Fitfactory supports subcontractor’s digital transformation  

WPE Group-Photo-1024x680
WPE Group-Photo-1024x680

Weymouth Precision Engineers (WPE) has worked closely with digital software solutions specialist Fitfactory – specifically via its Tricorn production control software – since 2013.

From having an initial order book of £500 which has now progressed to £5 million, and new purpose-built premises to accommodate a growing customer base, the company has gone from strength to strength.

WPE was formed in 1964 and supplies high quality CNC machined components to industries such as aerospace and automotive.

In 2013, current managing director Dave Wilson took over the business. With an order book of £500 at the time, he realised there was much work to be done in terms of facilitating growth. One of the first items on the shopping list was an MRP system.

In 2016, the company acquired new purpose-built premises, which represented a significant expansion for the business as the headcount rose and the customer base grew. At the time of writing, WPE’s order book is virtually unrecognisable from the early days with a value of around £5 million.

Prior to purchasing Tricon production control software in 2013, there was no system in place at WPE. Mr Wilson reflects on some of the challenges that existed: “The problem was that we simply didn’t know how much profit we were making on a job or whether it was making the time allocated to it,” he explains.

“If a customer asked us to remake something from two years prior, we had no record of it, only that we made it. If a client called and said ‘you quoted me X amount in 2012, we had to take their word for it. We had no records.”

Dave Wilson was aware of another company who used Tricorn. When looking at Fitfactory’s (Tricorn is part of Fitfactory’s portfolio) transformations, he identified numerous companies in Weymouth who used Tricorn successfully. To assist with the implementation of the system, the Fitfactory team helped secure local grant funding to implement a digital strategy which allowed it to adopt the system.

As the organisation grew, Mr Wilson realised he needed increased control and wider visibility of the business as a whole. While WPE couldn’t purchase everything it wanted at once, initial success with the production control system led to implementing additional modules over time, including the Dashboard, Scheduler and SFDC (shop floor data collection).

“The implementation of Tricorn to WPE was significant,” Mr “Wilson recalls. “Before using the software, we wrote on paper and notebooks. We had no way of knowing what material was what, and there would be no traceability. Adopting an MRP system was the best solution for this problem. There was no need for paper as it was completely digital.”

Fast forwarding, Mr Wilson knew there were still opportunities to improve and enquired about Fitfactory’s Scheduler module: “I was sold within five minutes of seeing the product,” he recalls. “We realised we were doing lots of things wrong. It highlighted the fact that that we should have been categorising the machines differently to be more efficient with the resources we had at our disposal. I’d definitely recommend the Scheduler – and it’s hard to imagine how we would manage without it.”

As well as the Scheduler, WPE recently purchased Shop Floor Data Capture (SFDC). Prior to the system, Mr Wilson had to tell each staff member what their next job was which took up a considerable amount of time. “Before using SFDC, there could be 20 jobs with the same name, however SFDC allows you to open up and identify each job with drawings also attached.”

Adopting the system has saved WPE a great deal of time: “In the past, we created templates on paper to work out the set and run times and material costs. Then we started using spreadsheets; but when we implemented Tricorn, it saved approximately an hour per person per day. With five members of staff, that saved 25 hours a week,” Mr Wilson says.

Furthermore, Tricorn has reduced the amount of time Dave Wilson needs to be in the office: “Normally when night staff came in, I had to wait in the office to tell them what their next job would be. Now, the dashboard highlights the areas which are at full capacity for example, and prioritises the work that needs to be completed to ease congestion on the day shift.”

Tricorn has also supported WPE during the current COVID-19 pandemic. “With 80% of office staff working remotely, we weren’t printing nearly as much,” Mr Wilson explains. “Without Tricorn we simply wouldn’t have been able to work from home – and that would have impacted the overall business massively.”

He concludes: “We are still operating as usual. Office staff are successfully working from home and shopfloor workers are still able to proceed with job orders. More growth is on the cards as we’re in the process of leasing another business unit close to our current premises.”

Fitfactory www.fitfactory.com

Weymouth Precision Engineers (WPE) www.wpe.ltd

Company

Fitfactory

Most recent Articles

Renishaw highlights career pathways in engineering

There is not one singular blueprint that can lead to a career in the engineering industry. It offers a variety of roles, open to people from diverse backgrounds. To highlight the diversity of skills and experiences in engineering, global engineering technologies company, Renishaw, has created the ‘Employee perspectives’ series.
9 hours ago News

Login / Sign up