Case Study: Fabweld Steel Products achieves sustained productivity, improved lead-times and growth with WinMan ERP

Fabweld Steel Products realise steady stream of improvements with less drain on resources

Fabweld Steel Products, a Telford-based manufacturer founded in 1988 that supplies British-made anti-slip access covers, gratings and drainage products, faced the challenge of running short production runs (about 60% make-to-order) while improving lead-times, inventory control and responsiveness in a highly competitive market. To address this, Fabweld implemented the fully integrated WinMan ERP system (live January 2002), including Version 7 modules such as MRP, Product Configurator, SFDC (Shop Floor Data Collection), CRM/SRM and .NET interoperability.

WinMan ERP linked manufacturing and purchase orders, automated MRP-driven replenishment and overnight record updates, added touchscreen SFDC kiosks with barcoded traceability, and used the Product Configurator to auto-generate BOMs, routings and times for fast, consistent quotations. The result, according to Fabweld, was an ROI in the first year and a steady stream of improvements in manufacturing productivity, administrative efficiency and customer service: capacity has been maximised and waste minimised, many best-selling lines converted to ex-stock to shorten lead-times, same-day quoting enabled, and WinMan has supported Fabweld’s growth to become a market leader in the UK.

Fabweld Steel Products

Richard Hilton

Managing Director and Co-Founder