Click on the advert above to visit the company web site

Product category: Enterprise Resource Planning software (ERP)
News Release from: Microsoft Dynamics | Subject: Naision
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial Team on 18 February 2004

Wedding ring manufacturer selects
Navision

Microsoft Business Solutions and wedding ring manufacturer form perfect marriage

Brown and Newirth is a quality wedding ring manufacturer based in Hatfield, Hertfordshire With a current turnover of 11.7 million pounds, its orders come from as far afield as Europe and the US

Back in 1998 the company won a coveted jewellery manufacturer of the year award, and it looked as if things would continue to go from strength to strength.

However a series of computer problems resulted in some setbacks including longer lead times.

As a consequence Brown and Newirth lost many of its most valued customers.

The company then decided to develop a suite of custom-made applications in house.

It also planned to leverage further benefits though investing in a new, highly flexible software system that offered end-to-end visibility throughout the company's business processes.

With this in mind, Brown and Newirth entered into discussions with XONITEK, partner for Microsoft Business Solutions.

Back in 1998 the company had recently moved into new premises in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, having previously been based in Potter's Bar.

"We were looking to expand, and as part of this strategy we not only wanted larger premises, but also a more forward-looking business software system as well," explained Scott Thompson, Brown and Newirth IT Director.

The company began looking for a flexible computer system that could build on the single PC it had been using.

"Until 1998 we were working in a fairly archaic fashion computer wise," said Thompson.

"Orders would come in via the telephone and were then written down on paper.

Then the order with the specifications would go all the way through the various stages on the factory floor on scraps of paper as well as the currently used job packets until the finished product was completed.

All relevant information was then re-keyed into a single PC, which was used as an invoicing station.

So we had no truly effective visibility of each product going through the factory." The company realised something had to be done.

One of its directors at the time was given the go-ahead to source and see through the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning system.

After a couple of false starts with vendors and their systems, the company implemented an ERP solution that, it believed, would be ideal for its specific business process requirements.

However things did not go as planned.

"The system seemed to offer little other than bottlenecks, and we couldn't see how we could expand the business with the system," said Thompson.

"Our staff became very disenchanted with it, to the extent that some people actually left the company citing the computer package as the primary reason.

Also our customers were feeling the effects through increasingly lengthy delivery times and, in some cases, the reduction in product quality.

The problem was our business became focused on the new computer system whereas good IT should ideally be as 'invisible' as possible.

Its whole purpose should be to serve the company in its business processes on a daily basis without becoming an extra headache." In 1999 Thompson decided to ensure the ERP system could run as best it could for a further two years while he looked for a replacement system.

"I began writing a suite of applications in house, such as factory monitors and tracking systems, to give us better end-to-end visibility, from order taking, to production, through to invoicing and despatch," he added.

"After this functionality had been written there was very little left for the ERP system to do.

So it was then used solely to create and track sales and works orders.

But all the actual monitoring and day-today work control was done on our own system and other external packages." Thompson then thought about the possibility of replicating the in-house written functionality within a new business process software package, so that all functions, from back to front end, could be totally integrated and visible throughout the company as required.

"Through a chance telephone conversation I came to know something about Microsoft Business Solutions partner XONITEK," said Thompson.

"I then asked XONITEK a series of questions and received well informed and honest answers.

It then came to a pivotal point where I was ready to choose a supplier for our next generation manufacturing solution to replace our old system.

I was also keen to prove that a browser based ordering system was possible." XONITEK was then asked to write a browser based product configurator, based on a design Thompson had already written.

Brown and Newirth required a configurator that could process the details of each individual order and be able to supply an accurate price (based on complexity and materials) to the customer within seconds.

XONITEK came up with an effective solution on time and within budget.

"This led me to believe XONITEK had a very good understanding of our business," explained Thompson.

"We then started looking at Microsoft Business Solutions' Navision business software system, as recommended by XONITEK.

Our initial perception was that it was primarily a stock based system rather than jobbing based.

However XONITEK ensured us it was highly adaptable and that its functionality could be perfectly tailored to our specific business process needs.

Over the following 18 months we finalised a design specification for the system." Brown and Newirth aimed to switch off its previous ERP system by the end of 2003 and to switch on Microsoft Navision.

Thompson negotiated a rolling contract with the vendor of the previous system on a month-by-month basis, in case any problems with Microsoft Navision occured.

"In the event however we didn't need it," said Thompson.

"We started our training on Microsoft Navision in September 2002, about six months before going live.

A super user group was set up, comprising department heads and key managers from each section.

The managers then trained the members of their respective departments on the system.

Our staff immediately felt comfortable with it because of its user-friendly Windows-based Microsoft feel and its copy and paste functions, all in Microsoft Word and Excel.

There was an immediate sense of familiarity." The system went live in March 2003 on time, within budget.

"We've found Microsoft Navision to be a real enabler for our business," said Thompson.

"In fact this year we once again won the jewellery manufacturer of the year award, and are back to our former glory days, but with the added benefit of having a cutting-edge software package behind us.

"We have also increased out turnover from around ?5.8 million in 1998 to ?11.7 million in 2003." Thompson explained the core benefits of the customised Microsoft Navision solution in terms of overall visibility: "End-to-end visibility is such a key part of our business.

We work with very precious metals and precious stones.

And wastage, loss and scrap are very expensive to us.

We can't afford to throw precious metals and diamonds away if we can avoid it, and don't want to scrap diamond rings at the last stage of production.

However the tracking facility within Microsoft Navision gives us perfect visibility of exactly where a particular product is within the production process.

If a customer requests a late change to a product we can now trace this product quickly.

With our previous system this wasn't such an easy process.

In some instances it used to result in us having to make an entirely new product to the customer's new specifications.

The original product would be scrapped while the new one would be dispatched.

This was of course very costly.

With Microsoft Navision we now have the tools to ensure all our factory managers have visibility of each product." There are many other tangible benefits, according to Thompson.

"Often you have intangible benefits through using a computer system, which are only reflected in some vague way on the bottom line.

But just considering the fact that we are not scrapping nearly as many precious materials during the production process means we can look forward to a fast ROI on Microsoft Navision.

We anticipate this to be only 12 months.

Also, because Microsoft Navision is a Windows based system this allows us to lower our total cost of ownership on our desktops.

There is no need for many PCs.

We simply need thin client machines.

And as Microsoft Navision is a fully terminal-services approved product, this means we have significantly lower operating costs per IT department.

We also have centralised remote administration and support.

The whole framework of the system has helped us a great deal." In addition, Brown and Newirth is finding many customers are returning to the company.

"It is fair to say that some of our most valued customers had left us over the past three years partly due to comparative inefficiencies prior to taking Microsoft Navision on board.

However we are delighted that so many are now returning to the fold with a healthy level of new orders." XONITEK Sales Director, Noel Creighton, comments: "Our manufacturing experience proved invaluable throughout.

Working with Brown and Newirth has been an exciting project from day one.

Our biggest challenge was in developing a system that could cater for the complexity of the sales and manufacturing process, whilst also providing a simplistic interface and a framework for future growth and change.

What has been hugely encouraging is the ethos of continuous improvement at Brown and Newirth.

Within three months of the live date, we were discussing the next phase for the system, which is testament to how quickly users became comfortable with Navision.".

• Microsoft Dynamics: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page

Search the Pro-Talk network of sites

Put your news on Manufacturingtalk  |   Advertise  |   Get the free Manufacturingtalk newsletter  |   Manufacturingtalk Home
About Manufacturingtalk  |   Copyright © 2000-2008 Pro-Talk Ltd, UK