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Customer Profile |
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Hills Panel Products
are a broad range supplier to the furniture and building
trade of MDF based products and associated fittings. HPP
were formed in 1991, and are based in Oldham and Sheffield.
Over the years HPP have continuously added a host of related
products including furniture doors, handles, fittings systems
from Blum, laminate flooring and more to their growing
product range.
HPP has continuously invested in all aspects of its business.
Starting with 10,000 sq ft of storage and office space,
they now occupy over 100,000 sq ft and employ over 80 staff,
operating the very latest technology in order to deliver
the company's aims. In Nov 1999, HPP was delighted to achieve
the 'Investor in People' accreditation. They are committed
to providing the very highest standards of customer service.
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Key Achievements |
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Comprehensive
use of Sales Order
Processing to handle HPP's industry specific requirements. |
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Automated
links from Sales Order Processing and Production modules
to CNC based routers and saws. |
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Integrated use of Transport
module with Sales order processing for Load Planning. |
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Hills Panel
Products
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“ Effective and Efficient
Management of Production and Distribution ”
Hills Panel Products (HPP) are a broad range supplier
to the furniture and building trade. Their product range includes
a huge selection of sheets, cut and edged board, work tops,
vinyl wrapped furniture doors, and associated fittings. In
order to manage the growth of their business activities HPP
realised they required a truly integrated financials and logistics
solution, leading them to investigate a number of potential
solutions. Being a complex business with diverse product ranges,
Hills Panel Products came to the conclusion that the de Facto
system was the ideal solution for their manufacturing and distribution
operations.
 Complex
Sales Orders handling Industry Specific Requirements
As a result of implementing the de Facto solution and the examination
of their business processes by our implementation specialists,
HPP have switched to utilising Sales
Orders for their production
planning. The switch has resulted in the ability to manage
complex orders much more efficiently, removing the need for a
huge number of Bills
of Materials.
A single Sales Order may include diverse items from across their
product range. For example, fittings from the fittings warehouse;
cut and edged panels in standard and non-standard sizes; board
supplied full sheet or cut, part-finished or not, and a variety
of door types.
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In order to facilitate this process, De Facto created
additional functionality within the Sales
Order window to record the full range of product
specific information that HPP needed to record and track.
These extra fields enable them to record such information
as components, styles, door production information etc.
This 'extra fields' functionality is standard in S5 and
can easily be set up at implementation time to handle
any business specific information required.
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Vistas
managing information to control Routers and Saws
Further significant efficiencies in production planning and management
became possible on the basis of utilising S5's powerful Vistas.
Through Vistas, HPP have an easy to use and effective method
for taking the information right through to the routers which
cut
the patterns and products out of their raw materials.
For example, the Vista can take a selection for a single colour
of raw product from the list of orders and the output can be
directly utilised by the CAD/CAM software which optimises the
routing jobs. As a result, HPP have experienced dramatic increases
in production efficiency. Planning and optimisation have been
improved, with reduced wastage of both boards and vinyl. Furthermore,
the improved grouping allows for bigger production runs, which
in turn enables improved quality due to optimal press temperature
attainment.
Advanced
Transport and Load Planning
Hills Panel Products run their own transport and distribution
operations. Load
planning is a vital issue for them due to their extremely
varied range of products and extensive customer list. de Facto
S5 enables them to manage load order and drop order with maximum
efficiency. Where previously this process was managed manually,
S5's functionality allows for the optimum ordering to be created
automatically.
As HPP distribute products
in a wide variety of units and sizes, de Facto S5's ability
to load plan in a range of units is used to good effect.
Unassigned capacity is easily viewed for planned loads
using the planning window. S5 enables the easy printing
of drop orders and transport instructions for the haulier,
as well as detailed load manifests. Packing documents
further enable the customer to see at a glance the contents
of packs within a load.
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Effective
Multi Warehouse Management
As Hills Panel Products operate multiple
product-specific warehouse areas within their sites, communication
and effective management of resources are vital. From within
the same 'multi-disciplinary' Sales Order, S5 filters enable
the viewing and utilisation of only those products particular
to an individual functional area of a warehouse. Having thus
enabled the staff to manage their own operation at their own
level, the full range of items in the Sales Order is then brought
back into view for transport
planning purposes. Staff are therefore able to see exactly
the information they need to see when they need it, efficiently
using information without redundant information input.
Martin Hill, Operations Director, HPP Ltd:
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de Facto has enabled HPP to gain great efficiencies
in all areas of our business. This partnership has enabled
us to focus our efforts on moving the business forward.
Our future growth plans all involve working closely with
De Facto as their flexibility gives us the confidence that
whatever challenge we present De Facto Software will be
able to handle it.  |
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The de Facto solution has had multiple benefits for HPP.
Previously manual processes are now entirely electronic
based with considerable
automation. Production has become more efficient as has
load and drop planning. Changes in business processes have
been
implemented, such as the switch from 'made for stock' to
'made to order' with consequent gains in efficiency and
turnaround. Having demonstrated a commitment to De Facto's
solutions
by upgrading to S5, HPP are looking forward to the future
implementation of a number of new features to further enhance
their business operations.
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Customer Profile
Hills Panel Products are a broad range supplier to the furniture
and building trade of MDF based products and associated fittings.
HPP were formed in 1991, and are based in Oldham and Sheffield.
Over the years HPP have continuously added a host of related
products including furniture doors, handles, fittings systems
from Blum, laminate flooring and more to their growing product
range.
HPP has continuously invested in all aspects of its business.
Starting with 10,000 sq ft of storage and office space, they
now occupy over 100,000 sq ft and employ over 80 staff, operating
the very latest technology in order to deliver the company's
aims. In Nov 1999, HPP was delighted to achieve the 'Investor
in People' accreditation. They are committed to providing the
very highest standards of customer service.
Key Achievements
| • |
Comprehensive use of sales order
processing to handle HPP's industry specific requirements. |
| • |
Automated links from sales order processing
and production modules to CNC based routers and saws. |
| • |
Integrated use of Transport module with
Sales order processing for Load Planning. |
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