Factory Direct Fencing (FDF) is Australia’s largest family-owned manufacturer and distributor of fencing products. Its commitment to quality, backed by a ten-year warranty on most products, has helped to build a thriving business that turns over approximately $35million annually.
With a complex manufacturing operation historically run by a lot of spreadsheets and manual processes FDF needed to deploy a solution to handle multi-warehouse management, radio frequency scanning, and component manufacturing functionality.
We used to have a lot of spreadsheets and manual processes. It all took a lot of time, so when we looked at how we wanted to run our business, we realised we were going to need an enterprise resource planning system.
Glenn Hosking
Managing Director
Sourcing a best-in-class solution
To find the best ERP software for FDF’s business, Hosking sought the advice of peers and professionals. He investigated four leading ERP solutions, one of which was Sage X3, a full-service enterprise management software system that combines all the advantages of large scale ERP tools while maintaining the simplicity, flexibility and scalability essential for midmarket businesses.
With one hundred staff and growing, we wanted to be able to measure the contribution each person makes.
Glenn Hosking
Managing Director
Better business management processes
Streamlining processes and reducing data entry duplication delivered immediate dividends; reporting has also become much more reliable; and the constant evolvement of key business processes automation is still ongoing to this day. Hosking says the company is no longer constrained by system limitations or by how it used to do things.
We are evolving with the software. It all comes down to better customer service at the end of the day. If we can make things quicker and better, the customers benefit.
