Lawrence Engineering – ERP Installation

I’m very happy with the solution, it’s been a big learning curve over the last 6 months with a lot of change which comes from implementing a big system. I look forward to utilizing it in much more detail over the next 6 months and beyond. The Hybrid team provide an excellent support service. Whenever we needed any support, they were able to answer our queries immediately. Hybrid don’t just sell a solution and walk away, they are a team of people who really want you to succeed and help you every step of the way.” – James Lawrence

Introduction:

Lawrence Engineering is a family owned and run Toolmaking Company, founded by Michael Lawrence in 1984, moved into a purpose-built facility in 1995, and from there continued to expand and grow to a state-of-the-art modern facility packed with the latest technologies and equipment. Lawrence Engineering is located near Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo, the home of Irelands Toolmaking Industry.

Lawrence Engineering offer a range of tooling solutions, which include high quality Injection Moulds, Extrusion Tooling, Jigs, Fixtures and Special Purpose Equipment. To Complement these services, Lawrence Engineering are in the process of setting up a second site offering Medical Manufacturing services which will include Contract Moulding in Cleanrooms, Contract Manufacture of Medical Device Components, Contract Assembly and Product Design and DFM (Design for Manufacture) Input.

Priority Software is a global company which have been developing integrated business solutions for the SME market for over 30 years but relatively new to Ireland.

Priority Software has a network of gold partners which Hybrid Technology Partners is one, providing off-the shelf ERP solutions for the SME business markets which can also be tailored to suit business requirements.

Lawrence Engineering required a fully integrated solution that could offer an integrated system from sales management, labour hours/timesheets as well as routine accounting and nominal ledger features.

Lawrence met with Hybrid to see if the software would suit the business requirements and be implemented to run as a fully integrated business management solution.

Challenge:

• Identify needs and requirements
• Find an integrated business management solution that covered all their needs and requirements
• Plan an implementation strategy
• Project manage to ensure implementation goes as smoothly possible
• Ensure hardware and IT infrastructure is capable of running the ERP/BMS software
• Training and support to users

Solution:

The project began with a series of meetings between both Hybrid and the Lawrence Engineering project team to scope out what specific requirements the company had in their day-to-day operations.
Some of the Lawrence team had experience in ERP systems and new what would be required.

The key areas identified were:

• Sales system that leads directly to processing orders in manufacturing to remove duplication of work.
• Removal of paper-based logging of hours.
• Immediate data retrieval and live reporting.
• Access to the system from the factory floor.
• Accounting and Nominal Ledger in a multi-currency environment with a requirement for cost center reporting.
• Flexible data retrieval for specific client and sales reporting.
Over a series of scoping meetings, Priority Software came to the fore as an all-encompassing software solution that could meet the specifications laid out in the initial requirements gathering phase.

This led to a demonstration of the software’s capabilities over a series of meetings culminating with Lawrence Engineering implementing Priority as the company’s ERP.

One advantage to Lawrence Engineering is that the solution is a cloud-based system and easy access from any device, anywhere. The mobile apps provided specific benefits.

Results:

The implementation has been successful with the scoped modules going live in line with the expectations of Priority. Lawrence Engineering are a growing company with extensive growth planned over the next few years. Priority Software will enable this growth with seamless functionality and allows for multiple currency, multi-site, multi company all in one system.