> ERP Software News: Formula One team Lotus implements

Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics

LONDON — 20 Sept 2011 — Team Lotus is pleased to announce that its implementation of Microsoft Dynamics AX. Microsoft’s ERP solution, has enabled the organisation, that brought the much-loved Lotus name back into Grand Prix racing last year, to achieve full control and visibility of purchasing and stock during this period of rapid growth.

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Team Lotus has expanded rapidly in the past couple of years. In October 2009, the company, occupying a barn headquarters (HQ) in Norfolk, England, had only 11 employees, six subcontract designers, four or five suppliers, and a handful of desktop computers with computer aided design (CAD) software. Within a year, the company had expanded to almost 200 employees, a fully functioning CAD system and a full implementation of Microsoft Dynamics AX, managing 720 suppliers.

eBECS Ltd., a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner delivering Microsoft Dynamics solutions to numerous organisations across the globe, introduced Team Lotus to Microsoft Dynamics AX. eBECS, who is highly experienced in the development and delivery of manufacturing solutions for the automotive sector, managed the implementation of the solution across Team Lotus’ entire operation.

Stephen Wilson from eBECS said: “Microsoft Dynamics is used in the, manufacturing, purchasing and finance departments, from the very first day, even before the FIA confirmed the team’s entry into the 2010 Formula One World Championships. We recognised that the ERP solution would have to support rapid change and be easy to use but equally provide robust control over the entire set of business processes. This relied heavily on our industry knowledge and experience.”

Richard St Clair-Quentin, commercial manager at Team Lotus, said: “It was imperative to us that the ERP system strictly control and manage our stock. Our cars are highly engineered, and we use expensive materials, such as titanium and carbon fibre, so we have to be sure that we have full control and visibility over purchasing, stock holding, manufacturing and material consumption, all of which is underpinned by the Microsoft Dynamics ERP software.”

One of the key considerations has been the up to 100 drawings that are processed every day and, in addition, the component parts that go into the creation of a Formula One racing car. At any one time, the Team Lotus organisation can hold over 5,000 separate items, all of which need to be purchased and stored before they are used in the manufacturing process.

The working conditions at Team Lotus often are challenging, with pressure to meet strict deadlines. St Clair-Quentin explains: “Every part of the process has to be right. There is no room for error, so timing is crucial. We have relied heavily on the expertise of the eBECS team to implement Microsoft Dynamics AX to manage and monitor this process. When the Grand Prix season starts, we drop everything to go racing, and on occasion this has meant leaving eBECS in charge of the wheel until we are back. They haven’t let us down.”

The ease with which Team Lotus was able to integrate and deploy the Microsoft Dynamics solutions certainly helped the company reap benefits quickly, and just one month after go-live, eBECS was able to hand over the administration of the software. “ The way Microsoft Dynamics was implemented by eBECS is the best solution for our needs,” St Clair-Quentin added. “The interface is familiar, which is helpful when the team is expanding so quickly and in such numbers; it is scalable, so it can grow with our needs; and it gives us solid financial governance and support in our fast-moving business.”

eBECS expects to broaden the scope of Microsoft Dynamics AX in the near future, improving supplier management, expanding manufacturing control and warehouse stock, increasing the facility to report the impact analysis of engineering changes, and implementing financial business process improvements.

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