The Company
O'Donovan Engineering Ltd. is a manufacturer of over 5,500 steel products for the agricultural, construction, industrial and marine sectors. They have been in business for over 30 years and have 26 employees.
The Challenge
O'Donovan Engineering Ltd. had no manufacturing system in place. All their processes were manual. "Prior to implementing Alliance in 2002 we had seven re-writes for each sales order. This was reduced to one input with Alliance," Marion O'Donovan, O'Donovan Engineering Ltd.
O'Donovan Engineering Ltd. uses Alliance for sales and purchase order processing, Capacity Requirements Planning and Materials Requirements Planning.
The Benefits
O'Donovan Engineering Ltd. has approximately 7,000 parts to control. In Alliance, each part can be assigned a code. "Having a part code on Alliance meant we could be confident that the part we were ordering was the right one," said Marion O'Donovan, O'Donovan Engineering.
The system stores drawings of all their products. "This is very helpful at meetings to clarify which product is being referred to. In addition, if a customer orders a particular product that we have not manufactured for some time, the system holds all the information necessary, including parts needed and manufacturing timeframe for the quantity required," said Marion O'Donovan, O'Donovan Engineering Ltd.
The information on Alliance is up-to-date and immediate. The exact quantity of finished goods in stock can be accessed. "Now, we don't make false promises to customers about what we can deliver and when. Prior to this we would have to physically go outside and check the quantity of finished goods in stock," said Marion O'Donovan, O'Donovan Engineering.
"We use Sage for our accounting function. Sage can easily be integrated with Alliance and we are seriously considering this," said Marion O'Donovan, O'Donovan Engineering.
The Results
Materials/Capacity Planning
O'Donovan Engineering Ltd. can now accurately forecast their future raw material requirements from management information held on Alliance. "At the start of each year we make informed predictions on next year's usage based on last year's usage. This information allows us to negotiate with suppliers on cost. We also plan our future manpower capacity from information held on Alliance," said Marion O'Donovan, O'Donovan Engineering Ltd.
Customer Service
"The quotation module is of great benefit. Quotations can be given to customers immediately. If the customer contacts us again for the same information and speaks with a different employee they can give the exact same quote because it is held on the system," said Marion O'Donovan, O'Donovan Engineering Ltd.
The progress of orders can be checked in real-time. "Without leaving our desks, we can inform the customer where exactly their order is in the manufacturing process and when it will be ready for delivery," said Marion O'Donovan, O'Donovan Engineering Ltd.
If a customer orders a product that has been supplied to him in the past, Alliance shows us the details of that relationship. "We can use this information to have a conversation with the customer about what he wants to order. This really helps maintain good relationships with customers. They know that we value their business," said Marion O'Donovan, O'Donovan Engineering Ltd.
Stock Control
"We can accurately estimate the amount of finished goods we need to hold in stock based on comparisons of present daily sales activity (order value and quantity) with the same figures for last year."
Costs
"Alliance tells us the average cost of steel per metre, what we sell it at and what we say we are costing it at. We do a monthly revision of our material costs to ensure that we keep it at the required level. The system does this for us very easily. We have our finger on the pulse as regards our real material costs."
Business Expansion
After implementing Alliance, sales orders at O'Donovan Engineering Ltd. grew significantly during the economic upturn. "If we hadn't implemented Alliance we would not have been in a situation to effectively and efficiently fulfil these orders," said Marion O'Donovan, O'Donovan Engineering Ltd.