Epicor Software instrumental in quadrupling output of Benson Group Site

Epicor Software Corporation has announced that Benson Group, one of the UKs fastest growing packaging manufacturers, will extend its use of the Epicor Manufacturing enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution and Epicor Advanced Planning and Scheduling to its packaging plant in Crewe, Cheshire, Medica Packaging Limited.

Additionally, Benson Group has achieved a four-fold increase in production output at its flagship manufacturing facility in Bardon, Leicestershire, which is underpinned by the Epicor solution.

In its eight year relationship with Epicor, Benson Group has grown from a single-site 10m business to one of the UKs largest manufacturers of folding cartons with 2009 revenue expected to reach 90-95m. This has been achieved through significant investment in new business processes, technology and manufacturing equipment, as well as innovative and modern manufacturing techniques to keep ahead of the competition.

Epicor has been an instrumental element to achieving the success we enjoy today through greater efficiency in our processes and sites, said Phil Towersey, IT manager at Benson Group. For example, our accounts team is the same size as it was eight years ago, despite a huge increase in our revenues. Epicors Advanced Planning and Scheduling solution has helped us achieve a four-fold increase in output at our Bardon site to 40m. We are now able to deal with changes effectively and plans are communicated to the shop floor accurately, and in a timely manner. Our manufacturing is very nimble and able to deal with change requests at 3 p.m. on a Tuesday and reschedule jobs rapidly through Epicor to meet a Wednesday deadline. This would have been impossible with our previous solutions.

Through Advanced Planning and Scheduling, Benson Group has been able to achieve a much higher utilisation of its manufacturing lines, reduced downtime between jobs and ready make times, by ensuring cut and finishing operations based on the same die board are scheduled to run in sequence. This streamlining of manufacturing processes has helped the company win and retain contracts with major food manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies across the UK.

Benson Groups achievements in the last eight years have been astounding, added James Norwood, senior vice president, product marketing for Epicor. At the heart of this has been a management teams desire to lead the way in what can be achieved in manufacturing, by looking at every aspect of a business for opportunities to be more efficient, and embracing new technology and techniques to achieve that goal.