SEYCHELL CAPITALISES ON FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF PSL DATATRACK
Seychell Engineering had been operating for some 30 years as a successful manufacturer of bespoke engineering products when new owner, Roger Williams, acquired it in April 2013. He took over a profitable business with a good customer base in the scientific, medical, aerospace, marine and motorsport sectors that still had potential to grow.
To build upon this, it was important to ensure that the company’s existing PSL Datatrack production management and business administration software was being utilised to its full advantage.
Having carried out a full business review, followed by implementation of a program of changes and improvements to many areas of the business, including branding, marketing, engineering processes, IT and administration. Roger concluded that the PSL Datatrack system was ideally suited to the needs of Seychell’s business now and for the future. “It was clear that it had the functionality that I wished to implement to help improve the business.” he said. Roger recognised though, that the company needed to make better use of the system to achieve the improvements he desired.
Roger also identified that, historically, vital information about production processes and customers requirements was not being recorded fully; important information was being held in people’s heads. This problem was demonstrated when a key member of staff was ill for several months not long after the business had been acquired. PSL Datatrack provided training to help the company overcome these issues.
The PSL Datatrack system, from quotation to invoicing plus scheduling, shop floor data collection, job costing and purchase invoicing has been fully implemented. As part of his review, Roger had identified that not all of the PSL Datatrack modules that Seychell had originally invested in were being used to their full potential. Investment in staff training has made the business more efficient and ensures a much faster response to customers’ needs.
Following training, better use of the Quotations module has given the company a much more efficient and accurate method of pricing jobs, together with accurate management of component manufacture to ensure that only correct issue drawings are used. Accurate processes together with the implementation of the Scheduling and Shop Floor Data Collection modules enable Seychell to give their customers very accurate delivery date estimates. Production capacity status is now visible without having to physically go to the shop floor to find out and Seychell are now able to monitor machining and other process times. No such information was previously available whereas now the company can compare actual costs to quotation and therefore accurately monitor profits and learn from variances.
Roger noted that the team at Seychell have found the PSL Datatrack system very easy to use due to commonality of functions throughout the modules. This was important when implementing many changes as the staff were naturally nervous of change and had previously only been using a small amount of Datatrack’s full functionality.
“PSL Datatrack is a modular system that can be built up. This has been very helpful, as it has meant that we have been able to implement new processes in stages rather than all at once. It has also allowed the company to subsequently purchase additional PSL Datatrack modules as they are required.” says Roger. Seychell will now add the Quality Assurance and CRM modules over the next twelve months to continue to enhance the efficiency of the business.
According to Roger, the support provided by PSL Datatrack is always quick and accurate. “PSL Datatrack continually develops new functionality for the software and good on-site support has been provided during the planning and implementation of training & new modules. I am very happy with the system and the huge amount of change we have implemented in the company over the past year which has been highly successful without any issues”
Contact PSL Datatrack, Lily Hill House, Lily Hill Road, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 2SJ, Tel: +44 (0) 8456 345931, Fax: +44 (0) 8707 064851, Email: sales@psldatatrack.com,
visit www.psldatatrack.com