Ten years after installing PSL Datatrack production control software, Wealdpark Ltd continues to benefit from the production control system. The 2008 financial crisis was the catalyst to invest in a package that could control the running of the business in a way that manual administration could not achieve.
Wealdpark is a manufacturer of turned components and at the time, the St Helens company manually inputted quotations, works orders and purchase orders into Excel spreadsheets. The process was long-winded, prone to error and was not giving the level of control that was needed. The timely decision was made to look at production control software systems and the demonstration by PSL Datatrack was pivotal. “Their demo mirrored our existing manual administration processes. It showed that the information that we had been laboriously putting into spreadsheets could be accomplished much more quickly and accurately with their software,” comments Director, Phil Smith. “There are variables that need to be considered for a quote including machining and cycle times, material types, quantities, costs and additional processes that may be required from different suppliers, such as heat treatment and plating, as well as swarf reclamation prices.”
The software automatically estimates the selling price based on all the cost variables and can then raise a professional quotation letter within seconds, ready to be emailed to the customer. Purchase orders for subcontractors and material suppliers are also handled accurately and based upon the requirements set out in the quotation.
Subsequent investment in the Status Board system has brought further control to production as real-time order status information is displayed and available to everyone. The display clearly shows which works orders are scheduled and due at any given time, allowing adjustments to production processes to be made as necessary. “It has made our lives so much easier and streamlined the management of the company. A lot of our business comes from recommendations and PSL Datatrack makes sure everything is right. Any of our three directors can log in and see exactly how we are performing.” concludes Phil.
