World leading valve and fittings manufacturer selects ERP solution from IFS in £2m deal

IFS, the global enterprise applications company, has announced that Fort Vale Engineering Ltd., a world leader in the precision manufacture of valves and fittings for the transportation of bulk liquids, has selected IFS Applications 9 to fully automate its manufacturing processes, reduce overhead costs and improve customer service through a new online portal.

With the implementation of IFS Applications 9, Fort Vale will be able to streamline the maintenance of critical machines across its manufacturing process. This involves all of Fort Vale Engineering’s infrastructure being connected to the IFS solution so that work orders can be  automatically scheduled as well as any maintenance or unexpected machine faults mitigated. Fort Vale hopes to see an increase in efficiency, which will result in reduced lead times and manufacturing costs. With less time and money spent on administration, Fort Vale Engineering will be able to focus on innovating its offering and building on its legacy of success.

Around 90 per cent of Fort Vale Engineering’s revenue is from repeat business and the company is proud of its high customer satisfaction record. Supporting the goal to achieve total customer retention, the implementation of IFS Applications 9 will also empower Fort Vale to provide a fully featured, user-friendly customer portal, allowing customers to receive accurate, up to the minute data direct from the system and track their orders at each stage of the manufacturing process.

After researching available solutions in the ERP market, Fort Vale Engineering selected IFS Applications 9 to integrate all aspects of its technology and allow for data insights from every stage of its business process to be visible, shared, and actionable. With all systems integrated and by sharing data, Fort Vale Engineering can gain a concise overview of company data across each strand of the business, which the management team expects to further improve internal efficiencies.

“At Fort Vale we’re dedicated to ensuring our product and service offering is unmatched in the industry, and the implementation of IFS Applications will be critical to helping us maintain and build upon our position as the world leader.” said Ian Wilson, Managing Director, Fort Vale Engineering. “Compared with other vendors, IFS offers better industry-specific functionality and, stronger real-time capabilities, which will help us gain clearer visibility across our entire supply chain. We also liked the team that are implementing the solution who have significant experience in our sector.”

Over its 50 year history, Fort Vale has become the world leader in its category with over 80 per cent market share, and has always looked to stay ahead of the competition in regard to its technological capabilities. Its development of a brand-new state of the art facility in Lancashire resulted in the need to add a number of technological enhancements to its existing central IT systems. As the company upgraded its manufacturing automation and monitoring capabilities, as well as the recent implementation of new HR, legal, and compliance processes, it became clear that integration of these software and hardware properties was of paramount importance to ensure efficiency.

“When companies such as Fort Vale go through rapid digital transformation, integration and interoperability between software and bespoke hardware is key to remaining competitive and providing the best service for customers. With IFS software at the heart of its operations, Fort Vale will be able to stay ahead of the competition by delivering cutting edge services to its customers,” said Paul Massey at IFS.

https://ifsworld.com/

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