Hi-Tech Mouldings saves on ERP seminars

£9m Hampshire-based plastics injection-moulding manufacturer Hi-Tech Mouldings says it saved time and money in selecting the right ERP system via the ERP Vendors Forum. Following attendance at one of the seminar series, the company appointed a review team and shortlisted five ERP suppliers, including the four Forum members, before selecting Visual Enterprise from Lilly Software. Hi-Tech says the seminar, which provided focused views on what to look for and how to go about the selection process, as well as potential benefits and the art of the possible, was instrumental in compressing the whole process. Lilly’s system will replace fragmented and stand-alone legacy systems. Says Richard Brown, Hi-Tech’s sales director: “We wanted to form a partnership with a supplier and implement a robust ERP solution that would encompass all the functions in our line of business.” Expected benefits, he says, include higher productivity; better inter-company communications and knowledge sharing; timely availability of data to speed decision-making and measurement; and more streamlined business process management. He also expects greater reliance on automated, electronic documentation and processes, for example in sales order processing and invoicing, as well as in estimating and quoting, to be faster, easier and more accurate. Drawings from CAD systems, including those from Hi-Tech’s customers and its SDRC and Pro-Engineer CAD systems, will also be available to Visual ERP users so that collaboration between design, engineering and manufacturing departments will improve productivity. The next ERP Forum seminar, sponsored by IBM and Findlay Publications (publisher of Manufacturing Computer Solutions) will be held at the Holiday Inn, Wakefield on 8 October, followed by the Holiday Inn Crawley on Thursday 9 October. To register to attend, visit the website at www.erp-vendors.org.uk or phone Jo Andree on 01322 860000.