Case Studies
Radiodetection
With cutting edge products and an eye for innovation, Radiodetection has to run a lean and flexible organisation to stay ahead of the competition and continue to meet current market expectations.
Their ‘old' back office ERP solution, ‘Swan', had been implemented some ten years previously and was beginning to creak under the demands caused by the company's continual growth. But, selecting, buying and implementing a new ERP system is no trivial undertaking and Radiodetection called in CCL to assist and de-risk the whole process.
Shopping for a new system wasn't CCL's initial focus. Instead, the first step was a detailed review of the current business processes. After a series of workshops aimed at identifying the key business processes and redefining them, Radiodetection were able to come up with a map of how they wanted the business to operate in the short and medium term. Using the information developed from the new business processes, CCL were able to help Radiodetection develop a highly relevant Statement of Requirements and Invitation to Tender for issue to the ERP marketplace. After a detailed selection process Radiodetection chose IFS 2000 as their preferred software application.
A large part of CCL's mission is to reduce the risk for the client. To this end CCL assisted Radiodetection in negotiating contracts and commercial terms with IFS so that the resulting contract balanced the risks and responsibilities of the two parties. As a result of these negotiations Radiodetection were able to sign a set of contracts with IFS that included safeguards on timescales, costs and the capability of the system.
After contracts were signed the real work, the implementation, began and CCL's involvement in Radiodetection increased. Radiodetection invited CCL to use its considerable experience of implementing ERP systems to de-risk their own implementation.
The first phase of Project Nexus (as it became known) would be to replace all aspects of the current ERP software in a ‘big bang' approach. This broadly encompassed finance, manufacturing, sales, purchasing, service and quality.
Radiodetection were keen to avoid the expense and risk associated with software modifications and it became part of CCL's task to come up with innovative solutions to business problems and changes in processes so that the standard software could be utilised as far as possible.
Working with Radiodetection managers and staff, CCL's consultants were able to map software functionality onto the process maps.
When all the preparations were complete, a Conference Room Pilot was conducted and this was used to simulate the flow of information throughout the organisation and to establish that the software would work effectively from day one.
Project Nexus successfully went live, on time and to budget. Radiodetection are now actively involving CCL in phase II of the project, the implementation of IFS front office to complement the modules they have already implemented.
"We had been told that ERP implementations on this scale are very rarely on time or on budget; we were delighted that we achieved both. CCL's expertise was a major factor that enabled this" said Nick Frost.
Nick Frost
Radiodetection
