Engineering for the future - Teescraft ’ s Lisa Shepherd with , from left , E-Max Systems ’ Simon Pritchard , Fred Okwute and Mike Colman .
Planning a path to success
Teescraft Engineering invest in their future with E-Max
PICTURES BY TOM BANKS
L eading North-East engineering firm Teescraft Engineering has invested in its future success with the implementation of a new enterprise software solution , provided by innovative local software company , E-Max Systems .
The multiple award-winning Teescraft has gained a well-earned reputation for producing quality precision components , which it supplies to industries including power generation , oil and gas and automotive .
But faced with the increasingly competitive nature within these sectors , the Tees business has taken the bold step of investing in state-ofthe-art software to keep it ahead of the game .
“ We needed a tool that could drive our business forward ,” says Michael Carr , plant manager of the Stockton site . “ We lacked visibility across the business generally but particularly across our job costings . It was difficult to measure all the costs that should be attributed to manufacturing and calculate whether the work we were undertaking was all profitable .”
Before implementing E-Max ERP , the company relied heavily on manual calculations and previous experience to guide its planning activities .
However , Michael acknowledges that this led to issues at production . “ We would do our capacity planning at quotation but this often threw up capacity clashes when we arrived at the manufacturing stage .”
After being given the inside track on E-Max by a colleague who had used the system at a previous employer , Teescraft chose to implement E-Max ERP at the Stockton site .
And the implementation ? “ Overall it was a very positive experience ,” says Michael . “ Understandably there have been a few ‘ speed bumps ’ along the way but nothing that we wouldn ’ t have expected . Whenever we ’ ve encountered any issues , there ’ s usually somebody on the other end of the phone or email to help us out .”
E-Max ERP is an enterprise
52 | Tees Business