ND Precision Products of Barnstaple has an established reputation for its precision engineering services. The ISO 9001:2008 accredited company makes complex tools for customers from many different market sectors including automotive, aerospace and medical products.
With demand for its engineering services strong, the company wanted to examine how to improve its business administration and production processes in order to maintain the highest levels of customer service and be prepared for an increase in sales turnover. The company decided to invest in a bespoke management information system that would cover all areas including stock planning and general management of all office administration and production procedures. This would both streamline the company’s production capabilities and provide improved communication with customers as well as suppliers and control/secure their on-going overhead costs.
Prior to investment in a new system, the company relied upon manual administration methods including, for example, using e-mails for raising quotations. This approach would typically result in problems such as missed payments, under costing and consequently losses on some jobs. There was also poor tracking of both work in progress and overall quality control.
Before making the decision to invest in PSL Datatrack, the company considered alternative systems but could not find anything with the flexibility or ease of use of the PSL Datatrack system. Since investment, ND Precision Products has not only been able to reduce lead times but also to accurately cost all the manufacturing processes involved for even the most complex bespoke contracts. Even with a large number of prototype jobs, PSL Datatrack allows the company to predict and easily confirm their tooling requirements and then manage effectively the complex nature of these engineered solutions.
Today, ND Precision Products uses a number of PSL Datatrack modules including the Sales Order Processing for the creation and administration of quotations, works orders, components stocks and deliveries. This has given ND Precision Products close control of work in progress and the production of highly efficient reports that allow effective management of their entire supply chain.
With Works Capacity Planning, PSL Datatrack monitors Work in Progress and provides Shop Floor Data Collection. “This module is excellent for shop floor planning and chase lists,” says Nick Squire, ND Precision Products.
For financial administration and planning, PSL Datatrack provides the generation of customer invoices, credit notes and job costing. The Purchase Order Processing module covers purchase orders' generation, details of goods received and automatically controls material stock, affording ND Precision Products close control over suppliers enabling them to accurately assign costs to jobs.
“It has been an invaluable and a fool proof method of checking payments in and out of the company, with good integration into the company’s Sage accounts packages,” says Nick Squire.
As a go-ahead company, ND Precision Products has invested consistently in the latest engineering equipment and CAD facilities, with the stated aim of offering the most cost effective and high quality tooling solutions to all customers, often advising on alternative methods of manufacture to reduce costs and improve productivity. Now, with PSL Datatrack, ND Precision Products can clearly demonstrate to its customers complete efficiency in its fully integrated administration processes right through from the quotation stage to delivery and invoice resulting in consistently on-time deliveries and even greater customer satisfaction.
“PSL Datatrack has provided excellent training and the flexibility to address ND Precision Products’ specific requirements. Great reaction times to queries and ongoing support have resulted in a well nurtured relationship forming between our two companies, “says Nick Squire. “We are both members of the GTMA and we recommend PSL Datatrack to our customers and suppliers alike. It is an ideal system for a company of our size with the capability of coping with bigger applications in many areas of business in addition to engineering services.”
NDP_Invests_In_PSL_Datatrack_Production_Control_Software.pdf
"We chose Datatrack as the software system to manage and bring together our production and administration systems. It's one of the best investments we have ever made."
