Background

Robinson Healthcare is a successful manufacturer of a wide range of quality innovative products for the health, personal care and animal sectors, based in Chesterfield in the UK. The company had recently undergone a management buy-out, with capital investment secured through the involvement of a leading venture capital company.

As part of their strategy for developing the business, the new management team decided to replace the company's existing MANMAN-based centralised business system with a more modern ERP system providing better transaction capability, improved information access and greater functionality.

AHC helped the management and project team through the specification, selection and pre go-live stages of this project.

Our Approach

We used our proven framework to facilitate the development of a structured user requirement based on business needs both now and in the future. We then managed the process of selection with the management team, including ITT preparation, supplier short listing, and system and vendor approval. We also supported the company through contract negotiation with the chosen supplier.

In the last part of the project AHC developed a project plan with the project team and the vendor consultants, managed tasks to milestone dates and supported the individual departments as they reviewed and re-engineered their processes to maximise the benefit of the system.

Benefits

The company reduced annual computing costs by over £100,000, and saved over 15% on the original quoted system cost. Improved business processes as a result of systems implementation have improved customer service and enabled a reduction in inventory holding in excess of 35% .

By utilising AHC the project was delivered on time and within budget - the pre-go-live phase being completed in 12 weeks. We also had a significant role in securing the initial purchase cost reduction and maintaining project morale whilst encouraging process change to 'best practice'.