SPONSORED BY EXEL COMPUTER SYSTEMS
A CLEAR LINE OF SIGHT
Plastics manufacturer PFF Packaging Group turned to Exel Computer Systems’
EFACS E/8 ERP system to provide real-time visibility of its operations
CONTRIBUTOR EXEL COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Exel Computer Systems plc this year celebrates the
landmark achievement of 35 years’ success in delivering
business software solutions for the manufacturing and
service sectors.
The UK-based author and developer of the EFACS
E/8 ‘Enterprise Resource Planning’ (ERP) system and the
Eagle Field Service ‘Field Service Management’ (FSM) system
continues to draw on its experience and expertise to meet the
demands of the market.
Over the past 35 years, EFACS E/8 has grown from a capacity
planning and production solution into a fully comprehensive
business solution, incorporating full ERP, fi nancials, CRM,
fi eld service, document management, business intelligence,
workfl ow, and mobile applications.
A family a air
One example of a company that has benefi tted from Exel’s
experience in the manufacturing sector is PFF Packaging,
based in Keighley, West Yorkshire.
Formed in 2006 as two companies – one company
manufacturing extruded PET plastic, and one using this as
a raw material for the production of thermoformed food
packaging products – family owned PFF Packaging Group
recognised that its existing systems were acting as a brake
on growth.
PFF Packaging Group has an extensive
customer base within the UK supermarket
sector, the lack of real-time information
provided by its existing systems was holding
back its e ectiveness in responding to
customers’ fast-evolving requirements.
“Consumers’ demand for particular
foodstu s is largely seasonably dependent,
requiring supermarkets and their suppliers to
respond very quickly,” says Stephen Tomlinson,
PFF’s head of group IT. “The previous systems,
supported by an extensive set of spreadsheets,
struggled to deliver the necessary real-time
visibility into the business.”
PFF’s core remit has always been to deliver,
in full, the client’s requirements. Therefore, the
challenges for PFF were customer delivery,
customer service, control of stock and a need
for real fl exibility in production planning.
A clear way forward
A review of the ERP marketplace quickly
resulted in a recognition that some of the
solutions on o er were too expensive,
while others would fail to supply adequate
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