Member Article

Roofing Manufacturer Invests in IT to Futureproof the Operation

Burton based Russell Roof Tiles (RRT) has revealed the extent of its investment in technology over the past 12 months, as part of its continued commitment to increasing production efficiencies and strengthening its customer service.

Employing around 90 staff at two sites on Nicolson Way and Wetmore Lane in Burton, the manufacturer has invested £100,000 in a number different initiatives, using downtime in the national lockdown in the spring of this year as an opportunity to review and refine its strategic plans. Many of these initiatives has also supported the businesses Covid-19 safety projects, creating streamlined, paperless systems.

Russell Roof Tiles has just completed the third stage of a three tier investment in enterprise resource planning (ERP) which is software that organisations use to integrate day-to-day business activities such as accounting, procurement, project management, risk management and compliance, and supply chain operations. This ERP work has touched on virtually every aspect and department within the business.

Russell Roof Tiles ERP system ties together a multitude of business processes and enables the flow of data between. Its latest upgrade will enable the business to achieve cost savings within administration whilst providing an enhanced technical platform for further digital transformation across the business.

RRT has already made substantial time savings through switching to electronic invoicing and adding QR codes to our proof-of-delivery documents. This, in conjunction with a fully integrated Document Management system has enabled complete, remote access to customer orders and account information including computer-aided design (CAD) drawings. In addition, long-range production planning and maintenance management have helped automate the purchasing of parts to boost efficiencies and reduce downtime.

These ERP investments have been led by Russell Roof Tiles inhouse IT Manager Chris Bailey who joined the team last year. His focus has been on utilising IT to generate operational efficiencies across the business, as well as implementing new processes that support evolving customer needs. The scope of his role covers every IT touchpoint for the business across three sites and every member of its 140 strong team.

Chris comments “As well as ERP we’re also been investing in our business intelligence (BI) solution for some time. We’re currently rebuilding this to position it to be flexible to future requirements and more agile in providing useful insight to the business.”

Most recent examples of the delivery of new IT infrastructure include significant changes to Purchase Order creation and management, and Production Job Order entry and management. These two areas are particularly focused on improving the processes for the production team.

Russell Roof Tiles investment in new and improved telephony also assisted the business during the Covid-19 pandemic – enabling more successful remote working.

Andrew Hayward, Managing Director at Russell Roof Tiles said: “Investment in technology is hugely important in manufacturing today and to us as a business. We still have further work to do and will be launching further innovations in the new year which will be focused on customer experience.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kathryn Greenwood .