Pipex px targets 50 per cent production growth with IFS

The project manufacturing firm cites better visibility, improved planning and increased efficiency as the main benefits anticipated from its ERP choice, which is now in the implementation phase. Deployment is currently underway for IFS's CRM module, with finance, manufacturing, procurement, inventory, project management and HR solutions to be implemented by early 2013. Pipex px – which manufactures thermoplastic and advanced composites for the transport, oil and gas, offshore, construction and renewable energy sectors – has seen rapid growth, almost doubling in size over the last five years. Wynn Stait, chief operating officer at the Plymouth-based company, says that IFS Applications 8 should support continued growth. He says that key to that expansion was consolidating the company's various IT systems, so improving data visibility and overall business efficiency. "We had disparate legacy systems in place and were using a lot of spreadsheets, which wasn't helping our productivity at all," states Stait. "When we're manufacturing bespoke goods for our customers, whether it's composite piping for marine applications or fibre-reinforced polymer beams for a road bridge over a canal, it's imperative that we have visibility across the whole project," he explains. Pipex px, he says, chose IFS Applications because it believes the system will consolidate its business systems and processes, improve project management and increase control of inventory and other data. "We are confident that this will enable us to grow the business cost effectively – and ultimately improve revenue and profit," comments Stait.