Specialising in long distance high frequency communications, Barrett Communications is a Perth-based manufacturer with an international reputation for high product quality, on time delivery and ongoing customer support.

Since the majority (98%) of Barrett Communications’ product is exported, the use of SYSPRO’s comprehensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is invaluable because it tracks a customer’s order from receipt to despatch. This is especially important because equipment is supplied to some of the most remote and inaccessible places in the world. Clients are scattered throughout most countries in the world and include the UN, international relief agencies, government organisations, multinational companies and peace keeping organisations.

Over the past five years, Barrett Communications has grown around 60%. With such significant growth, the decision was made that a more sophisticated ERP solution was required. SYSPRO was selected to replace MFG/PRO in 2004 due to its superior functionality. MFG/PRO had been used for around 8 years prior to that, but management had decided the product wasn’t keeping pace with technology advances.

Phil Bradshaw, Managing Director of Barrett Communications commented, “MFG/PRO was a DOS based system that had been rewritten to become a windows based system. It didn’t have the windows functionality, look and feel and user friendliness that SYSPRO has. We needed to replace it for various reasons, but user friendly windows functionality was a primary driver.”

SYSPRO enables more control over the entire manufacturing process and automated test systems mean Barrett can maximise product quality with a rapid throughput. “The control over the manufacturing process that SYSPRO provides has improved our ability to respond to large requirements at short notice. This is particularly important in times of natural disaster or during humanitarian crises as high frequency communications are used as the main communication method and we need to get products out quickly,” said Bradshaw.

The primary reasons for selecting SYSPRO were its superior functionality and windows capability. In comparison to some of the other ERP suppliers, SYSPRO was completely scalable, and suitable for an implementation that needed to start smaller and grow as required. Also, the product fitted Barrett perfectly in terms of processes and accounting. Manipulating data and reporting was easy with SYSPRO, and this was seen as a definite advantage over competitive products. Compared with MFG/PRO, the output was more user-friendly and the ability to drill down into product structures was more sophisticated in SYSPRO than what Barrett was used to.

When evaluating ERP solutions, Bradshaw said Barrett did all the usual things such as inviting the vendors in to discuss their product’s functionality. Barrett looked at SYSPRO, MFG/PRO, SAP and Pronto. Since MFG/PRO hadn’t changed much, it was eliminated early in the process. Bradshaw commented, “SAP was much too complex, very US-centric, and seemed more suited to a very large multi-national organisation. SYSPRO suited our company size - it was definitely targeted more towards the SME, and the support in the Eastern state was fantastic - which is something that is often difficult to get, even from some of the larger suppliers. Cost also came into it and SYSPRO was priced very well - especially when we looked deeper at the functionality it provided.”

Barrett was more than happy with the partner it chose, whose approach to the project planning was very structured which all the staff liked. Bradshaw said, “Our implementation partner came in initially and interviewed our internal staff. This gave the partner a really good understanding of our business from the perspective of the various departments involved. Everyone from manufacturing, accounts and management was involved. From day one, the system worked very well. We started the process in December and went live on time, within budget on July 1st. They (our partner) were very professional and committed from start to finish which meant we had a minimum number of hassles and a very smooth implementation.”

Whilst Barrett has experienced almost 60% growth over the past five years, a significant proportion of that growth has been over the past two years. Despite this growth, Barrett has not had to employ any additional finance or manufacturing staff and Bradshaw attributes this to the efficiency and ease of use of SYSPRO. Whilst ROI was not formally measured, Bradshaw said “I’m sure the ROI would be great. In fact, I’d say that after 14 months it has already paid for itself. We quickly settled into using SYSPRO and within a very short time period we were seeing the benefits. It helps us respond rapidly to changing markets and customer needs, and we’ve maintained our operating costs in a growth phase - without the need for any extra staff.”

Bradshaw continued, “At first, the MRP process seemed a little more complex in SYSPRO but once we mastered it, we realised SYSPRO is a much better system. As a result of the functionality, we now have better forecasting, forward manufacturing, and raw materials supply - we’re more accurate across the manufacturing function which means we can be more competitive and profitable.”

The ability to look at various parts of the manufacturing process in great detail is also much easier with SYSPRO. This has resulted in Barrett becoming much more efficient. If there is a problem with a manufacturing process it is identified quickly and fixed immediately.

The tight integration across the entire SYSPRO suite of products provides Barrett Communications with the sophistication required to respond rapidly to changing economic conditions and ensure complete control over the supply chain.

Barrett is excited to be implementing SYSPRO’s latest version, Issue 010, which Bradshaw says will provide significantly enhanced reporting functionality. The new version has a vastly improved reporting module where custom reports can be more easily produced. This means Barrett will gain faster access to better information - resulting in even better decision making capability than it is currently experiencing.