PADLEY & VENABLES FUTURE PROOFS GLOBAL BUSINESSWITH MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX

As the UK’s leading manufacturer of rock drilling tools, Padley & Venables’ global success is based on its reputation for product quality and efficient delivery. However, having been using the same ERP system since 1990, the lack of available skills to support the legacy application had created unacceptable business risk.

Working with Ardent Solutions, Padley & Venables has deployed Microsoft Dynamics AX across its two manufacturing sites in the UK and its German distribution centre. In addition to minimising the risk associated with the ERP solution, Padley & Venables is benefiting from faster production feedback, improved stock visibility and user enabled reporting and analysis.

Global MarketFounded over 100 years ago, Padley & Venables is the UK’s leading manufacturer of high quality rock drilling tools. The company has two manufacturing operations in the UK – Bedford Steels which is just one of five manufacturers globally to produce hollow drilled steel; and Padley & Venables which produces a mix of stock and custom products for

customers from Chile to Australia. In addition, the company has subsidiaries in Germany and Australia, as well as a long standing network of distributors supplying to 55 countries. Padley & Venables is enjoying year on year business growth, building on its reputation for delivering high quality British products to gain the benefits of burgeoning markets, most notably the growing extraction of valuable mineral deposits in Australia.

However, in 2011, the company had to face up to the fact that while operations were effective, the future of the business was at growing risk from its ageing legacy ERP implementation. As Darren Bradwell, Financial Controller, Padley & Venables, explains, “The existing ERP solution was installed in 1990. Running on IBM AS/400 hardware, it was becoming more and more difficult to maintain.”

Indeed, the company was relying on a single individual within IT but Padley & Venables could not expect to retain his services indefinitely due to retirement. “The ERP solution is critical to business success. It was clear that Padley & Venables needed to implement an up to date ERP and gain access to a broad range of skills.”

ERP UnderstandingIn addition to minimising the risk associated with the ERP solution, Padley & Venables was keen to achieve real time production feedback and improve stock visibility. “There was also an opportunity to reduce reliance upon a single individual for report creation, and empower users to undertake their own reporting and analysis,” says Darren.

Having assessed the market, Padley & Venables opted to work with Ardent Solutions and implement Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. Darren explains, “Switching ERP solutions after 20

www.ardentsolutions.co.uk | T. 0344 880 6146111-113 Fort Dunlop, Fort Parkway, Birmingham B24 9FD

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years is a major upheaval; it is essential to minimise business disruption and ensure the new system supports evolving business needs. Ardent provided the best explanation of Dynamics AX and how it would match Padley & Venables’ business needs. The consultants also provided the business with real confidence in their ability to deliver the technology and minimise business impact.”

The company took a phased approach to the implementation, deploying CRM, MRP, Bill of Materials, Routing, Financials, Stock Management and Multi-Bank at the Padley & Venables division, prior to rolling out at Bedford Steels and, finally, the distribution centre in Germany. Following extensive training from Ardent Solutions, the data migration exercise was handled by Padley and Venables’ own IT team.

Realising ValuePadley & Venables has realised its primary objective: namely gaining access to a broad range of skills that can support this critical component of the business. In addition, Dynamics AX is providing better visibility of both work orders and finished stock. Due to the size of the finished products, Padley & Venables does not have a set place within the warehouse for each product number; goods will be placed in a different location each time, depending on available space. “By including location information within the process, Dynamics AX has transformed Padley & Venables’ visibility of stock within the warehouse. The result has been a far quicker annual stock take process and reduced risk of picking and despatching the wrong items to customers,” Darren says.

In addition, Dynamics AX provides far better work order visibility, enabling the customer sales team to respond immediately to customer queries regarding order status. “The ability to drill straight through from sales order to works order provides an accurate view of when the order is likely to be completed and shipped, transforming the speed and accuracy of customer service,” he says.

Indeed, Padley & Venables is gaining considerable value from the faster, easier access to information. “The ability to drill through from one piece of information to another is a real benefit of Dynamics AX; the software is highly intuitive, providing really quick access to information and manoeuvrable search,” says Darren.

For an organisation that has relied on a single individual to create customised reports from the ERP system, this shift to user-empowered reporting is a revelation. “With training from Ardent Solutions, users have been empowered to undertake their own reporting, in their own time, without relying on someone else or waiting for a report to be completed.”

Building ValueHaving completed the deployment of Dynamics AX across the organisation, the next step is to begin to exploit the additional functionality on offer to drive new business value. “Putting in a new ERP system is a long process; it is important to retain the momentum and ensure the business realises the full value of the investment. Now Padley & Venables has got used to Dynamics AX, there are clear opportunities to move beyond the original implementation and realise additional benefits over the next year or two,” Darren says.

Indeed, Ardent Solutions is proactively working with the company, with consultants spending time assessing the implementation in each area, asking questions and proposing options for streamlining processes from production to sales and finance. Two days spent recently with Padley & Venables’ production team resulted in over a dozen recommendations for improving the way the company uses Dynamics AX to run MRP. “These sessions from Ardent were brilliant; completely targeted to the Padley & Venables’ business needs and a real eye-opener as to how we can gain real improvements in day to day operations,” he says.

In addition, the company is considering upgrading to the latest version of the software, Dynamics AX 2012 to exploit new functionality and will implement Ardent Solution’s Shop Floor Data Capture solution to automate the recording of work orders and gain productivity benefits.

Darren Bradwell, Financial Controller, Padley & Venables

www.ardentsolutions.co.uk | T. 0344 880 6146111-113 Fort Dunlop, Fort Parkway, Birmingham B24 9FD

To discuss Microsoft Dynamics AXcall Ardent Solutions on 0344 880 6146

marketing@ardentsolutions.co.ukor email

Any organisation that expects to gain an immediate return on investment from implementing ERP is expecting too much. The priority is to implement ERP and avoid affecting the business. Now the system is in; the business is working: it is the time to exploit Ardent’s expertise and business knowledge to find out what Dynamics AX can do for Padley & Venables in the future.