SPONSORED BY EXEL COMPUTER SYSTEMS FEBRUARY 2019 IT STRATEGY
SAFETY SOLUTION
The ability to employ a single solution for ERP and FSM is a
game-changer for a Kent manufacturer of security products
CONTRIBUTOR EXEL COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Dartford-based Safetell, a manufacturer and installer
of security solutions such as bullet-resistant doors
and partitions, and attack-resistant screens for use in
banks, recognised that the business systems on which
it depended were no longer adequate for its needs. It
required tight integration between the manufacturing system,
which orchestrated the production of its products, and the field
service system that managed the subsequent installation.
Safetell’s Pegasus Opera manufacturing system, in use
for almost 20 years, was based on Microsoft’s Visual FoxPro
database language. Tesseract, the company’s field service
management system, was SQL-based and more modern.
But the two systems were not properly integrated and
required complex and manually-intensive data feeds in
order to communicate.
“There was a lot of manual data entry,
with a significant potential for error,” recalls
Andy Norris, Safetell’s IT manager. “Coupled
to a significant increase in business activity, it
was becoming increasingly difficult to keep
the two systems synchronised.”
A move to the modern SQL version of
Opera would incur expenditure on migration
and still leave a gap in regard to the required
level of Field Service functionality. Whilst
integration between an SQL version of Opera and
Tesseract could be achieved, this would incur further
costs and may never be completely seamless.
Fairly clearly, the time had come to move to a more
modern, fully integrated ERP solution which includes featurerich
Field Service functionality - a move that would not only
provide the required connectivity, but also deliver important
benefits, such as improved reporting, greater system stability,
and an accelerated order-to-cash cycle.
But which ERP solution specifically? It was clear, says Andy,
that while there were several ERP systems on the market that
would meet Safetell’s manufacturing-specific requirements,
there were far fewer that met its field service needs.
“Over a period of six months, we conducted an exhaustive
review of what was on offer in the marketplace,” he explains.
There were a number of reasons why Exel Computer
Systems’ EFACS E/8 won out, sums up Andy. Some, he explains,
related to EFACS’ superior ‘fit’ and functionality. But others
related to Exel itself, and to the Exel people that the evaluation
team had encountered.
“We felt very comfortable that Exel would deliver for us,” he
relates. “They were a British company, about our sort of size,
and we’d be dealing directly with the developer
of the software, rather than with an intermediary
reseller. The users that we met were very
enthusiastic about the product, and we knew
that some of our own suppliers were Exel users
as well. In short, there were a lot of positive
factors, and no real negative ones.”
The implementation was completed in
2016, with a keen focus on areas such as,
mobile access, reporting and workflow. An
installation order raised in EFACS, for instance,
is now automatically pushed out to field service
engineers’ mobile devices.
“The impact on cash flow has been
significant,” says Paul Lovell, divisional
director of Safetell’s service division. “As
soon as an engineer has closed off
a job, it is available for invoicing -
which is a significant improvement
on the monthly cycle that we
were forced to operate previously.”
Nor is that all, adds Andy.
The new system has delivered
measurable improvements in areas
The impact on cash flow
has been significant.”
Paul Lovell, Safetell
such as better inventory management, better
utilisation of field service engineers and better
supplier management.
“Compared to our previous systems, we’re
comfortably handling a higher workload,
without requiring any more administrative
employees. Everything is connected and
integrated, people can call up a contract and
see its entire history, right from their desk. We’ve
never had that capability before, and
it’s made a huge difference.”
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