Clydesdale Jones
For more than 50 years, Clydesdale Jones has specialised
in the design, development and manufacture of park brake levers and
mechanisms. These products are manufactured to order for an
illustrious client base of materials handling, agriculture and
construction equipment manufacturers including such names as JCB,
Yale and Caterpillar.
The challenge
Clydesdale Jones has seen considerable growth of market share in
recent years, which Dave Keats, IT supervisor, puts down to the
company's ability to easily meet specific customer demands. "We
have design engineers here using advanced 3D modelling, so we can
accommodate pretty much any customer requirement. That's what sets
us apart: we have the engineering expertise that allows us to be
more flexible than our competitors."
Continued growth meant that Clydesdale Jones was straining at
the seams. "We'd outgrown our Walsall premises; a problem we solved
by moving to a larger, more modern manufacturing facility a few
miles away in Willenhall," says Dave. "But we'd also outgrown our
existing software system. We had to find a replacement that had
sufficient capacity to grow with us."
With the help of IT advisory body CUIS (the Computer Users
Information Service), the company developed a tender document which
it then issued to a host of IT suppliers. "We were inundated with
replies and we took several months to review the systems."
Dave and his finance director carried out the first-level
evaluation which resulted in a shortlist of six systems. "We then
brought together a cross-functional team to look at those six,
review them, and cut them down to a choice of three for a final
detailed review." Throughout the process, Dave recalls that Access Supply Chain stood
apart from the rest. "Even at the early stage, we could see that
this was a product that offered everything we needed, with great manufacturing
functionality and solid financials.
"We have much better visibility of production orders
and progress, and the smoother workflow has been a huge benefit to
us." Dave Keats
IT Supervisor
We could also see that this was a company that had a clear
commitment to continued development, which was very important to
us. We didn't want to make a choice, only to find that we'd
outgrown the system again in a couple of years."
The solution
The comprehensive evaluation process continued, before Access Supply Chain won
out as the system of choice. "We did take a long time to decide,
but it was important we made the right decision. And we are as
confident today as we were then that we chose the best solution,"
says Dave.
The 15-user system took just three months to be implemented and
went live following the Whit week shutdown. "We had an effective
'stop point' for manufacturing, so it made it easier to transfer
static data to the new system," says Dave. "We did consider whether
we should run both systems in parallel for a while, but we decided
against that - both were so different and, although we knew it
would be quite a significant change for users, we didn't want to
risk them reverting to the old software and not using the new
system. To gain maximum benefit, we had to get everyone using this
from the start."
The Access Supply Chain
solution is used to manage the entire business, both financials and
manufacturing - the same scope as the previous system, but the
similarities end there. "Previously, we couldn't run certain
processes at the same time or the entire system would lock out,"
recalls Dave. "We used terminals which were linked to the server,
so the whole corporate resource was on that one machine. That meant
we had to limit work to particular days so, for example, sales
orders were entered on Tuesdays, we ran MRP on Wednesdays, purchase
orders Thursdays, and so on. It was incredibly restrictive, but
that's the only way we could manage it without the system crashing.
It was a real struggle and held us back as a business."
A true enabler
Now, the situation has turned full circle. Rather than the
business being restricted by the software, the new ERP system is a
true enabler. In the year or so since the software was implemented, Clydesdale Jones
has restructured many processes: "This is so much easier to use and
less labour-intensive, so we've been able to use people in more
relevant areas to benefit the business and
have changed some roles and responsibilities. It's been so much
more than a software upgrade - it gave us the opportunity to
re-evaluate everything we do and the way we do it. And as people
have learned new processes, they have often been able to suggest
further improvements, so we are continually reviewing and improving
how we work."
A great example of this can be found on the shop floor, where
workloads are now managed efficiently and changes can be
accommodated easily. Production
scheduling has been transformed and the operation now enjoys
smoother workloads without the severe peaks and troughs of old. "We
are a make-to-order manufacturer and before we implemented Access
Supply Chain, our forecasting was often erratic, to say the least,"
says Dave. "Now, the change is immense. The system allows us to
manage works orders much more easily and forecast accurately. Our
production planner used to spend his time chasing around to ensure
jobs went out of the door on time - now, he's sitting down and
planning what is a very smooth flow of work." There is less fire
fighting and, crucially, less need for unexpected overtime working.
"We have much better visibility of production orders and progress,
and the smoother workflow has been a huge benefit to us." Data is
now collected and entered on the system at points throughout the
shop floor - previously, this information was input manually by an
administrator.
Greater efficiency
But this improved visibility and access to data has brought
benefits beyond the shop floor. Purchase
ordering is prompt, efficient and accurate: "In the past, we
sometimes had problems getting raw materials ordered in time
because of the inflexibility of the old system," says Dave. "Now,
we are forecasting accurately, we have materials ordered on time
and we hit the start date for manufacturing." All of which has had
a great impact on customer service levels: on-time in-full (OTIF)
deliveries leapt from 70 to 87 per cent in the first few months
alone.
For Clydesdale Jones, the implementation of the Access Supply
Chain ERP system has given unprecedented visibility and has been
the catalyst for a widespread evaluation and improvement of
business processes. And sharper processes and smoother workflows
have equally widespread benefits. "We can be so much more
responsive to customers than ever before," says Dave. "We can react
immediately because we have a clear picture of our position across
the operation." This is a business that manufactures brakes but it
looks certain to enjoy accelerated growth - and is confident that
Access will be supporting it all the way.
Benefits
- Better planning and decision making - greater visibility of
orders and workloads provides accurate information on which to base
future plans and forecasts.
- Greater flexibility - changes to schedules and workloads can
now be easily accommodated, providing greater responsiveness to
customer needs.
- Time savings - streamlined business processes have improved
efficiency across the organisation and increased overall
productivity.
- Improved customer service levels - on-time in-full deliveries
leapt from 70 per cent to 87 per cent in just the first few months
of implementation.
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