Allectra, a leading manufacturer of High Vacuum and UHV components, was founded in 2002 in Berlin. Allectra Limited was started in 2003 in Sussex to promote the products on a worldwide basis. The Allectra sales and service network is also supported by offices in France and a joint-venture in Italy.

Allectra manufacture electrical feed throughs, cables, mechanical components and other items including quick access doors, load locks and vacuum chambers. These components are sold all over the world.

Allectra is actively involved in the development of new products and offers both standard and special components on short delivery and at competitive prices. The product range has been developed to meet the needs of customers such as universities, major synchrotrons and high technology companies.

Allectra’s impressive business growth brought some significant challenges in keeping up with its developing business due to the limitations of its previous IT system.  Implementing Lakeview’s ERP system offered a proven, complete solution that would be implemented company-wide.  The new scalable technology would enable sourcing, distribution accounts, reporting and increased productivity.

In successfully managing this period of business growth, Allectra had to evaluate the effectiveness of its existing operating and reporting systems.  It became clear that the existing solution was unable to operate efficiently under this increased pressure and it needed to be replaced in order to support business growth.

The increased usage of the existing system had slowed down the network considerably and it was no longer able to support multiple or remote users.

Mario Peli, sales director, Allectra, comments: “We outgrew our existing solution.  It was unable to cope with our progression and we needed all of our staff to be able to log into the system at all times.”

The key challenge for Allectra was in supporting higher remote usage from its growing workforce.  The previous system grew unreliable and was buckling under the pressure of increased demand resulting in reduced productivity and internal frustrations.  Similarly Allectra wanted to improve the efficiency of its back-end reporting functions such as purchase orders, sales invoicing and quote generation.

Traditionally these functions were run over multiple unconnected software solutions including the manual inputting of stock information into spreadsheets.

“The existing package needed to be replaced so that we could service our customers better and run the business more efficiently,” confirms Peli.

Allectra required a complete solution that would manage the end-to-end process, from inventory reporting through to delivery and invoicing with minimum manual intervention under one system.  Additionally, the new technology had to ensure multiple users were able to log on in real-time, remotely.

Allectra explored a number of other software options before it selected Lakeview as best placed to meet the increasing demands of its fast-growing business.  In particular, Lakeview’s standard off-the-shelf ERP system offered a proven solution from a financially stable company with a strong track record of success in supporting businesses experiencing rapid growth.

It was important to Allectra that the chosen company was not only the software’s distributor but also its developer.

“We chose Lakeview because they were the designers of the software, allowing us to talk to the developers direct and ensure the solution really fitted our needs.  The fact that, should a problem arise, we only had to pick up the phone and they would have the tools and expertise to fix it, really appealed to us,” confirms Peli.

The ERP package comes in one piece without the need for various add-on applications.

“Lakeview also stood out from its competitors because it offered a complete solution and we could see exactly what we were paying for,” adds Peli.

Visit: www.allectra.com

Technorati Tags: allectra, case study, electrical wholsaler, manufacturing case study

Air Engineering Controls Ltd has been successfully involved for many years in the design and development of both standard and customised pneumatic control equipment.

The company’s main activity is offering pneumatic components and systems for a wide range of markets. AE’s products are currently used in many industry sectors. Their products are particularly strong in such markets as Medical, Analytical, Commercial Vehicle, Marine, Bus & Coach, Printing, Agriculture and Food Processing.

Why Lakeview?

Air Engineering Controls Ltd undertook an extensive review of the ERP marketplace and engaged with a number of potential suppliers. The business had significantly outgrown its existing Sage Line 50 software solution.

Lakeview was selected as the clear leader based on the company taking the time to clearly demonstrate how the functionality would fit Air Engineering’s processes without any need to modify the standard system. There was also pleasant surprise that this extensive functionality came at an affordable and very competitive price!

Air Engineering will use the Lakeview LV system across their whole business, utilising CRM, Order Processing, Stock Control, Accounts, Procurement and Manufacturing features.

For more details about Air Engineering Controls, please visit: http://www.aegroup.uk.com

Related blog post

Choosing the right ERP software: Bespoke or Standard?

Author: Angela Kennedy, Marketing

Technorati Tags: Air Engineering, LV ERP, new business win

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, new business win, 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, food erp, LV ERP, new business win

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, new business win, 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, food customer, food erp, manufacturing erp, manufacturing smart box system, mestec, new business win, 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, new business win, 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 customer, food erp, natural balance, new business win, 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 customer, food erp, infinity foods, new business win