Radar Systems Manufacturer Hits the Mark with MRP Software
“MRPeasy has helped us hugely with controlling the flow of goods and making sure we haven’t got loads of bits sitting around that we don’t know what they’re for,” says James Watt, Supply Chain Coordinator at Blighter Surveillance Systems.
High-tech providers of ground-based radar systems
In 2015, a few experienced engineers from a reputable technology consultancy firm decided to design a novel radar system. They engineered a prototype using, in part, an ordinary tea-tray. The finished product surpassed expectations and landed the team a contract. Blighter Surveillance Systems was born.
Today, the Saffron Walden based manufacturing company supplies its products to a diverse client base that includes a host of organisations in 35 countries around the globe. To date, Blighter has sold over 600 radar systems.
Needing a simple system to manage complex operations
Since its inception, Blighter had managed its operations in spreadsheets—a challenging task considering the complexity of radar manufacturing. In 2019, however, the management team understood that without a robust manufacturing software solution, they would not be able to align the production effort with their expanding market ambitions.
“We needed a system where we could define individual part numbers, control revisions, and manage multi-level BOMs,” says Supply Chain Coordinator, James Watt. “We weren’t looking for something with all the bells and whistles that would take a hundred thousand pounds to implement like SAP. But we still needed a solution for controlling production and the flow of material through the business.”
A perfect balance of functionality, user-friendliness, and affordability
It was one of the team’s accountants that came across MRPeasy while looking for manufacturing software which would integrate well with their accounting system, Xero. After playing around with it and uploading some BOMs, it quickly seemed like the right balance between functionality and ease of use at an attractive price point.
The system perfectly met Blighter’s requirements for multi-level BOM management and inventory control, all while aligning seamlessly with the accounting team’s requirements. The team also implemented many useful functions like part numbers, user defined fields, a PDF editor, version control, and more.
The initial implementation was completed in just under 6 months without the aid of external consultants. The task was largely simplified by the software’s support team, which generally answers functionality queries within the same working day.
Reaching a sophisticated level of operational control
After the implementation, Blighter Surveillance Systems has gained a lot more control over its operations. The largest efficiency gains have come from stock control and managing inventory turnover.
“MRPeasy has helped us hugely with controlling the flow of goods and making sure we haven’t got loads of bits sitting around that we don’t know what they’re for,” James states. “It’s really saved us from having too much cash tied up in stock.”
The system has also been a big help with stock counting. With MRPeasy, the company is moving towards continuous cycle counting that would enable presenting constant and accurate stock figures to accounting at all times.
Since Blighter predominantly uses subcontractors for their assembly and manufacturing needs, another game-changer has been managing transfer orders. James explains: “With MRPeasy, we can issue things to subcontractors but still see the value of stock in our system and have it tracked and controlled. Being able to manage all this within our internal MRP system has been great.”
All in all, MRPeasy has helped Blighter reach a sophisticated level of control over their manufacturing and stock management. The new system is providing ease of mind in assuring the company’s continued growth without breaking the bank.
