Implementation
Accordingly, in the autumn of 2019 CBE+ management opened a dialogue with Exel, signing the contract in early November.
This wasn’t to be a conventional implementation, however – and in two important respects.
First, CBE+ management were keen to implement EFACS E/8 very rapidly – very rapidly indeed, stresses Atkins. Not only would a rapid implementation enable the two businesses to access the benefits of EFACS E/8 more quickly, but an aggressive implementation timetable would mean that CBE+ could avoid the payment of another round of software subscriptions and licence fees to the companies providing the soon-to-be decommissioned systems.
And second, CBE+ would be buying EFACS E/8 licenses, but running the software remotely, on a leased and hosted platform. With two physically-separate businesses sharing a single domain, explains Atkins, a hosted system was the best way of provisioning EFACS E/8 across the group.
Implementation began in January 2020, and very soon was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with Exel implementation personnel forced to support the implementation remotely. Nevertheless, the team at CBE+ made rapid progress with the implementation, thanks partly to their prior experience with the software, and partly by electing to focus on the core requirements – in the metals treatment and finishing business, for instance, capacity planning would be left for a subsequent implementation phase.
Accordingly, CBE+ went ‘live’ with EFACS E/8 on June 1st 2020, exactly on schedule.