Macfarlane Group – A Package
Macfarlane Group got a pleasant surprise when they bought a competitor – a newly installed IBS solution. Macfarlane liked IBS ENTERPRISE so much that now the system is being installed throughout their whole operations.
Company background
Macfarlane Group is one of Europe's leading packaging businesses, offering products ranging from self-adhesive labels and packing boxes to packaging materials that protect goods in transit. Last August, IBS announced an agreement worth 4.8 million euro (4.2 million u.s. dollars) to supply Macfarlane Group with its leading business software for advanced e-Commerce and supply chain management.
Earlier last year, IBS was in the process of installing IBS ENTERPRISE for the National Packaging Group (NPG), a competitor of Macfarlane Group. By last April, the IBS solution was successfully up and running in two of NPG's locations. Then Macfarlane Group acquired npg.
At the time, Macfarlane Group was on the market for new software to manage its distribution and manufacturing requirements, and was on the verge of signing a deal with an IBS competitor. But its acquisition of ngp increased Macfarlane Group's emphasis on supply chain management, changing its business process and therefore its software requirements. Three months after acquiring npg, Macfarlane Group acknowledged the benefits of the IBS solution, and signed with ibs.
Tracks every stage
"We chose IBS as our strategic partner because they are perfectly placed to support our long-term goals," says Graham Casey, Managing Director of Macfarlane Group. "IBS has already installed its software on time and within budget at two locations within our recent acquisition, npg. After a period of evaluation, we decided IBS best fits our strategy for continued development of the packaging distribution side of the business."
Macfarlane Group's IBS ENTERPRISE package has numerous advantages. The system tracks every stage in the process, starting from the moment a customer picks up the telephone to order or logs onto the company's web site.
The fully integrated web interface will be crucial when the system goes live, giving customers the option of doing business exclusively via the Internet.
"One component of IBS ENTERPRISE offers customers an ordering system, which means that customers will be able to check the availability of items online," says IBS Project Manager Bill Morris.
"We chose IBS as our strategic partner because they are perfectly placed to support our long-term goals."
Graham Casey
MD
Macfarlane Group
Accurate forecasts
If an item isn't available, the software will order it from one of Macfarlane Group's suppliers and arrange for it to be delivered to the warehouse most convenient for delivery to the customer. Selecting goods in the warehouse to fulfill orders will be less Time consuming, because the system tells pickers exactly where to find each item. The system even handles delivery and invoicing, providing quite literally a "bid-to-invoice" service.
Among other features, perhaps the most important is the way the manufacturing system links to the distribution system.
Macfarlane Group will be able to factor its customers' projected demands into its own calculations, which will result in more accurate forecasts of what it needs to manufacture and when.
The system has full financial functionality, which simplifies the preparing of accounts.
It can assist in asset control – looking after company vehicles, for example – and it is multi-lingual. That is important for Macfarlane Group because the company's manufacturing site in Hungary needs to be fully integrated into the system.
"The software is wide-ranging and will increase the visibility of Macfarlane Group's stock and allow them to standardize their best-practice processes," says Bill.
In December, the first phase of the Macfarlane Group installation went live in Manchester. This is a new facility that merges three warehouses into one. Ivor Gray, Financial Director of Macfarlane Group, said, "We challenged you to get the system in fast and get us live on time, and you did it."
Macfarlane Group is the UK leader in packaging distribution and also specializes in self-adhesive labelling, packaging design and testing, through manufacture, construction and Assembly, to full logistics management for its multi-location customers.
An important reason for choosing IBS was because IBS software will increase the visibility of Macfarlane Group's stock and allow them to standardize their best-practice processes.
Macfarlane Group has a total of 1,500 employees in Britain, Ireland, Sweden, the United States and Hungary.
www.macfarlanegroup.net
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