EFACS underpins a decade of growth at fastenings company Gripple
Customer Profile
Gripple is recognised as the world’s most innovative way of joining, tensioning, terminating and suspending wire and wire rope.
The Challenge
Now selling to over 60 countries and with offices in Strasbourg, Chicago and Johannesburg, Gripple’s turnover has risen from £2.15m in 1994 to £13.5m in 2004.
The Benefits
“That was an important factor in deciding to invest further in EFACS. We can implement it to work exactly how we want, we don’t have to change our working methods at all.”
The Future
A new Gripple company, LoadHog, has been established to manufacture reusable pallet lids to hold loads on pallets and this company has also installed EFACS. The LoadHog may mean the demise of the millions of rolls of plastic stretch wrap currently wrapped around heavy pallet loads to hold them together.
EFACS underpins a decade of growth at fastenings company
Gripple, leading manufacturer of agricultural and industrial fastenings and related products, is one of the most highly feted of all UK manufacturing companies, with awards for everything from its business successes to the design of its HQ Its latest achievement is to win the IMechE’s Factory of the Year Award 2004, against competition from Corus, Ford and BAe Systems.
Gripple, leading manufacturer of agricultural and industrial fastenings and related products, is one of the most highly feted of all UK manufacturing companies, with awards for everything from its business successes to the design of its HQ. Its latest achievement is to win the IMechE’s Factory of the Year Award 2004, against competition from Corus, Ford and BAe Systems.
In many ways Gripple is the quintessential ERP user; only a part of the system’s capability is currently employed but there is an eagerness to implement more as the business continues to grow; training is needed to open up system usage across the company; and major plans are underway to improve business practices with tighter control using Exel’s EFACS system.
Now selling to over 60 countries and with offices in Strasbourg, Chicago and Johannesburg, Gripple’s turnover has risen from £2.15m in 1994 to £13.5m in 2004. Approximately 85% of all employees are shareholders and their enthusiasm for, and commitment to the company is almost palpable when one enters the company’s headquarters.
A maker of small, simple products that are conquering specialist markets around the globe, Gripple has relied on Exel’s EFACS ERP system for almost ten years.
However, as with many ERP users, the company admits to using only a fraction of the overall capability that their ERP system delivers and Gripple has resolved that next year will see wider implementation, a full training programme and greater integration of the system throughout the company’s manufacturing site in Sheffield.
IT Manager, Andrew Baxter says that now is the right time to fully implement the system that has formed the foundation of Gripple’s manufacturing success.
“When I arrived a year ago I was tasked with reviewing our IT and, having seen EFACS fully implemented elsewhere, I decided we should keep the system and make it work harder for us.”
“The functionality we need is already there in the system but, like many manufacturers, we simply have not used the system to its full potential.”
“Our first task is to re-implement the sales order processing module. Currently we sell around 8 million Gripples – the agricultural fencing fastener and our original product – each year and we are increasing sales of our other products. We expect a further £2 million worth of extra sales in 2005, so we need to have tighter control on sales and manufacturing.”
“We’ll also automate stock control and stock movement and we are developing with Exel a bar-coding system that suits our own way of working.”
“That was an important factor in deciding to invest further in EFACS. We can implement it to work exactly how we want, we don’t have to change our working methods at all.”
A fundamental re-launch of EFACS is planned for early 2005, starting with training for every one of the 150 strong staff.
Training has always been an issue that all ERP vendors will agree on; users are simply reluctant to take it up, something Andrew Baxter admits.
“The system met our past needs, which were simple in terms of IT, but we are growing and need to have a more sophisticated approach,” says Baxter.
“I would very much like every single person to at least have an overview of the system, with a more concentrated training programme for the majority of shop floor workers.”
“We’ll also be speeding up the manufacturing operation by delivering better data where it is needed and by automating the allocation of parts.”
A new Gripple company, LoadHog, has been established to manufacture reusable pallet lids to hold loads on pallets and this company has also installed EFACS. The LoadHog may mean the demise of the millions of rolls of plastic stretch wrap currently wrapped around heavy pallet loads to hold them together
As with Gripple, the new company will be asking a lot more of EFACS in 2005, expecting the system to play a far greater role in the entire manufacturing process.
