Engineering company install WORKPLAN ERP / MES software

We spoke to one of our customers David Murphy TRJ Engineering about their recent install of WORKPLAN ERP / MES software.

Tell us about TRJ Engineering.

My father started TRJ almost 50 years ago. Since those early days we have grown to have a staff of around 40 people, all in our factory in Hallam. We do general engineering as well as street furniture. In fact, we are not scared of anything. We can do it all. We even have a timber section with a full-time carpenter to do the jobs that are needed. I took on the mantle from my father 26 years ago.

You recently installed WORKPLAN ERP / MES software. What is WORKPLAN?

WORKPLAN is an MES/ERP job-management software solution especially suited for job shops, prototype, custom, and made-to-order manufacturers. WORKPLAN is designed to automate and help manage your business processes. It manages your business activity starting from creating a Quote and going until you ship out the job & invoice the customer.

What does it do for you?

Quoting, estimating you name it. Everything for our on-floor management, what jobs are being scheduled, how long it should take. It takes the job all the way through from quoting to estimating it does everything for us. It even sends details to our accounting system with everything ready for invoicing.

Real information.

When we started using the WORKPLAN software I was blown away with the information that we gained. We can see everything that our operation is doing. It gives us real numbers. Making our systems so much more accurate now. It creates trigger points that enforces efficiencies. For example, when we estimate hours for a job this is loaded into the system. When those hours aren’t met, we can work out why. The operator may have welded a certain way. By analysing this we can let the operator know how the weld should be done. This is all written in the job description through the WORKPLAN software. Leaving nothing to chance.

The dashboard

The dashboard shows us everything that is going on. This helps build our KPI’s. It gives me real time information at my fingertips. What we are doing with the software now is just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more that we can and will do.

Why SNC Solutions?

We have known Stephen for a long time, and he has been helping us with our IT systems for a while now. We originally had another software, but it was very limited in what it could do. We didn’t really want to change what we were doing but Stephen showed us WORKPLAN. We realised that it was time to improve our software. There were many things on the floor that we were missing out on because we didn’t have the right information. This was starting was starting to cost us. We had outgrown the old system, so it was time to change if we wanted to take the business to the next level. We had to do it.

How was the setup?

Stephen has been around the traps for a long time and is so knowledgeable. He knows what he is doing and so does the staff at SNC Solutions. Installing new software is never an easy process, it takes time and there are so many issues to deal with. Stephen meets with us once a month to make sure everything is going well. He trains our team on how to use the software and irons out any reluctance our team may have. Stephen has helped us a lot, especially with the transition of our new processes from the old way of doing things with our old software.

The SNC Solutions team

Stephen and his team are great. There is never an unanswered question. We can ask as many as we can, and they give us the right answers. The support has been great. If any of our team have a question, we submit it via their support area on the www.sncsolutions.com.au website and they get back to us.

My life is easier with WORKPLAN

Before WORKPLAN we had a disjointed system with different spreadsheets and various files. I used to have to go through customer information myself and add it to the job files then give it to production. This takes so much time. Now it is all in one system with all the information sitting in one place. With WORKPLAN we get files from our customers and load them into the WORKPLAN software. Anyone in our company can view them. Speeding up our processes. It frees my time allowing me to do more important things.

How has it changed your business?

Because we are not disjointed our processes flow much easier. Our quotes are matched up with estimates, bills of materials then job sheets. Its seamless! The purchase order comes in, it’s then changed to a sales order which creates the bill of material. It makes the process so simple. It is so much better than what we had before.

Does it save you time?

Well, our estimators do the work at the start, so it is ready for the floor team. When it comes to the drawings everything is in the system. Instructions can be loaded on the job sheets, so the floor staff don’t have to ask for any more information. Everyone is informed. It has made us at least 20% more efficient and that is being conservative.

Better communication

As a company, we now communicate so much better. It brings us closer together, and less fragmentation because everyone is switched on. At this time if there are issues, we can talk to the operator to see what has happened. By constantly analysing our processes we create a more efficient manufacturing plant.

What are your plans for the future?

I want the company to run without me. I have worked in the company all of my life, and I want to start enjoying other things outside of work. I want a life out of the business. I can do this now as I have all the information at my fingertips. I can see a snapshot of what’s happening remotely via the software dashboard that WORKPLAN offers. I can log in to the system anywhere in the world. We have some great people in TRJ Engineering, they just needed the right information, and now they have it. With WORKPLAN I am now becoming less relied on. And that’s great!

I want to put more of my time into my hobby, which is specialised cars. I once drove around the USA in one of my cars and I want to do it again soon. With WORKPLAN I can monitor the business from anywhere, so I am not needed in the office. That is fantastic and it gives me great hope about enjoying my life.

For more information on TRJ Engineering go to TRJ ENGINEERING HALLAM