Company Case studies Merley

Apr. 17, 2023

ERP

Merley saves 20% on operational costs with Priority Cloud ERP

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Industry:

Manufacturing

Country:

United Kingdom

Website:

www.merley.com

Partner:

Medatech UK

Key results at a glance

20%

reduction in administrative spend

20%

cut in manufacturing manpower

100%

of formerly manual processes automated

About Merley Paper Converters

Founded in 1983 and based in Corby, UK, Merley Paper Converters is the nation's largest independent manufacturer of receipt-roll paper for retail and security applications. Serving hundreds of retailers who process over three billion customer transactions annually, Merley produces over 20,000 units per day of its patented Promeroll receipts and customized promotional papers.

The challenge

By 2001, Merley's rapid growth strained its patchwork of stand-alone systems. Production planning, inventory control, scheduling, costing, and financial accounting all ran on separate platforms or spreadsheets. Transferring vast amounts of historical data into a new solution without interrupting manufacturing was a critical hurdle. Leadership needed to avoid costly downtime, prevent late deliveries, and gain real-time visibility into product specs, orders, inventory levels, and costs while positioning the business for future expansion.

The solution

Merley chose Priority ERP in partnership with Medatech UK for its deep manufacturing functionality and flexible, cloud-based delivery. Key steps included:

Appointing an internal project manager to coordinate data migration and user adoption
Migrating all historic part records, bills of materials, and order data into Priority's single database
Activating modules for inventory management, dynamic replenishment, warehouse operations, production planning, costing, and financial accounting
Customizing user screens and workflows for each department via Priority's intuitive, web-based interface
Conducting hands-on training so that even ERP-novice staff could manage daily tasks and share information cross-functionally without IT dependence

“Priority was quickly deemed a perfect fit because of its strong focus on internal processes. It was a real game changer; shorter turnaround times and real-time data all in one place.”

Allan Dyson, Owner of Merley

The results

Since launching Priority Cloud ERP, Merley has consolidated all manufacturing and back-office functions into a single platform. The transformation delivered a 20% reduction in administrative spend, driven by a 20% decrease in staffing needs, and fully automated previously manual workflows. Real-time dashboards now provide instant insight into inventory, production schedules, costs, and orders, enabling faster decisions and on-time deliveries.

The stats: Before and After Priority

Metric

Before Priority

After Priority

Administrative operating costs

Before Priority

After Priority

Baseline

20% lower

Manufacturing headcount

Before Priority

After Priority

Baseline

20% fewer staff

Manual process steps

Before Priority

After Priority

100% manual

0% manual

Order turnaround time

Before Priority

After Priority

Legacy delays

Significantly reduced

System availability

Before Priority

After Priority

Multiple servers, downtime risks

Cloud-native, near 100% uptime

By automating all production-planning and scheduling tasks, Merley slashed manual data entry and accelerated assembly-line throughput.
Real-time inventory and costing provides up-to-the-minute visibility into stock levels, orders, and margins.
Sales, purchasing, manufacturing, and accounting now share a single source of truth, eliminating cross-departmental silos.
Cloud deployment removed the need for on-premises hardware and ongoing maintenance, freeing IT to focus on strategic initiatives.

“With Priority, we fully automated our processes and feel the difference when our products roll off the assembly line. It's the foundation we need to scale our business efficiently for the next 20 years.”

Allan Dyson, Owner of Merley