SAM: a high-quality mold
SAM, the UK’s leading manufacturer of interior and exterior MDF moldings, offers products including skirting, door linings, and stair accessories to cladding, decorative bargeboard, and window components. Founded in 1990 by Sam and Julienne McCrea, the company remains family-owned. Priding itself on sturdy core values, it became the first manufacturer in the world to achieve Investors in People champion status.
Creaky hardware and disconnected software
The manufacturer’s client/server-based, on-premises EFACS ERP system could not cope with the expanding workloads and operations. Struggling to handle data from new product divisions, inaccessible for remote workers, and too limited for the number of users needing access, EFACS was simply not robust or flexible enough for SAM’s growth.
Discovering the best fit
As SAM’s servers were so outdated, any new on-premise versions of SAP and Sage would have resulted in huge hardware upgrades and infrastructural costs. Turning to Cloud ERP, SAM’s executives were drawn to Acumatica. With a vendor-hosted SaaS license, Acumatica Cloud ERP would mean reduced maintenance costs, customizable workflows, AI and ML automation, being growth-friendly, and – with no hidden fees or lock-ins – having upfront and transparent pricing per resources used rather than per user.
Pausing its manufacturing facilities as the pandemic hit, SAM focused on implementing Acumatica Manufacturing Edition. When the government gave the word, the business reopened with a flexible and accessible work environment.
Acumatica: advantages and advancements
With instantly available data for everyone to see, access, and use, SAM has greatly streamlined order processing, manufacturing, and dispatching operations. Acumatica’s interoperability with third-party applications enables sales orders to pass seamlessly to, through, and out of the manufacturing and dispatch systems.
Meanwhile, open APIs for logistics and trucking, ensure efficiently routed deliveries and mitigate unnecessary costs. Forecasting needs are also met by utilizing up-to-the-minute customizable dashboards. With Acumatica’s customer case management feature, SAM can incorporate electronic ordering and transaction-specific customer codes, as well as start plans for a client-accessible customer portal.
For 2023, SAM expects to step into ‘a brighter, smoother year’ with its Acumatica software implementation. They have already invested the first £1m into product improvement for the coming year – a new primed MDF product – as well as looking to create a residential building company too.
“It was one of the big successes of [2020]. Truthfully, we might not be here if we didn’t have Acumatica. We were running blind before. Now, we can see volume, location [and] type of product, and managers can prepare and put new orders into the production schedule,” said SAM’s ITC director, Tim Patton.
“These smooth processes erase frustrations for employees and mitigate delays for customers. We know with Acumatica we can spin up a new division easily and keep our data safe. Acumatica can continue to grow with us.”
