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ERP Upgrade Enables Direct-to-Consumer Model for Avery

QAD’s latest cloud-based enterprise resource planning system has helped Avery better integrate its operations to provide the flexibility needed to depart from its traditional big box pallet model.

Day one of go live with the upgraded ERP system at Avery’s manufacturing site in Northampton, UK.
Day one of go live with the upgraded ERP system at Avery’s manufacturing site in Northampton, UK.

The Amazon Effect—in which consumers expect to be able to get exactly what they want, how they want it, when and where they want it—is impacting all reaches of business and manufacturing. Avery’s operations in the UK, France, and Benelux, where the company makes primarily pressure-sensitive adhesive labels, has seen its business shift from selling primarily to wholesalers to shipping and selling more direct to consumers.

This has meant big changes from Avery’s traditional pallet-based shipments. No longer does the labeling company sell only large multi-packs to wholesalers, who in turn sell to dealers, who then sell to consumers—more and more, Avery is shipping directly to the customer. It’s a change that was a fundamental strain on its existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Although the company was generally happy with the old system it had in place, last year they decided it was time to talk with QAD about an upgrade.

“It was extraordinarily resilient. But it had been installed in 2001, had heavy customization, not many updates, and the customizations we had didn’t allow us to transition from that big box pallet model to third-party wholesalers and contract stationers,” says Sean Flanagan, operations director for Avery’s UK and France operations. “The more we were wanting to deliver direct to dealer or consumer, the more the system was tripping us up.”

Avery dispatches its first shipment after completing the picking process with the new QAD capabilities.Avery dispatches its first shipment after completing the picking process with the new QAD capabilities.One of the biggest issues that the heavy customization of the previous ERP system caused was that the system had been designed to pick single quantities—the outer packages that typically go to wholesalers. “In our foundation business—that’s still important to us, by the way—we might make five or 10 boxes of labels, and then we would package them in an outer box. That outer box would be sold to a wholesaler or contract stationer, and then that wholesaler would break down the box and sell it to dealers in smaller packages,” Flanagan explains. Avery’s new business model, however, needed to be much more dynamic in the way it operates shipping and logistics. “We wanted to be able to ship in single packs and multiple packs, and it was difficult to get our old system to do that.”

Linking disparate systems

Avery’s previous ERP linked to a number of other systems within the business. The finance package was completely separate, which created problems, Flanagan says. A separate planning model also created issues with continuity across the enterprise. “All planning in operations was done via an Excel planning model that had no interaction with stock and materials availability and finished goods availability,” he explains.

QAD Adaptive ERP, based in the cloud, was able to bring all these disparate systems together to help Avery get better visibility across its operations. Designed specifically for manufacturing, it supports industry-specific business processes and flexible deployment options. It moved Avery away from spreadsheets that were not well understood by employees to process maps with training embedded into the system, says Peter Jones, business consultant for QAD who’s been working with Avery in the UK, Australia, and continental Europe for about eight years. “Any small tweaks can be done fairly easily and are built into those process maps,” he adds. “Training records are built into it. Statements of work in procedures are built into it. This helps with implementation and the training of people.”

Sean Flanagan, operations director for Avery’s UK and France operationsSean Flanagan, operations director for Avery’s UK and France operationsThe really big win from Flanagan’s perspective was the ability to use planning systems through QAD. “That changed our world because our planner has now got total visibility of raw materials and a link to raw materials and also to finished goods,” he says. “We had a planner who spent almost eight hours a day planning. Now our planner spends just two hours a day planning and then is doing more strategic work for the rest of the day. That’s really been a huge, huge change for us.”

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