FOCUS ON MRP
KEEPING CONTROL
UK-based Vincico Electronics went live in six weeks with a new 123insight MRP system
“ A new material requirements planning system meant a 30 % reduction in stock , significant time / cost savings , more strategic purchasing and reclaimed office space for Vincico Electronics .”
Vincico Electronics , based in High Wycombe , Buckinghamshire ( UK ), provides contract electronic manufacturing services . Founded in 2013 , the company saw rapid growth by 2016 . Initially starting with a budget MRP ( material requirements planning ) system , it moved to another MRP system but unfortunately found that it , too , had shortcomings .
Tom Tew , Operations Manager , Vincico Electronics , explained ; “ We found out afterwards that the second MRP system was Australian-based , so getting support was a real problem – you would raise a ticket on Monday and get an answer on Friday . It was also geared towards retail and , although it was web-based , was incredibly slow and cumbersome to use .
“ Each invoice or delivery note would take 30 minutes to raise , and contract purchasing was
Tom Tew , Operations Manager , Vincico Electronics . very tedious . As we grew , it didn ’ t have the features that we needed ( such as certifications or RoHS ). There was only basic inventory control and it was missing items such as multiple suppliers , cost breaks etc .”
In summer 2019 , the company decided that it was time to replace its current MRP system and started to review the market .
Making the decision
“ I spent a couple of weeks looking at different systems and sales reps came in trying the ‘ hard sell ’, and we don ’ t respond well to that … We came across 123insight online and booked to attend an Evaluation Workshop in July ,” explained Tom Tew .
Tom Tew attended the Evaluation Workshop alongside Vincico Electronics owner , Randolph Labbon . They both found it starkly different to the traditional sales approach .
“ It was very refreshing , as you get to see the system in operation first-hand , not from the perspective of a salesman who will probably try to hide any flaws . Naturally , you
The no-risk approach to training was a major factor in getting us on board start to look for holes , but I couldn ’ t find any . The other systems we looked at were vastly more expensive and implementation costs were also huge . We even considered getting a custom system written , but it was a lot of money and we would be tied to the developer forever after that . 123insight seemed to be the best all-rounder ,” added Tew .
Day-to-day business delayed the decision until early 2020 . Randolph Labbon and Tom Tew registered , on behalf of Vincico Electronics , for the six days of 123insight MRP ‘ No-Obligation Training ’ on the understanding that if they both decided not to proceed , they could walk away with nothing to pay .
Tew commented : “ The no-risk approach to training was a major factor in getting us on board , as you had to buy other MRP systems first to use them . The training was good and we picked it up pretty easily . It was a lot to take in but it wasn ’ t overwhelming .”
Easy implementation
Shortly after training was completed , the COVID-19 pandemic hit the UK and Tom Tew was furloughed until early September 2020 . He immediately started work on data migration , with a 123insight MRP software implementation session taking place remotely . “ The implementation session was great . I was already pretty clued up from the training ,
72 | sheetmetalplus . com | ISMR October 2021