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Things Are Not Always as They Seem

Formed in 1992 to manufacture computer-controlled timber harvesting systems, Loglogic is now one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of specialist low ground pressure tracked (rubber tracked) vehicles.

The company required a production control system as it has to manage and control a large volume of different parts and was finding it hard to keep track of them all. Added to this LogLogic needed a system that could manage Phantom parts (A Phantom part can have a full multi-level Bill of Materials without the requirement to raise multiple Works Orders to manufacture. )

LogLogic started using ‘self-proclaimed 1st choice’ production control software but the product and service didn’t live up to what they initially agreed:

Adam Hammacott, Workshop Manager at LogLogic said:

“We were sold false promises. They said to us ‘we can change the system to the way you like. If there is something it cannot do just now, we can do it’. This never materialised! It did manage Phantom parts but it didn’t do it properly and it took over a year of going back and forth to figure this out. The software never made our job any easier and wasn’t doing the things we paid for.”

“Support was awful. It was basically one person dealing with all the support queries. The problems it had would take months to be dealt with. You would raise the issue and you would get a reply saying it will be done by Friday, but it ended up being 3 months later. Some of these issues were major things and made it an absolute nightmare to use the system without it being sorted – it was almost unusable. They are just so understaffed. Basically, one person created the software. He then managed it on his own but as the company grew the knowledge hasn’t been transferred to other staff and he is the only one that can update the system.”

“The software is under-resourced and is not keeping up with the latest software updates. We also weren’t sure of its longevity. What if the only person that could update the software retired? Then it would never get updated. In the end, it was too much of a risk to keep.”

When looking for a new vendor, LogLogic contacted Berkeley Myles Solutions as ProgressPlus could manage Phantom parts.

The workshop manager, Adam Hammacott, talked about his initial worries:

“Making sure ProgressPlus managed Phantom parts and other processes was a worry. Because of our experience with the other company, it was hard to trust all software companies. During the selection, we were massively over-cautious. We already made one mistake and we didn’t want to make another. It is not like consumable goods, this is a lot of money we are spending and you want to make sure you get the purchase decision right.”

Adam continued:

“To overcome this there was lots of correspondence between Berkeley Myles Solutions and LogLogic with specific questions on how it would work. The team at Berkeley Myles Solutions increased our confidence in the system with the demo and their knowledge and expertise. We feel quite unique as nobody does assemblies as we do. So we spoke to ProgressPlus customers to be reassured. The customers were helpful – they all love the software and think very highly of it.”

LogLogic loves how the system is so easy to use as well as being comprehensive. Adam said:

“ProgressPlus is a pretty amazing tool. It manages the whole factory. You can do everything with it”.

“The business has saved time and made efficiency improvements. Having minimum stock levels and minimum order quantities we are now making products before we run out of parts. Before it wasn’t like this and we had to rush to get products delivered on time. Now we get parts in before the other parts run out. This obviously speeds things up as staff aren’t waiting on parts to finish the job.”

Adam said:

“Overall Berkeley Myles Solutions is a really good company. The support team are outstanding. Every time you phone, someone always picks up and 99% of the time they can sort out any issues it right there and then either online or over the phone.”

Berkeley Myles Solutions Managing Director, Tony MacBride concluded:

“We consistently receive positive feedback when we take over a site from another vendor. Customers that move to ProgressPlus tell us that the comparison to their previous experiences is like night and day. All users want is a system that does what they are promised and a support and implementation service that ensures they maximise their investment and that is exactly what we provide.”