EtonDigital is proud to announce the completion of an extensive project for Simon Harrison Ltd. The prestigious London-based firm sought an effective Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution to help manage their work designing and supplying custom jewelery designs worldwide.
The company oversees a complex global operation, catering for the bespoke needs of every one of their clients – all of whom are premier global brands in the fashion and luxury accessories industry. The company runs several locations around the world, supporting a variety of flexible production and delivery processes.
In order to drive efficiency and integrate many complex daily company activities, Simon Harrison asked EtonDigital to design and deliver a Workflow and Resource Management solution that would not only replicate their current operation but also accommodate the future needs of the company as their business continues to expand.
EtonDigital first developed a deep understanding of the Simon Harrison business processes, enabling them to deliver a tailored ERP platform, which now manages all aspects of their operation; from Product Lifecycle, Stock Management and Work-In-Progress; through bespoke Customer order entry, Supply chain, Production scheduling, Delivery allocations, Quality tracking and analysis, Invoicing and Reporting. The platform is also able to support multiple currencies and international taxation while offering many features to allow users to customize available options, as the business evolves.
The technology solution was implemented using PHP, MySQL, and AJAX techniques, enabling Simon Harrison Ltd to oversee all core aspects of their operation from a single, integrated system (see our featured work section).
This fully integrated ERP model now allows information to be shared between departments and global locations easily and accurately, improving customer service and raising internal efficiency. As a result of implementing the Eton Digital designed system, Simon Harrison Ltd now expects to see heightened business efficiency and improved customer and supplier relationships . Ultimately, this ERP platform delivers a powerful, integrated, long-term solution for lowering costs and improving efficiency.
The biggest IT challenge for every growing businesses can lie in the high cost and relative inflexibility of an off-the-shelf system, meaning that ERP adoption often represents a huge and irreversible operational and financial commitment; start up costs also mean ERP is an option that has remained inaccessible to many Small & Medium Businesses until recently. For some industries like manufacturing, an integrated ERP platform is still the only path that will allow the business to increase it’s ability to compete and grow while achieving maximum productivity. ERP, therefore, is an attractive, while daunting, step for such companies.
Until now, common ERP implementations include very significant start-up costs which often run into the millions. Even so, a recent survey by the Meta group, showed that an average ERP adoption produces an annual saving of $1.6 million; which in many cases means that investment pays for itself within a few years of implementation. However, Eton Digital built this custom ERP platform for a fraction of the usual costs while Simon Harrison Limited received a system designed and built precisely around their business needs.
With ERP solutions being offered using a Software-as-a-Service approach, the start up costs are rapidly coming down. Judging by the current growth in the ERP provision market (market leader SAP generated 9.4 billion EUR revenue in 2006) it seems more and more modern companies are waking up to this fact, and taking advantage of the competitive advantages that can be delivered through an ERP implementation.
Dejan Levi
