Overview
Europe’s only specialist manufacturer of standard and bespoke Tungsten Carbide Burs, Republic of Ireland-based Procut Engineering Processes Ltd supplies foundries and other companies in the aerospace, aircraft and shipbuilding industries. In looking to replace its existing accounting package, Procut recognised the need for a more comprehensive multi-currency tool which would provide greater manufacturing control.
Following the implementation of an integrated Lakeview solution, Procut, part of the ATA Group, has subsequently been able to successfully manage a 50 per cent increase in turnover with no additional accounting or other management staff. Equally, the software’s flexibility has enabled Procut to manage much of its sister company’s accounting and purchasing processes, providing further efficiency and manpower savings.
Challenge
With 97 per cent of its output for export and a large proportion of materials sourced from overseas, Procut needs a flexible, up-to-date and sophisticated multi-currency facility within its accounting software.
“Our choice of software also had to meet two other key criteria,” says office and internal IT manager, Annette Smith. “First, it needed to offer a multi-company capability and, equally importantly, offer a combined accounting and manufacturing package from one supplier.”
Solution
In exploring the options available, only Lakeview provided a solution which satisfactorily met all these diverse criteria. First, in managing commercial transactions with customers and suppliers it offered a fully flexible multi-currency facility including euros, Swiss francs, sterling and dollars.
At the same time, Lakeview enabled Procut to take over part of the purchasing and accounting processes for sister company, ATA Tools & Abrasives Ltd, initially at a separate site and subsequently co-located. Initially this involved raising purchase orders, cash entry, supplier payments and nominal ledger, though has since been expanded to incorporate sales accounting processes.
From a manufacturing perspective, the ability to automate the generation of works orders also proved especially valuable in terms of both the speed and accuracy of production planning.
Implementation required only four weeks’ parallel running as part of a smooth transition to Lakeview. The subsequent switch from the initial DOS-based to a Windows-based system by the accounts team to run reports and look-ups was similarly seamless, though sales and purchasing continue to use the original DOS-based system.
Results
The scalable Lakeview solution has supported a near 50 per cent growth in the business without the need to increase management support staff. In addition, the Procut team has enabled the group to save costs by taking on further purchasing and sales administration responsibility on behalf of ATA Tools & Abrasives.
For example, in what was previously an essentially manual operation, Lakeview’s advanced multi-currency tool ensures much faster and accurate month-end balances and reporting for what is an almost totally international business. And, with the flexibility provided by its multi-company functionality, the same staff can switch quickly and easily between the two sets of company accounts.
“The addition of the Lakeview Report Generator module has also proved invaluable in extracting information from the system and preparing reports to support the way we work, for managers across the business,” says Smith.
In achieving these benefits, Procut has been delighted with the good working relationship between the two companies. “In terms of training and the support desk, for example, from day one we have had exemplary support from Lakeview,” confirms Smith. “And, the addition of Web Support has made this even more effective, as Lakeview’s technical team can immediately work on any PC or workstation remotely, so minimising downtime.”
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