Ether NDE chose Lakeview’s Cloud based ERP product ‘LV’ to bring all their business data into the one place and produce management reports easily and in real-time.  By opting for the Lakeview SAAS model it has allowed Ether NDE to have a fully integrated system at a fixed monthly cost without the need for investment in new hardware.

Ether NDE were experiencing difficulties with business data being held in spreadsheets. The implementation of Lakeview’s LV will bring all their business data together, and provide management reporting tools in real-time, which will promote better decision making.  By having a fully integrated system with financials it has also reduced the external costs associated with bookkeepers and accountants.

About Ether NDE
Ether NDE design and repair electrical probes and meters at its factory and office premises based in Harpenden, Hertfordshire with an international client base. Ether NDE in addition to their own products also represents selected international manufacturers of electromagnetic test equipment and accessories.

VISIT: www.ethernde.com

Author: Angela Kennedy, Marketing

Technorati Tags: cloud erp, ether NDE, saas

BAKO distribute many well known food & beverage brands, as well as their own label value range of baking products from their warehouse and distribution facility in Wimbledon. With a modern fleet of temperature-controlled vehicles, BAKO boast a very impressive set up.

BAKO invests into Lakeview’s LV ERP product to facilitate remote working and better manage supplier performance and produce trends.

About BAKO London and SouthEast

From its base in Wimbledon, South West London Bako London and SouthEast offers the food industry an outstanding combination of competitive prices plus the exceptional customer service only a local company can provide.

Launched over 50 years ago as a regional buying co-operative, we later joined with four other bakery co-operatives to form BAKO UK.

Today our customers enjoy the combined purchasing power, logistics and resources of one of the largest nationwide distributors to the food industry.

Visit: callbakolondon.com

Author: Angela Kennedy, Marketing

Technorati Tags: Bako, food customer, LV ERP

The Fastener Centre (TFC) is one of Europe’s largest suppliers of fastening products to engineering and industrial businesses. TFC will be implementing Lakeview’s latest LV ERP solution in Germany plus 5 UK locations with a total of 75 users.

About The Fastener Centre (TFC)

TFC Europe Ltd is one of the leading suppliers of technical fastener components to industry, with an unrivalled reputation for delivering innovative products, supply solutions, and exemplary service, to help customers achieve breakthroughs in product development and productivity.

Visit: www.tfc.eu.com

Author: Angela Kennedy, Marketing for Lakeview Computers Ltd

Technorati Tags: cloud erp, LV ERP, mobile ERP, the fasterner centre

OVERVIEW

Established in 1979, Esher-based baked products manufacturer The Cookie Man supplies supermarkets such as Co-op, Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrison and Waitrose. It‟s a highly competitive industry, driven by a continual need to improve productivity, cut costs, and reduce wastage.

In late 2010, The Cookie Man responded by launching an initiative to drive manufacturing efficiency, greater visibility, control and lean processes on the manufacturing shop floor. To achieve this, the company decided that it would augment its Lakeview ERP system—with which it was otherwise delighted—with a specialist „add on‟ package focused upon providing detailed management and visibility for factory-centric operations.

“As an ERP system, Lakeview did everything we wanted,” says The Cookie Man‟s general manager Jayson Scheib. “But we needed to monitor manufacturing operations at a more granular level of detail in order to drive manufacturing performance higher.”

Download the full story about Cookie Man’s Manufacturing success working in partnership with Lakeview ERP and Mestec

CHALLENGE

And to try to get the desired level of visibility, the business had become reliant on a number of spreadsheets and paper-based systems, he explains. By 2010, Cookie Man had outgrown these dated methods which were onerous to manage, not to mention the frequent re-keying of data.

“We would spend hours entering data into paper forms, and then copying the information into the ERP system, checking records and trying to resolve conflicts and errors,” says Charles McIntosh, The Cookie Man‟s supply chain manager.

The business needed visibility of real-time shop-floor data to support lean activities to continue to drive cost out of the manufacturing process.

To read this case study in full

Visit: www.mestec.net/Download/TheCookieManCaseStudy.pdf

About Mestec’s Smart Box solution

A touch screen and barcode based factory focused solution, Mestec’s Manufacturing Smart Box system is designed to track, trace and report on key aspects of the entire production process … from goods receipt to despatch.

What’s more, the Mestec Manufacturing Smart Box has been designed from the ground up to complement existing ERP systems, and not to replace ERP functionality.

The Manufacturing Smart Box interface is a simple touch screen configured for a specific set of factory activities. Its simplicity means that minimal training is needed. Typically, the Mestec Manufacturing Smart Box system is specified, chosen and implemented by manufacturing management, and not the IT department.

The Manufacturing Smart Box is flexible and can be rapidly deployed into even complex and changing environments. This makes it ideal as an ERP companion, capturing key production information in real time whilst seamlessly interfacing to the corresponding company information systems.

With a typical payback of two months to one year, Mestec’s Manufacturing Smart Box systems are affordably-priced, and available on either a low-cost monthly subscription, or through one-time perpetual licences. And a typical initial improvement project delivers results in days or weeks, not months or years.

Visit: Mestec

Case study written by: Mestec

Technorati Tags: barcode solution, cookie man, manufacturing erp, manufacturing smart box system, mestec, smart box

Darcy Spillcare Manufacture boasts 75 Years of innovation, manufacturing, service and supply within the spill care industry.

Today, Darcy uses Lakeview to manage and run their business software and hardware o deliver clarity, sales visibility and efficiency to their daily operations.

Here’s a snippet of the letter from Paul Goff, Financial Director, Darcy Products Ltd to Lakeview:

“Right from the start (and this order has taken a long time to materialise!) Lakeview’s Engineering team has had Darcy and our ongoing IT issues at the foremost of it’s actions, culminating in a proposal that not only just simply replaced old servers but gives Darcy a great stride forward in significant IT improvement’s and as I am sure you will understand within a good budget.

The installation itself overall again was managed very well. We always anticipated that there would be teething issues which is inevitable, but any that arose were dealt with promptly which is all we could ask,

One issue in particular which actually was nothing due to Lakeview was one of our two internet lines failed only a week into our new offices at Kent. Thankfully we had two which I believe was David Beattie’s (Lakeview’s Deputy Engineering Manager) suggestion in the first place. The significance of this was that David immediately suggested how to ensure we still got emails in as this was on the line that failed and then deal with all our VPN users, re-setting them on the working internet line.

I cannot emphasise enough, the failed broadband line was down for about a week and had we not been able to receive emails this would have been disastrous for Darcy but thankfully due to the redundancy planned for IT this did not materialise.

I am now very pleased to report that the IT at our offices in Kent works brilliantly with all reporting fantastic speed, so more output from our staff then!

To find out more about Darcy visit: http://www.darcy.co.uk/

Technorati Tags: case study, hardware, Lakeview engineering, spillcare

Founded in 2005, Natural Balance Foods is already establishing a strong franchise in the UK for its range of healthy cereal bars and flavour-infused raisin snacks in national grocery and healthfood chains.  Today, its major Nakd and Trek brands can be found in the wholefoods and fast-expanding ‘free from’ sections of Tesco, Waitrose, Asda and Sainsbury’s, for example, as well as Boots, Holland & Barrett and independent specialist health food outlets.

Yet in successfully meeting this growing demand for healthier products, Natural Balance Foods has had to meet the challenge of managing rapid growth.  “As a start-up we initially piggy-backed a custom-built ERP system built for a sister company operating in a very different Internet environment, together with spreadsheets and a financial accounting software solution,” says co-founder, Greg Combs.

However, this came under increasing strain as the business rapidly expanded and it became clear that the company needed an integrated solution which would manage the end-to-end process, from receipt of orders through to delivery and invoicing with minimum manual intervention.  Additionally, the replacement system had to enable product full traceability and multiple warehouse inventory reporting..

“In selecting a Lakeview system, we recognised it had the essential flexibility and scalability to meet the current and future demands of our business and our customers,” he confirms.  “This has proved without doubt to be the right decision, as we now have the perfect springboard for taking the business on to the next phase of its exciting growth.”

Technorati Tags: case study, food & beverage erp, food erp, natural balance, organic food erp

As software providers to the manufacturing industry this 60 minute BBC documentary shows just how Britain values high end manufacturing whilst encouraging China to manufacture goods in higher quantities.

Watch this documentary

Visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/Made_in_Britain_Episode_1

The better we get at manufacturing, the fewer people we need to do it, and therefore the more LEAN the business model. Angela Kennedy, Lakeview

Lakeview supports Britain with sector specific manufacturing software solutions

Brompton Bicycle is Britain’s biggest bike manufacturers, turning out 30,000 bikes a year and uses Lakeview sector specific software.

About this documentary

Who says we don’t make anything anymore?

In the first of a three-part series on how Britain pays its way in the world, Evan Davis busts the myths that we were wrong to let so much of our manufacturing go abroad, and that we have become a nation of shopkeepers, bankers and estate agents.

As Evan Davis flies in the world’s most revolutionary jet and drives one of the world’s fastest supercars, he discovers Britain still makes a lot it can be proud of. But post crash, he asks is it enough to meet the country’s bills.

Source: BBC iPlayer, Made In Britain

Related articles

Download: Your free guide to LEAN manufacturing

Lakeview: Business software for UK manufacturers

Manufacturing: Case studies that are Made In Britain

Technorati Tags: bromptons, ford, jaguar, Made in britain, manufacturing software, mcclaren, nissan

About Infinity Foods

Infinity Foods began in 1971 with a small shop in Brighton, England.
In 1985, as a result of the increasing demand for bulk whole food orders a group of members set up a separate wholesale branch. Run initially from a site in Saltdean, and an eventual move to a warehouse in Portslade where they still reside.

Over the years, as the whole foods market has grown so has the wholesale division of Infinity Foods. What started as a small outlet at the rear of the shop is today one of the UK’s leading national distributors of high quality, organic, fair-trade and natural products.

Why Lakeview?
Infinity Foods required a solution to allow for further business expansion and de-risk the business from the in-house solution. The solution in mind needed to manage the distribution operation, boost operational efficiency across its supply-chain, increase visibility and give access to business-critical data across the entire organisation.

To find out more
Click here for more on Lakeview’s ERP solutions food and beverage manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors.

Lakeview: Providers of Enterprise resource solutions for food and beverage companies

Author: Angela Kennedy, Marketing for Lakeview

Technorati Tags: erp for food manufacturers, food erp, infinity foods

Overview

Established in 1987, Contamac has grown to become a world leader in the development of specialist polymers and a major supplier to the ophthalmic industry. Today, Contamac exports more than 90% of its output, providing high performance materials for the world’s top contact lens manufacturers and has an unrivalled reputation for innovation, superior quality and customer focus.

For many years Contamac used a combined production and financial accounting software solution which had come under increasing pressure as the company expanded. In response, the company adopted a new ERP system from Lakeview, which has provided the enterprise-wide integrated functionality, flexibility and scalability to support Contamac’s continued growth.

“As we have driven quality standards to a new level,” says Rob Lewis, operations director, Contamac, “the Lakeview solution’s superior control and reporting capability has enabled us to provide customers with a level of service which matches our product quality. And we have been able to achieve this with a significant reduction in administration costs.”

To maintain competitive edge in a highly specialised yet competitive industry, Contamac recognised the need to meet a number of challenging targets.

In becoming more Quality Assurance (QA)-centric, the need to enhance product traceability with strong evidential back-up had become paramount. At the same time, the drive to demonstrate quality throughout the ISO-compliant business was reflected in the adoption of CE marking. These and other initiatives all required a higher level of materials control which would meet the exacting production tolerances required.

In addition, the growth of the business had put increasing pressure on ensuring shipping dates for distribution around the globe were met. All this had to be achieved in an increasingly tough economic environment in which the need to control and drive down cost throughout the business was critical.

Solution

In seeking an enterprise solution, Contamac looked at a number of options and selected Lakeview as best-placed to provide the level of integration and flexibility they needed in a fast-changing environment.

Lakeview’s highly-competitive off-the-shelf ERP solution offered a fully-integrated manufacturing package with sophisticated accounting and stock control capability. This enabled Contamac to significantly improve control of its end-to-end production process, from receipt of raw materials through manufacturing to dispatch and billing.

This level of automation across the operation not only allowed the company to improve the quality and consistency of its output in meeting higher quality assurance standards but also to reduce the level of manual input, so cutting production and administration costs and error rates.

Results

Implemented in 2004, the Lakeview system has provided the companywide operating platform required for Contamac to successfully grow its business and adapt to the company’s changing demands. The software’s intuitive functionality has also made it easy for staff across all departments to achieve maximum benefit from its advanced features.
As a result, Contamac has been able to manage growth at the same time reducing its administrative support requirement by 25 per cent. The company is achieving higher internal and external KPIs consistently and has demonstrably improved the ratio of on-time deliveries on much higher volumes.

One of the key strengths of the Lakeview system is its sophisticated and comprehensive reporting capability. In the area of quality control, for example, the time required to pull together the detailed six-monthly Quality Assurance report has been cut from more than three weeks to less than two days. Similarly, the administrative time required to report against regulatory requirements has been cut by 50 per cent.
Contamac has been delighted with the close relationship established with Lakeview, which has resulted in a number of valuable improvements to its software.

“As Lakeview writes its own software,” says Lewis, “we are able to feed into the broader development programme and suggest new functionality which will better meet our needs going forward. At the same time, we also benefit from other Lakeview customers contributing to the same process.”

Highlights : Customer Benefits and Results

• Integrated ERP system manages company-wide distribution, accounts, reporting and manufacturing
• Flexible, scalable solution supporting company growth
• Close involvement in Lakeview software development ensures relevant and valuable improvement in functionality
• Improvement in customer service and reduction in delivery complaints on higher volumes
• 25% cut in admin costs, dramatic reduction in time taken to create reports

Author: Angela Kennedy, Marketing, Lakeview

Wiltshire-based Doves Farm Foods is a specialist supplier of organic, fair trade and gluten-free flour and foods to both the retail and wholesale markets. For more than 20 years the company had relied on a basic book-keeping package, which had proved increasingly inadequate in meeting the needs of a successful, growing business.

Since installing a Lakeview system in 2004, Doves Farm Foods has doubled its turnover, without the need to increase its finance team. At the same time, the Lakeview solution’s manufacturing functionality has enabled the company to fully comply with the latest EU food regulations.

Challenge

“We recognised the need for a modern, integrated management information system which combined a comprehensive accounting package with full stock traceability,” says director of finance, Malcolm Squires. “At the same time, it needed to be able to scale with the growth aspirations of the business.”

Having looked at several options – and visited two existing Lakeview food industry customers – Doves Farm Foods found that Lakeview was the only provider who could satisfactorily meet both requirements.

“As a supplier of food ingredients and finished products, full stock traceability – from receipt of each ingredient, through batch manufacture to final distribution to the end-customer – was especially important,” he confirms.

Solution

The decision to go with Lakeview in mid-2004 proved especially timely as, within six months of installation, full traceability became obligatory under new EU legislation.

With implementation taking place at the end of the company’s financial year, Doves Farm Foods switched over to Lakeview without parallel running with the existing system.

“However, we did some testing off-line as the annual accounts were being completed and the Lakeview system proved flawless in delivering accurate financial results.”

Other departments have also benefited from Lakeview’s expanded reporting functionality. The ability to analyse sales and profitability by individual customer, product and product group has improved marketing and sales planning and pricing strategies. And, with the ability to access and manipulate data over any specified period, this has automated the process of analysing and reporting government returns on a calendar year basis, saving time and improving accuracy.

Results
In meeting the very specific accounting requirements of the food supply industry, Lakeview’s flexible pricing approach has delivered three further important benefits.

First, Doves Farm Foods’ previous accounting system required discounts to be set up on the system on a product-by-product basis: with Lakeview, by contrast, common discounts can be input by product group. “This was less problematic for large retailers carrying a restricted range,” says Squires, “but Lakeview saves us considerable inputting time in the case of those wholesale customers who take 100 or more of our products.”

Similarly, before implementing Lakeview, agreed pricing could only be set up as ‘list price less discount’, which had become increasingly cumbersome as Dove Farm Foods had moved to a system of net pricing with three quarters of its customers. Lakeview’s ability to price in both formats not only saves time but always presents accounting information in a customer-friendly format.

And, with a support team providing ‘prompt and highly responsive service’, Squires believes that, “Lakeview provides us with a flexible and scalable accounting and manufacturing support tool ideally geared to the needs of our business.”

Visit: Doves Farm Foods

Author: Angela Kennedy, Marketing, Lakeview Computers Ltd

Technorati Tags: Doves Farm Foods, food distributor, Food manufacturer, organic food specialist