Axxis makes business proactive with online intelligence

Private label manufacturer and distributor of personal care products Axxis International – which supplies retailers like Marks & Spencer, Next, Tesco, Sainsbury and Superdrug – says it’s improved competitive edge by extending its business intelligence IT to its commercial departments. The company, which is a long term QAD MfgPro ERP business and manufacturing management system user, has now rolled out its Data Command financial analysis and reporting software, which it implemented in 1997 for the accounts department, to a further 20 business managers. Managers now have access to electronic online reports from their desktops, via the corporate intranet. They can drill down and analyse, for example, margins by volume, rate and mix variances, with detailed information by customer, range, product and time. Bob Sharpe, Axxis’ finance director, says: “The roll out gives them more information than ever before about which products make money. They now have guidelines on where best to direct their efforts. “The biggest benefit is the speed with which the system is able to process massive amounts of data. You get information instantaneously. Before we had the software we simply couldn’t do the level of analysis that we can now.” In fact, Axxis has a well developed IT infrastructure. Its backbone MfgPro was upgraded to v9 in May 2003 – with an option to go to the latest eB extended web-based system. Wrapped around that are payroll, costing, personnel and time and attendance satellite systems. The firm also uses the Mercia demand planning and forecasting system, for product and capacity planning, and Data Command, originally added to provide finance with additional fast analysis and reporting tools beyond the capability of core ERP. Sharpe had used that system before, and been pleased with its flexibility, speed, but most important, its ability to track and guide business towards profitable products – particularly important in this sector where product lifecycles are notoriously short. The system is used to allocate specific marketing and manufacturing costs to each product line giving a more accurate reflection of the true profitability. Margins must be analysed in detail to provide a constant and accurate picture of the financial ‘health’ of each product line. “90% of the data comes from Mfg/Pro, and the rest from accounting spreadsheets. It’s all automated, and the system provides us with a management accounting tool, not just with actuals and budgets, but ‘sorts’ and ‘what ifs’ by SKU, product range, customer and so on, on a monthly or weekly basis.” With the roll-out to Axxis’ commercial people, Sharpe says the benefits of such rapid analysis are being spread to help drive the business, faster, more accurately and more proactively. “Our commercial users can see where we are now and the history information, and slice that by product, product range and customer. With 2,000 active SKUs and around half of those new every year, that information is extremely useful in planning and tracking strategy and tactics.” He says that, combined with information from Mercia for its forward planning and forecasts of volumes and sales projections, the data gives managers everything they need to make better decisions, and faster. “It’s easy for them to use: there’s a front-end menu of set reports and they can drill down to whatever information they need. It means they can rapidly see what’s performing and what isn’t; where we’re making money, and where we’re not.”