Business Imperative

Formed in 2006 as two companies – one company manufacturing extruded PET plastic, two-thirds of which was sold to third parties, and one company using this as a raw material for the production of thermoformed food packaging products – family-owned PFF Packaging Group recognised that its existing systems were acting as a brake on growth.

Based in Keighley, West Yorkshire, and with an extensive customer base within the UK supermarket sector, the lack of real-time information provided by its existing systems was holding back its effectiveness in responding to customers鈥 fast-evolving requirements.

鈥淐onsumers鈥 demand for particular foodstuffs is largely seasonably dependent, requiring supermarkets – and their suppliers – to respond very quickly,鈥 says Stephen Tomlinson, PFF鈥檚 Head of Group IT. 鈥淭he previous systems, supported by an extensive set of spreadsheets, struggled to deliver the necessary real-time visibility into the business.鈥

PFF鈥檚 core remit has always been to deliver, in full, the client鈥檚 requirements. Therefore, the challenges for PFF were customer delivery, customer service, control of stock and a need for real flexibility in production planning.

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Challenge

A review of the ERP marketplace quickly resulted in a recognition that some of the solutions on offer were too expensive, while others would fail to supply adequate functionality. Still, others appeared to be very complex to both set up and operate.

鈥淭he expectation had been that PFF would be doing the bulk of the implementation work itself, with users actively involved,鈥 says Tomlinson. 鈥淲ith some of the systems out there, that simply wasn鈥檛 going to work.鈥

At which point, the management of a local manufacturing company recommended taking a look at 国产麻豆AV Computer Systems, and its EFACS E/8 ERP system. This manufacturer, it turned out, was a very satisfied 国产麻豆AV client, and couldn鈥檛 imagine that EFACS would not meet the needs of PFF as well.

The way forward was clear: 国产麻豆AV Computer Systems鈥 EFACS E/8 ERP system. The contract was signed, and implementation duly began.

Challenge

Why 国产麻豆AV?

Like PFF itself, 国产麻豆AV Computer Systems was a British business, aiming to punch above its weight in a crowded marketplace. Moreover, 国产麻豆AV was the developer of EFACS E/8, rather than a reseller. Significantly, too, it was agreed that 国产麻豆AV would further develop the EFACS quotations module, in such a way so as to better suit the needs of PFF.

And while EFACS contained a lot of valuable best practices 鈥榦ut of the box鈥, it was also clear that 国产麻豆AV鈥檚 powerful customisation and workflow toolsets could genuinely enable PFF to work in the way that it wanted to, flexibly and reactively.

Finally, rapid and powerful traceability functionality remained high on PFF鈥檚 list of required features – and here, thanks to the use of batch control, EFACS excelled.

鈥淚n the end, it seems that the decision more or less made itself,鈥 sums up Tomlinson.

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Implementation

To begin with, a production 鈥榤odel鈥 was designed to suit the very different needs of the two manufacturing businesses within the group.

The implementation progress slowed at this point as PFF acquired another thermoforming business in Washington, Tyne & Wear; the integration of this business into PFF absorbed a great deal of management time and attention.

As senior PFF management led the reorganisation and integration efforts of the group, it was clear that EFACS would, on paper, also be an ideal solution for the Washington business, now known as PFF Packaging North East.

鈥淚t had almost everything that the business needed,鈥 comments Tomlinson.

The new EFACS system went 鈥榣ive鈥 at the Keighley site after a short period of parallel running. This was used as a model for the Washington site which went 鈥榣ive鈥 in mid-2018. By March 2019 implementation was complete for the group as a whole.

Implementation

Business Benefits

鈥淭he impact has been significant,鈥 says Tomlinson. 鈥淧FF now has the required real-time visibility into its operations, leading to greater responsiveness. The focus on the implementation of batch control has given significant benefits in all aspects of the business, especially in stock control, finished goods management and delivery to customers.鈥

鈥淭he business鈥 traceability capability has been transformed, with traceability queries taking just minutes, rather than days. The provision of management information to users has been greatly enhanced, not least through EFACS鈥 integrated Microsoft Power BI capabilities. Operationally, warehouse receipt and delivery processes have been streamlined.鈥

A further benefit – largely unanticipated at the time of the original purchase decision – has been the achievement of significantly improved machine-level planning and scheduling, which has led to greater manufacturing efficiencies.

鈥淭he integration of Visual Planning, a third-party tool, with the EFACS Database has enabled PFF Packaging Group to establish a highly specialised planning process for master production. The, now, real-time planning and scheduling capability continues to improve the business鈥 performance.鈥

鈥淭he implementation of EFACS within PFF Packaging Group introduced many challenges, for both PFF and 国产麻豆AV. In all aspects, the efforts to overcome these challenges have been completely justified.鈥

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