MRP Case Study: Swift Precision Ltd
Swift Precision Ltd, based in Pinxton, Nottinghamshire offers subcontract manufacturing services for milling, turning, laser and hand metal cutting. From the outset Managing Director Nicolas Smith anticipated a sharp rise in business after the planned investment in a new laser cutting machine, and while quoting and production planning was initially done via Excel spreadsheets, he decided to investigate suitable MRP systems.
MRP selection
Swift Precision Ltd, based in Pinxton, Nottinghamshire offers subcontract manufacturing services for milling, turning, laser and hand metal cutting. From the outset Managing Director Nicolas Smith anticipated a sharp rise in business after the planned investment in a new laser cutting machine, and while quoting and production planning was initially done via Excel spreadsheets he decided to investigate suitable MRP systems.
As a company comprising of only four staff, the sales, quoting, planning and purchasing all fall on Nicolas’s shoulders. Said Nicolas; “I’d had experience of MRP systems in the past, and knew that this was what we needed. I was already quite sold on one system when I came across 123Insight online. With 123Insight I could see that I’d be up and running with a minimal cash outlay and add users to the system as I needed to. The other system was over £3,500 for the software alone, excluding training, consultancy and maintenance.”
I generally work a 12-hour day, and after implementation I was saving at least two days a week. This was due to the fact that quotes were much quicker to raise, they could be converted to sales orders very quickly, and planning and purchase orders were produced automatically. We aim to get quotes out to customers within two working days, and we are now comfortably ahead of this target. The lead-time from receiving an order to it being on the shopfloor has also significantly improved.
Improving accuracy and efficiency
Another aspect of the business which benefited was the accuracy of quotes. Previously Nicolas had used a spreadsheet which attributed a cost to the various stages for each job, however there was no way for him to allocate different hourly rates for different machining processes. With 123Insight every stage of every machining process could be costed separately, ensuring that quotes were produced quickly and accurately without a lengthy cost-checking exercise.
In summary
With more high-tech machinery planned for the future along with ISO quality accreditation, Swift also plan to increase their usage of 123Insight. Nicolas finalised by saying; “Even with our increased capacity we are already getting busier. We are not yet using full stock control, and I also want to get more out of the reporting aspects of the system. We’ll be taking on more staff to handle 123Insight and I’ll be able to train them in-house. Upgrading 123Insight for more users will only be a minor monthly increase rather than spending another few thousand on a second licence.”
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