Froude Hofmann makes a technology leap with Sage ERP X3 solution from Pinnacle
June 29, 2015 | News
From the company’s head office in Worcester, Simon Drain, Divisional Director - Spares & Service and Marketing Director, says: “Pinnacle is helping us to replace disparate legacy systems and islands of unconnected data with a fully integrated solution. Managers will share a unified picture of the business as it is today, not as it was last week. Today, we need to compile data from multiple sources and this inevitably introduces a time lag. Sage X3 will give us end-to-end visibility of the business and greater autonomy in being able to generate accurate, timely management reports to monitor our costs and profitability.”
The search for a new enterprise resourcing planning solution started a year ago and Sage X3 is set to go live by the end of 2015.
Commenting on the evaluation and selection process, Group Finance Director Charlie Wright says: “Having extensively reviewed the market, we had demonstrations of four systems. A comparison of complexity, capability and total cost of ownership narrowed the field down to Sage X3. Most comparable systems appeared to have similar functionality available, but we were more convinced that Sage could provide what we wanted out of the box, without significant and costly bespoke work, and, of course, Sage has a solid reputation in the marketplace.”
Commenting on the choice of Sage Business Partner, he adds, “Importantly, Pinnacle didn’t try to sell the system to us. They listened to our requirements and spent a considerable amount of time learning about our business. They then helped us understand how the final system would work and benefit us. This all ultimately gave us confidence in their ability to provide what they were suggesting, with a successful installation and on-going support.”
Simon Drain expects Sage X3 to have a wide-ranging impact on the business: “There will be over forty users in finance, sales and marketing, project management, purchasing, production control… in fact, it’s difficult to think of an area of the business that won’t be touched! Everyone from the different disciplines involved in the discussions with Pinnacle to define our business requirements and workflows is extremely positive about the potential to improve efficiency and Pinnacle’s ability to deliver what we need.”
For Pinnacle, Richard Sadler, Business Development Director, says: “We are delighted to have been chosen to help Froude Hofmann make the transition to a more powerful ERP solution. Sage X3 will support the company’s growth ambitions by strengthening its ability to compete on the world stage.”
Simon Drain concludes: “We have a great product range, for which there is demand in the market. Our previous solution, installed back in the mid-90s, has been constraining our growth and we have increasingly had to do things manually, capturing data away from the system. With Pinnacle’s support, we’re set to apply extensive automation and eliminate a whole swathe of duplicate data entry. We expect to see a dramatic difference in the way we do business going forward, with better quality management information, available with just a few clicks, and streamlined processes to maximise our commercial opportunities.”
About Froude Hofmann (www.froudehofmann.com)
Froude Hofmann designs, manufactures, and supplies an extensive range of engine testing systems in the automotive, aerospace, marine and industrial markets.
Founded by William Froude in the late nineteenth century, today Froude Hofmann has manufacturing sites in the UK, Germany and North America, supported by sales and service centres in Australia, Brazil, China, France, Italy, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and the Czech Republic, employing over 150 people worldwide.
About Pinnacle (www.pinnacle-online.com)
Pinnacle is an experienced business software solutions provider deploying Sage accounting software, ERP systems and CRM solutions to over 1,000 businesses in a variety of sectors. A leading Sage Strategic Business Partner, Pinnacle supplies Sage software nationwide and operates from 12 offices across the UK and Ireland.
