Southern Africa's leading manufacturer of steel windows, doors and garage doors and hardware has experienced a complete turnaround of its manufacturing planning and monitoring processes since the implementation of the Sage ERP X3 integrated end-to-end solution. Previously running all its manufacturing operations off manual systems, the group is now experiencing the benefits of new age technology and the flexibility it can provide.
Duro Pressings, based in Johannesburg, has branches in Alrode, Babelengi, Bloemfontein, East London, Port Elizabeth, White River, Cape Town and Durban and major brands of products serving the building, construction and retailing industries in southern Africa.
After years of managing all its operations manually, and challenged by a lack of visibility on its production requirements, the group recognised the need for an integrated end-to-end enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that could oversee everything from purchasing to finance.
“We did some research into what we were looking for and analysed a number of possible software solutions, but each one was too complicated and cost a substantial amount to purchase and implement. We eventually got in contact with Chris Boshoff of Boshoff Computer Solutions, which is a Softline Accpac business partner that implements the Sage ERP X3 system. The simplicity of the technology sold the product for us and we made the decision that it was exactly what we needed,” explains Duro Pressings MD Greg Morris.
“We started the implementation in January this year and the new system went live in July. So far we have only implemented at two of our 13 branches, so it will take another year until the national roll-out is complete,” says Morris.
“Duro Pressings looked at many other Tier 1 and Tier 2 ERP systems and Sage ERP X3 became the natural choice, based on technology, scalability and functionality, and its ability to be rolled out to the company's various outlying branches,” says Vice-President of Sales at Softline AccPac Keith Fenner.
Sage ERP X3 is a Web-based software platform that integrates everything to make the company more efficient, including analysis and reporting, financial accounting, management control and operational management, encompassing production, purchasing, sales and inventory. Manufacturing operations have so many additional aspects and operations to oversee that an integrated ERP system is imperative. “The new system is enabling us to better plan and monitor our manufacturing and purchasing operations, while providing us with far superior management information systems that give us full visibility of our entire system at any given time,” explains Morris.
“The Sage ERP X3 system provides many benefits to clients in the manufacturing sector,” explains Boshoff Computer Solutions' Chris Boshoff. It gives clients better control over their material purchasing and actual manufacturing costs. Manufacturing can be conducted in a more structured way, with work orders for each item to be made. The system also helps manufacturing companies control their stock, be it raw material or finished goods. The system also provides companies with knowledge of their current capacity and aids with capacity planning for the future, explains Boshoff.
Ultimately, Duro Pressings will have better control over its pricing using the price lists in the system, and can better control what has been dispatched to clients due to better product identification. Financially, the system is cleaner and tidier than the previous manual system, making debt collection easier as well as control over creditors and purchases, having an overall positive effect on cash flow. Duro Pressings also has to manage manufacturing operations at a number of branches, so stock management between branches will also be better controlled, concludes Boshoff.
“Overall, the new Sage ERP X3 has outstripped all our expectations and we look forward to rolling it out to all our 13 branches, which will help us to better service our clients with the best customer service standards in the industry,” concludes Morris.
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