very satisfied with how that went - it was much smoother than I thought it would be,' he added.
The company started with two licences - one in the office and one with shopfloor data capture. During the superbike project this was increased to five licences, with four utilising shopfloor data capture units. After going live, the company immediately noticed improvements across the board. Previously stock levels proved inaccurate, with staff having to check all items during a stock take. Now items are classified based on frequency of stock movements. Stock levels have been reduced by 10 per cent, with the number of errors seeing a similar drop.
As visibility on stock and orders improved lead times dropped, with an average decrease of 20 per cent. Reverie found that 123insight provided them with a framework of procedures to follow on a daily basis. Farren cited the workflow generated by purchase and works orders as being particularly beneficial. He said: 'With our previous accounts system we were not booking goods in. 'Now we have a system that enables us to check how well suppliers are performing, quantities are correct and tracking of partial deliveries or items that have to be returned.
'Works orders also provide us with similar benefits, detailing key operations, bills of materials, time to perform functions and even images of the part,' he added. Paperwork generated was reduced by 20 per cent, but Farren believes this could drop further in the future. 'We currently print works orders but the truth is we could rely completely on the on-screen data, and we have plans to go paperless within a year,' he said. Another feature that came in a free version update was the ability to set reminders.
Farren said: 'I like the fact that we can display a text message pop-up reminder when performing specific tasks such as creating a sales order. 'Little things such as using a specific carrier for a customer are so important to them but previously could be easily forgotten,' he added. Support has rarely been used, with less than seven calls per year logged. In 2007, Reverie talked to authorised 123insight partner Solweb about Web Portal, its e-commerce solution. This ties in seamlessly with 123insight, allowing Reverie's customers to place orders at its website and for them to be passed automatically between systems. Product information and images are automatically populated from 123insight's database.
In 2009, Reverie migrated to Access Dimensions accounts. Farren said: 'The key driver was to use an integrated accounts package where we could batch process invoices from within 123insight. 'Due to the integration between the two products we could view customer files and see immediately current and future orders, account information and so on from both systems. 'What was really attractive was that the same SQL structure is used. 'Also, in talking to 123 Insight, we know that there will be further integration in the next version,' he added.
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