\\\ Manufacturing \\\
Success story
/ +231&0/%3!-,$#-%0$+2+3doubles revenue in 18 months with QAD Cloud ERP 2fx is a British manufacturer
m
customer requirement dates didn’t match
of optical fiber protection
commitment dates; and shortages on the
systems with a patented
production line, excess stock and a lack of
grooved design and
clear metrics and estimated profit margins
process. Best known for its
were among its key challenges.
Microduct products, m2fx specialises in
“We had three key goals — growth,
cable/microduct routing products that are
profitability and customer satisfaction,” says
designed to protect fibre yet still be ultra-
Tom Carpenter, chief executive officer for
flexible to enable fast and efficient installation
m2fx. “The next two to three years were
service, manufacturing, asset management,
in the field.
critical for us. It was vital that we focus our
supply chain execution, service and support,
resources on our key goals and minimise any
analytics and interoperability.”
Miniflex Protection Tube, Cable and
Founded in 1994, the rapidly growing
distracting effort or expenditure.” The company implemented QAD Cloud ERP
company manages its complex make-to-order manufacturing process for delivery to an international customer base; the company has distributors in France, India, the
with QAD Easy On Boarding, a scalable
The solution: QAD Cloud ERP provides flexible full-strength ERP functionality
solution that offers pre-defined processes and predictable costs that significantly reduce implementation time. Once implemented, it took
Netherlands, South Africa, the UK and the US. Recently, m2fx reached a major
m2fx defined its core requirements and
m2fx a weekend to transition to an ERP system.
milestone, with its Miniflex product range
began to investigate enterprise resource
“The capability to scale and integrate modules
successfully deployed in 25,000 fibre to the
planning (ERP) solutions. To aid the decision-
on a grow-as-we-go basis is exceptional,” says
premises (FTTP) installations around the
making process, it created a scorecard to
Carpenter. “We initially set up with core
world, a testament to its continued leadership
rate the various solutions and ERP delivery
functionality, including Financials,
in a growing market.
models. First, m2fx wanted the solution to be
Manufacturing, Analytics and Supply Chain
highly flexible to support the company’s
Execution and have gradually implemented
aggressive growth without taxing its current
additional functionality.
The challenge: outdated financial reporting impedes performance In order to meet its strategic goals for
budget and resources. QAD allows us to maintain, support and m2fx evaluated and scored several factors on a
upgrade individual components of our QAD
scale of one to ten including:
ERP application, while continuing to leverage our existing system.”
continued growth, great customer service and maximum profitability, m2fx recognised the
•
Sales order processing.
need to augment its financial reporting
•
Production and financial control.
“QAD Cloud ERP mitigated many of the IT and
system. Its existing solution no longer sufficed
•
Business management information.
financial risks associated with a new ERP
and was impeding its progress. Unlinked and
•
Customer relationship management.
implementation, as all of the software, systems
out-of-date data slowed performance;
•
Implementation risk.
and infrastructure are managed and
•
Engineering control.
administered by QAD in a secure, reliable and
•
Cost over three years.
industry compliant data center,” says Carpenter. “QAD is a proven cloud ERP solution.”
In essence, m2fx was in search of a simplified, rapid implementation; scalable solution; and turnkey management to support daily
The benefits: QAD delivers global capabilities while optimising business processes and time to value
enterprise-wide operations. QAD Cloud ERP, the web-based delivery of QAD Enterprise Applications, was chosen to
12
IT
MANUFACTURING
&LOGISTICS
December 2015
reduce the total cost of ownership and simplify
QAD Cloud ERP supports every operation
applications management. “QAD Cloud ERP
within m2fx. “With QAD, we’ve benefited from
stood out,” adds Carpenter. “It offers the robust
a level of ERP functionality typically enjoyed
features we need for financials, customer
by much larger companies, yet it is affordable
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