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Phenomenal Progress

Desman Engineering is a family run business founded in 1989. The team at Desman are experts in large and precise sub-contract CNC machining in a wide range of different materials.

The company migrated from an old home-made system developed in 1997 and implemented ProgressPlus to help the business grow.

Problem

The previous system was a Microsoft Access database and as Desman grew it became problematic to manage and update.

Mark Spencer, Works Manager at Desman said: “When the system was created it wasn’t built with real growth in mind. We needed a system that could grow with the business.”

There was no ongoing support for the system and Desman had nobody to call if they had an issue. As well as this, the customers became increasingly demanding wanting more detailed information that they couldn’t easily get from the system. Common issues:

  • Reports weren’t correct
  • Trouble getting the right information from different databases
  • If Microsoft updated, the system would stop working
  • As it was home-made there were issues getting support

Solution

Desman selected ProgressPlus as it helped with machine loading and job scheduling. Mark said: “With ProgressPlus we can schedule jobs to get an accurate delivery date. For example, we have a large customer who often changes their requirements. With ProgressPlus we can show them the impact of any change and how it will affect their exact delivery date.”

Fear of the Unknown

With any new business system, there is a fear of the unknown. Mark said: “We did suspect we would have issues from different departments. There was a fear of people not understanding the new system and concern they would have more work to do. However, with ProgressPlus the support is superb. They are masters in change management.”

Mark continued “Without knowledge of the system, it can be daunting at first. For example, importing all the historical data, drawings etc. but after implementation and training from Berkeley Myles Solutions, you find it easy.”

Berkeley Myles Solutions eliminate the fear by giving you proper training and always supporting you if you make a mistake or have questions.

Results

10 years on Mark Spencer said they were experiencing the following benefits:

  • Customer Seminars are invaluable as they all the opportunity to get input into the development plan
  • Improved on-time delivery
  • Customers get accurate delivery dates
  • Standardised processes
  • We no longer order more material than is required
  • It is easy to use and has all the features that you need
  • Saves a massive amount of time
  • Traceability is a lot easier

One of the main benefits for Mark is reporting.

“There are so many reports, the world is your oyster. All this information can be shared with your suppliers and customers for mutual benefit rather than before when it was very limited. ProgressPlus is phenomenal!”

Mark continued: “We couldn’t have grown without ProgressPlus. Berkeley Myles Solutions is spot on. We have no problems whatsoever, if you call with an issue it gets fixed. You couldn’t ask for any more. We always happy to recommend ProgressPlus, so much so that one of our suppliers bought it, and I know lots of other companies that rave about it as well.”