O’Donovan Engineering benefits from Integrated ERP with EFACS E/8
O’Donovan Engineering Ltd was founded in 1978 by Damien & Marion O’Donovan to provide a local engineering service. The company expanded to serve the agricultural sector and over the years built up a reputation for high quality manufactured products in the livestock handling and feeding sectors.
Customer Profile
O’Donovan Engineering is a family run designer, manufacturer and supplier of products to the agricultural, construction and manufacturing sectors. Founded over 35 years ago in Coachford Co. Cork, it has enjoyed sustained growth and now employs more than 40 people.
The Challenge
To improve efficiency through streamlining multiple independent systems for accounts, manufacturing, HR, time control and quality thereby eliminating duplication of tasks. The new system also had to be flexible enough to deal with the unique requirements of a diverse and individual customer base.
The Solution
A single, fully integrated ERP solution taking full advantage of modern IT features including web browser front end, Microsoft SQL database, barcoding technology and touchscreens ensures a seamless transition of data between departments.
The Benefits
The virtual elimination of manual processes including paperwork, various unstructured and often duplicated spreadsheets as well as availability of management information instantly has significantly improved customer service and competitiveness.
Under the guidance of Managing Director Marion O’Donovan, they have expanded into the manufacturing and construction industries over the last fifteen years, while continuing to build their market in the agricultural sector. Today the Cork based company has grown from strength to strength and is fully supported by a skilled workforce of 40 staff.
O’Donovan Engineering has a modern well equipped factory, a dynamic management team and has invested in the latest technologies and product development to provide their customers with the optimum solutions for their business. ISO 9001 accredited, the firm strives to maintain procedures that have seen it build an unparalleled reputation for innovation and quality throughout the Munster region, Ireland and, more recently into the UK market.
Integration is the key to unlocking information
With steady growth over the last 35 years, O’Donovan Engineering had invested in a number of standalone systems to meet their needs at the time. These included separate systems for accounts, costings, quality, customer service, manufacturing and HR. As there was no integration this often resulted in the duplication of tasks and data entry and a lack of availability of information to assist in the management decision making process. Managing Director Marion O’Donovan decided it was time to explore the possibility of implementing a new integrated system.
Among the systems the business was using was Exact Software’s MRP system Alliance/MFG, which had reached its end of life and was no longer supported by its author. Profitsflow.com had been providing support for Alliance so they already had a proven working relationship. “We knew the people at Profitsflow for many years and were 100% confident in their ability to deliver,” according to Marion O’Donovan. “When they came to us with a proposal for a single, fully integrated solution that they not only were in a position to support us on immediately, but could move all of our data over to it for us, it really was a no brainer.”
One of the most important considerations when choosing a new system was their unique market which is composed primarily of business to business customers. The majority of these are independent farms requiring customised solutions rather than off the shelf product.
It was decided that EFACS E/8 was the correct business solution for the company, as it is a fully integrated ERP system with the opportunity to select add on modules pertinent to the business. Another reason to select EFACS/E8 was its customisation ability. The long standing relationship between O’Donovan Engineering and Profitsflow.com gave everyone reassurance of the capability of both companies to deliver a successful project.
The implementation of EFACS E/8 was completed on a phased basis. The Accounts module went live in April 2014 and this was followed shortly by Manufacturing, Quality and CRM. Having all of these modules on the one system has stopped the duplication of data and enabled the prompt retrieval of information and subsequently effective management decisions.
O’Donovan Engineering has benefited in particular from the Quality module. As they have an approved ISO quality system, they are subject to regular quality audits. EFACS E/8 meant that the latest audit was a more straight forward and manageable process. According to Marion O’Donovan: “Having all data relating to a particular Quality Concern logged in one place, with stages for corrective action assigned to individuals, date stamped with details of action taken available at the click of a mouse enables us to prove beyond doubt that our quality procedures work. That to us is invaluable.”
One of the main challenges facing O’Donovan Engineering when choosing their system was their customer base and their needs. The EFACS manufacturing module allows them to easily customise the products and the CRM module has the capability to manage a large number of customers. The customisation features allow for configuration of the software to enable the company to continue to deal with unique and challenging requests from clients, for example different document layouts or returning of spare parts not required. Previously a hugely labour intensive effort went into this aspect of the business through paperwork and manual processes generally.
In conclusion, the successful implementation of EFACS E/8 by O’Donovan Engineering has led to a number of benefits, including the following:
- Better Stock Control
- Increased visibility
- Effective Costing Analysis
- Improved quality processes
- Enhanced access to information for management decisions
- Less duplication of data