Seals Packings & Gaskets Ltd
Leading manufacturer of gaskets and seals
Company Overview
Seals Packings & Gaskets Ltd (SPG), formed in 1971, is a dynamic market leader in the design, manufacture and supply of essential sealing and insulation products. SPG’s hallmark is quality. From product range and customer service to design services, logistics and supply systems, SPG is entirely focused on providing the customer with excellence in all that it does.
SPG have been in the industry for over 35 years and has recently experienced significant growth; turnover last year was £4.2 million, this year it has jumped over 40 per cent to £6 million.
SPG prides itself on having the right team and the right products to supply every company's needs; it is now expanding its operations and has acquired an extra site to operate as SPG Distribution, enabling it to step closer towards its vision of providing a ‘full circle solution’.
Jan Morris, Director, discusses the future of SPG,“We are putting together an ambitious five year business plan and will be trying to firmly establish ourselves in the Eastern Block, covering Slovakia - where we are opening a distribution centre - and the Czech Republic.We already have a business presence in Germany and endeavour to expand our UK customer base. We are looking to diversify and have recently bought two state-of-the-art water cutters that help us maintain the highest quality standards of gasket production.”
Changing with the Times
Jan explains,“The system we had been using previously was a bespoke solution called ‘Multipac’. It covered both manufacturing and accounting, but as two separate systems, and we had been using it for at least 20 years.”
“As you can imagine, over the years our business requirements changed significantly. We needed improved production and distribution planning, especially since acquiring SPG Distribution as a subsidiary, and we required greater speed and capacity.We wanted to take advantage of new technologies that were available and restore user confidence by choosing a reliable solution with good help systems.” Jan says,“Business development was also on my mind so analysis and integration were important factors in the decision too.”
Jan began her search for a solution by contacting a few companies she had researched on the internet. She also attended IT Showcase exhibitions which is where she discovered Access Supply Chain. “The Access Supply Chain solution offered us answers to all our requirements in terms of functionality, performance, ease of use, integration and cost.
We invited three companies in total to demonstrate their solutions. Myself and the managing director were jointly responsible for the final decision – we met with Access Supply Chain in March and had made a decision by June so the process was relatively quick.”
For SPG, integration between the manufacturing and accounts facets of the business was essential. Access Supply Chain solutions offer fully integrated ‘back office’ financials that ensure information flows seamlessly and effortlessly from one part of a business operation to another. These modules are extremely powerful in their own right, providing fast, intuitive data entry and virtually unlimited drill-down and analysis.
“The system is very user friendly and Windows based which is a plus as we were familiar with the layout and terminology,” Jan explains.“We also liked the fact that the manufacturing aspect fitted in to the accounts modules. The Access consultants we were working with were very positive and open which gave us confidence in the support - we were conscious it would be critical because we were not too computer literate.
In fact we were impressed with everything about the company and the solution offered good value for money.” Implementing the Solution “We followed the 10-step implementation plan to help keep us on track with the project,” Jan explains. “We started implementing the system in June and went live at the beginning of November – so the transition period was just over five months.”
Revealing the Benefits
SPG has used its Access solution to implement some radical business process changes, but feels that the system still has much to offer. “The learning curve is ongoing and there is still so much we haven’t touched on within the system’s capabilities,” says Jan.“For the foreseeable future, we are looking forward to utilising it even more as we discover what else we can get out of it.”
“The solution has enabled numerous and wide-ranging improvements including: overall functionality, performance, reliability, ease of use and integration.We have been able to grow the business, make improvements in efficiency, produce better management reporting and save money too!”
Jan continues,“Our Access solution has helped SPG to become very competitive in the market place and enabled us to increase our profitability.The integration that the solution offers has to be our favourite aspect, as we were without this functionality for so long. It’s now so easy to get information from anywhere within the system as the processes follow on from each other and are very intuitive.” Jan concludes, “I can recommend Access solutions and services to anyone - and I have to say the support is BRILLIANT.”
Key Benefits
- Fully integrated manufacturing and accounts facets of software
- Windows based – offers familiar and user-friendly layout
- Good value solution answered all functionality needs
- Aided competitiveness in marketplace and increased profitability
