Model for growth

An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system ties together all aspects of a business, from order enquiry through to cash receipt, and keeps all transactional data in a central database. Information is entered only once, and then flows automatically throughout the business, generating the necessary transactions and paperwork with the minimum of effort.

The value derived from a state-of-the-art ERP system can be great, but varies from one company to another and depends on the start point. Radius Solutions has developed an ERP maturity model methodology. to help companies define how they use their current information systems, to gain a better understanding of the total impact a single, integrated, fully utilised modern system could bring them. In the ERP maturity model there are four stages of adoption packaged goods companies typically fall within.

The first stage is ‘Immature’, where there is no single ERP system. Companies in this stage find that data is decentralised, there is a low ability to share information and frequent data entry duplication occurs. Companies in this stage would typically have the most to potentially gain by moving to a single system which completely integrates their operations, especially if they operate in multiple facilities: dramatic savings are possible through the reduction of inefficient processes and improved access to basic business information.

‘Reactive’ is a stage in which companies might have a single ERP system that manages basic transactions, but it has limited capabilities or unused functionality requiring augmentation with other applications or tools, such as spreadsheets. There are typically no real-time data collection capabilities present.

Stage three in the ERP maturity model is what we label ‘Established’. In this stage a company would have a fully integrated ERP system where data is entered only once, then is leveraged many times. A stage three system would provide robust features for daily use while offering some fundamental analytic capabilities through base reports, enhanced with custom reporting. The ability for users to monitor data for real-time decision making would be present and Electronic Data Exchange (EDI) capabilities between customers and vendors would exist. Companies in this stage are typically deriving significant value from their systems, but are not yet able to use them to identify additional ways to improve their business performance.

Companies in the fourth and final ‘Proactive’ stage are maximising their use of technology to manage their business. They are leveraging tools to maintain customer relationships, employing Supply Chain Management, Vendor Managed Inventory and Manufacturing Resource Planning. They have access to information from across their organisation and leverage it for strategic decision making. These types of organisations can easily identify their most and least profitable clients, plants, and jobs. They can perform ‘what if’ scenarios - such as determining the impact that changes in materials costs will have on profit margins.

We have seen all stages of ERP adoptions across all sizes of packaging organisations. From a multi million pound, multi-national company still in stage one adoption, to a small operation achieving stage four.

“Our goal at Radius Solutions over the past 30 years has been to help companies identify ways to leverage information technology strategically, then help them deploy it. We are working hard to move companies along the maturity model and transform their businesses such that they are the profit leaders of the future,” states David Taylor, president and CEO of Radius Solutions.

Access to information delivers faster food service

New IT systems at the German subsidiary of Nicholl Food Packaging are part of a drive to develop business in Germany, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.

A warehouse management and inventory control system is providing Bachmann Aluminium Packaging with up to date information from raw materials to finished goods. This makes possible efficient production and storage operations and a faster response time to customers.

“In competitive retail markets it is important to be able to respond efficiently to customers’ orders and to react quickly to any changes or last-minute requests,” says Bernd Wagner, managing director at Bachmann.

Pall-Ex takes the lead in integrated management

The pallet distribution network Pall-Ex has become the first in its sector to be certified with an integrated management system (IMS) across its business operation. The system covers IS09001:2008 (quality), ISO14001:2004 (environment) and OHSAS18001:2007 (health and safety).

Managing director Adrian Russell expects the Epicentre system to help the company meet future environmental and health and safety challenges as efficiently as possible.

“With the existing quality management system as its backbone, Epicentre brings additional strength to our business by allowing us to streamline more information than ever before,” he said.

Pharma system gets the best from team work

The pharmaceutical industry can profit from the newly GMP validated 6.1 version of PAS Media. Added features will simplify and accelerate the creation and approval cycles in pharmaceutical labelling and packaging production, says the company.

The improvements will assist project management, component administration, data storage and archiving.

An online comparison of different files, such as labelling artworks, is possible within the PAS Media viewer. Up to five users can meet online to follow the correction statements in real time and discuss changes on labelling and packaging artworks.