Traceability of materials with Numac Engineering

Customer: Numac Engineering Ltd
Location: Stalybridge, Cheshire
Industries: Hostile Environment Components
Contact: Andrew McLaren, Managing Director

Numac Engineering needed a system that would grow with them, rather than hinder their development. Fitfactory fit the bill, and provides greater traceability of materials and orders.

Synopsis

Numac Engineering Ltd was founded in 1991 and currently employs twenty-five staff.

The firm provides components to clients within four main sectors – oil & gas, pumps & valves, power generation and automotive.

The family firm has grown organically since its beginnings eighteen years ago and is ISO 9001:2000 accredited.

Although using Excel to begin with, Numac used Job Card for around 15 years prior to implementing the Fitfactory system. However, Numac attracted new business and as the company grew it became apparent that a new system was required that could meet the more sophisticated jobs that ere being received from clients, that could offer greater flexibility and would integrate stock control, something that was not currently done. Prior to the Fitfactory system, stock was managed manually on the workshop floor and in accounts. Also it was not possible to integrate the Numac accounting system to the previous job processing package; this is a capability provided by Fitfactory.

Numac Managing Director, Andrew McLaren commented, “For us, bringing in the new system has been about supporting our growth in the industry and having a work processing package that is able to cope with that growth, the increasing sophistication of our client base and make as many of our work processes as automated as possible.”

Selection Process

McLaren continued, “We originally met Fitfactory at a MACH event in the NEC, Birmingham. The decision to change system was made on the growth and complexity of our business. At Numac we take pride in delivering quality components efficiently to companies often working in hostile environments. We needed a work processing capability that would support this and could automate our system from quotation and stock through to accounts.

The decision to switch was a requirement to advance our capability in order to meet the continuing needs of a growing client base.

We considered 3-4 systems and had presentations from 2 companies, one of those being Fitfactory. The presentations were given in front of staff from across the workshop floor to accounts so we could determine what would be the best product for the company as a whole. The Fitfactory demonstration and system capability ticked all the boxes we required from a works processing system. The system was a natural progression for the company and each department was happy with what Fitfactory could provide.”

Implementing Fitfactory

“The training we received on the system was excellent. It was carried out by a former Fitfactory customer who was an engineer by trade, so not only did he understand the system, he immediately understood what our requirements for the system were and was able to focus the training specifically to our business.

Even after the training was complete we have always been able to reach a Fitfactory specialist if we’ve had questions about the system. Admittedly we have experienced one or two niggles with the implementation of the system, but once again Fitfactory is always contactable by phone and ready and able to assist. This gives us great peace of mind that, not only are our queries always progressed, but that we can be confident some- one with specific system knowledge and our system requirements will be available to speak with us.”

Impact on Business

McLaren concluded, ‘Although we have used Fitfactory’s works processing system for less than a year, we have already seen a vast number of improvements, particularly within work efficiency. We used to run a manual system that would clock jobs in and out of specific stages of their completion. As you can imagine this was quite a long process. However it is now all automated with a bar-code system, so we know exactly how close a job is to completion as it is scanned through the process. Being able to do this automatically makes a huge difference and also helps with repeat orders.”

“Using the Fitfactory system has enabled us greater traceability of orders from the start of a job to completion and it has also meant I no longer run up and down stairs to the workshop floor to find out how orders are doing! “

“Significantly, both our order booking and quotation process are easier to compile, with the greatest improvement being to the traceability of materials both from a works and an accounting perspective. We know exactly what materials we are holding at any one time and know clearly when we need to replace out-of-stock items. This prevents over-ordering and extra cost. The benefit to this is across the company from the floor to the accountants and, bottom line, to the business.”

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