Air Bearings Limited achieves exceptionally high ROI – 20% improvement in operational workflows

ABL relied solely on an in-house, Excel-based management system to run its business. Once product range and output increased, the system became too difficult to maintain & consumed valuable time and resources.

ABL faced numerous operational challenges, namely in generating a viable bill of materials and work orders, costings, and creating materials purchase lists. With endless logistics problems, reams of data, and their current system’s inability to integrate data throughout the organization, raw materials management became slow and cumbersome.

“An intensive market research led ABL to Priority and Medatech, one of Priority’s authorized implementation partners in the UK. We knew we had to serve our customers better and run a leaner, more efficient business,” comments Gary Durrant, Supply Chain Director at ABL. “After comparing the benefits of various solutions, we went with Medatech and Priority Software.”

The project started with a thorough needs analysis to pinpoint problem areas in ABL’s manufacturing workflow. This was followed by a look into ABL’s administrative and manufacturing processes to recommend the most efficient module mix.

Priority’s best practices dramatically shortened the implementation process. Priority’s advanced data migration tools eliminated errors when transferring ABL data from its older systems during implementation.

“Implementation and integration were quick and easy with minimal downtime. Our staff of over 40 Priority users was up and running in no time. Even learning the system was a breeze – more than user-friendly, we just caught on fast,” remembers Durrant. Once installed, Priority’s system openness, interoperability, and flexibility lead to a fast learning curve, easy operation, and quantifiable results in a significantly short time, generating reports to measure and monitor ABL’s operational effectiveness.

ln the early months after implementing Priority, ABL managers could see a difference in their operations. There was a 20% improvement in on-time deliveries, matched with a significant reduction in inventory, which meant considerable cost-savings across the board. “Priority gave us the tools we needed to manage and control every aspect of our business.

For the first time, we had accurate costing data at our fingertips,” comments Durrant. “This is where business efficiency starts, and Medatech and Priority helped us get there,” he added. More recently, to keep pace with their growing business, ABL upgraded their Priority ERP, implementing new modules and functionality into their manufacturing processes to compete in today’s market.

Priority’s manufacturing module includes native support for complete inventory management, dynamic replenishment, warehouse management, production planning, and costing and financial accounting.

For companies like ABL, delivering the right products quickly and retrieving real-time information on product specifications, configurations, spare parts, equipment maintenance requests, schedules, and costs, was key to running leaner operations and, more importantly, increasing the bottom line.

With the UK’s manufacturing industry on the rise and new initiatives set by local and global governments, ABL is on the fast track to success. “Would we recommend Priority ERP to our colleagues in the industry? Without a doubt!” he said.