Press Release
For Immediate Release
18th October 2010
Reverie keep overheads down with 123insight manufacturing software
Reverie Ltd, based near Colchester, Essex designs and manufactures carbon fibre composite products. Founded in 2000, the company previously relied on a series of Excel spreadsheets alongside Quickbooks accounts, however this presented them with several problems. Parts could not be labelled or tracked easily, they had limited visibility or forward planning of orders and, as data was fragmented, they had poor reporting capabilities. They were also running their website through a separate content management system, which was limited in functionality and required updating separately.
MD Simon Farren had originally seen 123insight at the CIM show in 2003, and although he recalled being impressed with the commercial offering at the time, the company was not yet ready to move forward to a more integrated solution. "We were a very small company at the time, but I was amazed at the prospect of being able to afford an MRP system."
The business continued to grow rapidly, and the following year Simon realised that in order to win larger contracts a better system had to be put in place; "In 2004 we were bidding for a superbike contract, which required us to demonstrate traceability. I followed up with 123 Insight Ltd, 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."
As the company's legacy data was already in Excel spreadsheets it took them just two weeks to migrate the data and go live. "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."
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%, with the number of errors seeing a similar drop. As visibility on stock and orders improved leadtimes dropped, with an average decrease of 20%.
Reverie quickly found that 123insight provided them with a framework of manufacturing procedures to follow on a daily basis. Simon cited the workflow generated by purchase and works orders as being particularly beneficial; "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."
Paperwork generated was reduced by 20%, but Simon believes this could drop further in the future; "We currently print works orders out but the real truth is that we could rely completely on the on-screen data, and we have plans to go paperless within a year." Another feature which came in a free version update was the ability to set reminders; "I like the fact that we can display a text message pop-up box 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 so easily forgotten."
Support has rarely been used, with less than seven calls per year logged. "123insight support has been fantastic. On a couple of occasions they've connected to us remotely to point us in the right direction. The system is so reliable and structured that it makes you disciplined, as you should be, to use it correctly."
In 2007 Reverie talked to authorised 123insight partner Solweb about Web Portal, their ecommerce solution. This ties in seamlessly with 123insight, allowing Reverie's customers to place orders at www.reverie.ltd.uk 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. Simon noted; "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 info etc from both systems. What was really attractive was that the same SQL structure is used. Also, in talking to 123 Insight Ltd we know that there will be further integration in the next version. This goes to further help cement my decision to select Access Dimensions with 123insight. I am very pleased with the data it gives me as it allows me to run my business in a more controlled manner day to day."
Having moved to new premises in January 2010 Reverie plan to double their turnover within three years and 123insight is key to delivering this. Simon concluded; "To do this we will strive to use 123insight better. It's already brought us so many benefits - it just makes the overall visibility and control of the shopfloor so much easier."
Key Benefits:
- Implemented the system in just two weeks.
- Ability to increase or decrease licences as required.
- Integrated MRP, accounts and online store.
- Leadtimes and paperwork reduced by 20%.
- Stockholding down 10%.
- Able to keep overheads down with low monthly subscription.