Techsil
Industrial adhesives supplier
Company Overview
Techsil was established in 1989 with the specific objective of promoting GE Silicone products. It is dedicated to the promotion and supply of high performance synthetic polymers designed as adhesives, encapsulants, casting and mouldmaking materials. As a leading industrial adhesives supplier,Techsil offers a comprehensive service based on sound product knowledge, supported by an extensive stock holding. Its unique service includes the custom blending and re-packing of its products.
Techsil quickly established a reputation for supplying high quality silicone moulding rubbers within the Rapid Prototyping Industry, enabling the company to look at the options available for a supply of casting resins.The chosen partner for this important range was BJB Enterprises Inc of California, USA, which continues to be an important part of Techsil’s success.
Expanding Business
Techsil's ability to solve bonding problems has recently increased with the addition of the high performance range of Methacrylate and Epoxy adhesives from Dexter Hysol.These fast cure, high strength products have opened up many new applications in the Automotive, Marine and Electronics industries.
In 1999, GE Bayer Silicones decided to appoint Techsil as one of a small group of key distributors in Northern Europe.This status recognised Techsil’s success, and has enabled it to support GE Bayer’s prior distributors whilst meeting the company’s revised needs in terms of market knowledge, logistical presence and stock holding.
Techsil’s continued growth (over the past 4 years, it has enjoyed business growth of up to 25 per cent p.a) means that it is now GE Bayer Silicones’ largest Room Temperature Volcanisation (RTV) distribution partner in Europe.This has enabled the company to increase the size of its facilities by moving into new premises in Bidford on Avon, Warwickshire.
Stuck in a Rut
With steady growth came a shift in business requirements. Mark Lowe, Operations Director, says,“We had been using Sage Line 100 for over five years but we could not work with the inconsistent costings it reported, based on Sage’s FIFO system. Sage was complicating our data - there was no accuracy in the costs associated to any individual lot number. Assessing such costs is critical since a majority of our business relied upon cherry picking particular ‘use by dates’. Sage also ran from a DOS platform but had been jazzed up with a Windows front end and that combination did not work as well as it could from an inputting perspective. Sage also lacked proper management of lot traceability, bar-coding and process control, as well as actual product costings for both buy-in, sell-out and manufactured items.”
Techsil assigned Mark the task of reevaluating its business and accounting systems. Mark comments,“I was looking to improve production and distribution planning, reduce costs and improve management reporting. I felt that there had been many advances in technology that Techsil could take advantage of, especially in terms of integration, which was something we were missing. Our existing systems had slowed considerably, so speed and capacity were also on my mind.”
Mark knew that Techsil should choose a SQL-based platform but he was also looking specifically for an MRP solution that would be able to cope with the sheer volume of data.“We needed an advanced reporting facility with a very high analytical ability,” he says.“I also needed to be able to split our core manufacturing function away from accounts, as Sage was accountantorientated and we needed to be manufacturing-orientated.”
Mark began his search by attending a trade show at the NEC (Birmingham) which ran alongside a plastics trade show.“We were particularly attracted to companies who were advertising themselves in the foyer,” says Mark. “In my opinion it shows clear evidence that companies are confident, forward thinking and desire to do well. It was there that we discovered the Access Supply Chain solution.
Breaking the Mould
Having spent a significant amount of time exploring the specific needs of Techsil, with a number of other leading software providers, Mark concluded,“There were so many reasons that I was in favour of an Access Supply Chain solution.Its excellent functionality, performance, ease of use and ultimate flexibility made it a very slick system tool; It won hands down by offering the best solution and didn’t cost the earth.”
Mark was responsible for the implementation of the new system, as well as the selection. “I elaborated on Access Supply Chain’s 10-step implementation plan, broke it down and sub-divided certain sections to create a 22-stage process.”
In order to ensure the smoothest implementation, Access moved the accounts data over to the solution in advance, which took around three days. This enabled the remainder of the go-live to be implemented in a single day.“Our major challenge was when it came to costings,” comments Mark,“as our software allowed for one costing value where Supply Chain has three (which is what we agree with). However this meant we had to choose which of the three options in Supply Chain would be relevant for our one Sage costing.”
Mark chose for the training to take place just one week before the solution was implemented.“I knew people would feel unsettled if they’d forgotten training given too far in advance. Also, I was making fine tuning decisions to the system and changing the configuration close to the go live date, I decided it was only right for the staff to be trained on the system once these were complete.”
The Results For Techsil,Access Supply Chain’s industry specific expertise was invaluable. “The company’s ‘manufacturer orientated’ approach and understanding of the logic of liquids and multiple units of measure associated with them was a definite bonus,” Mark comments.“The fact that the solution is SQL based gives peace of mind - it does everything that was on my wish list and it was delivered within budget too.”
“Our Access Supply Chain solution has had an immense impact on our business,” says Mark.“It has drastically reduced the number of processes involved from receiving to despatching, from ten stages to just four.Now it’s just: phone call – order on system – despatch note – invoice. Before the system was installed we couldn’t actually guarantee our paperwork went out with the shipment. Now we can because the bar-coding system means that nothing leaves the warehouse without being confirmed as present by having its unique identity barcode scanned and then integrity checked with the system itself.”
The benefits for Techsil have been numerous. “Extensive easy-to-use functionality, excellent performance, reliability, integration, multi-currency, improved management reporting…never mind the cost savings and efficiency improvements we’ve incorporated into our physical process…Access Supply Chain really does do it all,” exclaims Mark.
Mark is already planning to expand Techsil’s use of the solution in the future; “This system will be something to develop and work with, and will grow with us should we become multi-site. Access Supply Chain has responded to our needs perfectly,” he concludes.
