Leicester-based Merton Group is a manufacturer of disposable paper products and a distributor of cleaning and hygiene products to a wide range of businesses, industries, government bodies and institutions across sectors as diverse as healthcare, catering, hospitality and manufacturing.
The company had implemented Exel Computer Systems’ EFACS E/8 ERP system in 2009 and used it across the business – especially intensively in the case of the distribution side of the business, using it for goods inwards, inventory management, stock location, order picking and despatching.
Group IT Development Manager, Paul Cockerill had joined Merton Group in 2012 and had made a number of improvements to how EFACS E/8 was used.
A particular bugbear remained, that of data entry. This was due to extensive use of paper-based processes for transactions, with paper-based goods inwards receipts and picking lists.
“When goods were received, it could take up to two or three days before the system knew about it and made the goods available for picking,” he notes. “Errors were another problem, and it wasn’t always clear from which location goods had been picked – our overall stock on hand of an item might be correct, but the stock held in individual locations could be wrong.”
“If we could dispense with the back office data entry activity and update EFACS E/8 in real-time, there would be both a significant productivity improvement, as well as improved inventory turns and fewer data errors.”
EFACS E/8 had a shop floor data entry capability, Paul knew. But its focus was largely on factory operations, rather than warehouse operations, as that was the common central use-case. That said, an enhanced warehouse capability was on the development roadmap for EFACS E/8 and it was simply a question of time before the required functionality existed.
That point came in 2019, but before Merton Group could progress matters, the Covid-19 pandemic intervened to delay things.
But by 2022, the business was once more ready to push forward with mobile data entry in its warehouse operations, and Paul prepared a business case for the requisite investment in Exel’s EFACS E/8 Mobile Workforce solution.
“As soon as we listed the benefits, the directors immediately saw the need to make the investment – it really was a totally clear-cut decision,” he notes.
With the additional Mobile Workforce licences obtained and the required Android handheld mobile devices ordered, the next step was to engage a specialist company to professionally label the warehouse with barcodes for every stock location.
A phased implementation had been decided upon, in order to avoid disruption and build skills and familiarity with the new devices and workflow. Accordingly, says Paul, the goods inwards receipt process was the first to switch to Mobile Workforce, going live in May 2023.
Stock relocation came next, with warehouse operatives adjusting locations’ inventory holdings when picking from alternate locations for reasons of expediency.
Very quickly, reports Paul, it became apparent that the anticipated benefits of moving to EFACS E/8 Mobile Workforce were being delivered: significant productivity benefits were being achieved through a reduction in back office data entry, in-stock items were available for ordering and picking more quickly and the use of barcodes for capturing product codes and stock locations served to reduce data recording and transcription errors.
In April 2024, Merton Group went live with EFACS E/8 Mobile Workforce for order picking – another significant piece of functionality, with further significant productivity benefits through eliminating back office data keying, as well as a reduction in picking errors. To complete a picking transaction, warehouse operatives have to barcode scan both the correct product and the correct stock location, explains Paul.
“It wasn’t that we were making many picking errors, but they definitely could and did occur, giving rise to customer returns and complaints. So, eliminating the possibility of picking errors has undoubtedly improved our customer service.”
In short, sums up Paul, Merton Group’s investment in Exel’s EFACS E/8 Mobile Workforce extension to its existing EFACS E/8 ERP system has fully delivered on expectations.
“Significant productivity benefits, faster throughput, fewer data errors and better customer service – we couldn’t be happier.”
And now, he adds, Merton Group is looking at extending its use of EFACS E/8 Mobile Workforce’s functionality and is actively reviewing the full extent of its capabilities. Already, he notes, there is a strong use-case for leveraging the software’s stocktaking functionality.
“The software provides both perpetual inventory capabilities, and full stocktaking capabilities – and as a business, we use both. Stocktaking in real-time, as opposed to recording inventory on stocktaking sheets that require data entry, makes obvious sense.”
“The goal is to move completely away from back office data entry – and with EFACS E/8 Mobile Workforce, that’s a very realistic aspiration.”
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