Growth At Bedford CNC Powered By Production Control Software

And welcome to this week's MTD CNC podcast. I'm joined by two heroes of engineering. Is that the right word? I'm not sure it really is. First of all, we have the MD of Bedford CNC, Mr Andy Soos. Good afternoon, Colin. How are you, sir? I'm fine, thank you. I've got a bit more enthusiasm now because we've been, since we first met, which was when? About 2016, I think. Yeah, you've come a long way, haven't you? Yes, yeah. There's still, I think, more to do, more to go as well. So yeah, we've come a long way since then. Excellent. We'll allude to some of that in this podcast, but it is, if you're watching, I don't think you'll be able to watch it because it's a podcast, obviously, but it just brings a smile to my face because it's such a great story. And yeah, anyway, moving on, so if you'll cover it all in the podcast, and let's get this right, because I always get it wrong, the MD of Pearsall Daytrack, Mr Jeff Gartland. Hey, well done, Colin. Thank you very much. You got it right this time. Excellent. Thank you very much. I'm taking about 10 podcasts, so we've got it right at last. So there we go. What are we going to do today? We're going to find out about the fantastic journey that Andy has had with Jeff, growing in the business, and essentially Pearsall's become part of the whole business and an essential part of that business. Would that be fair to say, Andy? It is, yeah. Once we've got highlighted the first modules that we wanted, which was a quoting module, it's become sort of an integral part of our business now. Going forward, there'll be more modules to come. Music to Jeff's ears, I should assume. More modules to come. Always room to improve. Always room. Okay, so just taking a step back from all that, though, so I mean, this might be an obvious question or statement. Andy, what do you do? We're a subcontract machining company, so we manufacture parts by either CNC milling or turning, and it's basically whatever comes through the door with a droid, we'll quote, use some PSL, data track, and then go from there. Simple as that. And then, Jeff, I mean, I was just going through what we've done just over the last year, for example. I think we've done about nearly 80, 85 different articles, posts, podcasts, and videos for you guys over the years, so I'm hoping people know who PSL, Datatrack are. But if they don't, a quick summary, please. Okay, so we are authors and providers of production control software, specifically targeted at the subcontract precision engineering sector. Anywhere from quotation through to invoicing, scheduling, data collection, all the steps in between as well. Absolutely. So the whole, if you've got a machine shop, you could take it right from the initial quote to the final machine component and getting paid for it at the end. Certainly. That's exactly it. So all the engineering stages in terms of management that you need to make sure your business is as efficient as possible. Absolutely. So nice and simple. So, Andy, PSL, Datatrack, where did you find out about it, what interested you about it, and what are you doing with it? Basically, sort of videos and stuff like that, because we were members of MTD, we found out that way, got in contact with Jeff, he came down to see us, spent some time looking at what we do, how we were doing our quotes, which was Excel spreadsheets and stuff like that, which was, and then having to type it up into an email. Yeah, I think he went away thinking it's a good opportunity, but once we've done the quoting, got the quote and what you've done, it just sped up everything that we were doing. So you say you sped up everything, so how long would it take before to do a quote, and how long does it take now? It should take hours, depending on how many quotes you've got. I mean, at least 20 minutes to get the materials, work out the pricing, type it up, check it for spelling, and then send it off in a blank, sort of bland email. Okay, so getting quotes out, you don't always have to be the most competitive, but getting that quote in front of people is key to it, isn't it, and make it look professional. Yeah, it's the response time, I think, because if you can get ahead of everyone else, it's there in front of them. As you say, it doesn't always have to be the cheapest, it doesn't have to be the most expensive, but if somebody asks you for a quote, then looking back, we had to get that quote out quicker to win more work, which is, once we've got the module, quotation module, it just seems to speed up a lot of things. Okay, so Jeff, you met Andy in 2019, or maybe 2018, I don't know when you first signed him up. Yeah, I've got a feeling, Andy, did we first meet at Southern Manufacturing before I came in to see you? You did, yeah, because I was wandering around. Yeah, early that year then, so I've got a feeling maybe we'd spoken on the phone a week or so before, and we were both going to be there, so yeah, we obviously got together, had a face-to-face meeting then, and yeah, so at that point, it was great to then obviously further that conversation, go and see Andy, and what was really great, so when you say Andy, obviously, yeah, there was opportunity to help in terms of what the software could do, but the one thing that's really, you've really got to be careful when you introduce software, because you don't do too much in one go, and it was clear, Andy, that what you wanted, your initial problem was, or your initial challenge you wanted to solve, was the time and presentation for quotes, because as you say, you want to respond quickly, but a presentation must be good as well, because that's your shop window, that's the first impression you make to your customer, so that's where we focus all our effort, getting that quotation system in right, and let's face it, Andy, you didn't have loads of spare time to spend on this, so we had to try to do it as concisely as possible, as quickly as possible, to give you the payback. Yeah, that's right, I mean, we were busy, we have been busy, and yeah, quotation was taking me off the machines to do office work and paperwork, and anything we could do to speed that up was a big bonus, and yeah, the software did that straight away. There you go, and I've got a very nice quote to use at the end, so remind me, gentlemen, if I don't mention it, just say to me, Colin, we need to hear that quote, not a quote from me, of course, no one will hear what I've got to say, but so, how easy was it to, Andy, I'm going to push, you know, this is a leading question, how easy was it to implement, and how much support did you get from the guys at PSL? It was fairly easy to implement. Once Geoff had taken away the letterheads and stuff like that to incorporate into PSL and into what they do, it was fairly easy. We had a couple, I think, two or three telephone sessions where they could dial in and share the screen and stuff like that, and we would, so we didn't have to go, we didn't have to go to PSL Daytrap, we were here and they were there, so it was just a remote way of learning, and it was quite good, so two or three sessions, and we were up and running. Okay, I think key to it there is, yes, yeah, we're trying to avoid using COVID there as an excuse, but A, you don't have to do the on-site training, you can do it over the phone, but also, Geoff, you guys can dial straight into computers, so if you're a complete, sort of, not technophobe or luddite like my good self, then you can talk them through, Andy's putting his hand up there, I can see that, so you can talk us all through it, so it's easy to use. Tell you what, Andy, we've never struggled to get you to click on things where we want you to click, so, no, you're not, you're not in that category at all. It's funny, in terms of Zoom sessions, you know, we did this pre-COVID, and the reason we did it is, obviously, COVID obviously kick-started Zoom becoming such a widespread thing that most people do, but certainly for Andy, there was no point in spending a whole day on-site, because A, you don't need that much time, B, even if we took half a day, that's half a day where Andy can't have machines running, so hence, by doing it in shorter sessions, and if we get the machine running, make sure he's ready for that, so he can spend an hour going through, learning what he's doing with the system, then practice between sessions, so really, there was as little downtime as possible in terms of machining, because, you know, we couldn't impact on that. Okay, nice, so nice and easy, and now, Andy, do you have a nice, professional-looking quote going out to potential and ultimate clients? We do, it's all done on a letterhead, you don't have to worry about it, so that's all in the background, so once you've formulated your quote, it comes up with all the logo, everything on there, all the information you need about delivery, time, and the cost of delivery, when you're going to get it, it's all there for the customer to see, and it's a unique reference number that comes up as well, so that they can reference back to the quotes you do, just follow it up on the new one. Nice and easy, now, Andy, it's been a great success story, and I sort of alluded to this earlier, have you managed to change the address on your letterheads? Don't tell me you've forgotten to do that. It's all been done, thanks to Geoff and the team there at PSL Daytrack, that was before we moved in. Excellent, nice and easy, so let's just allude to this, so when I first met you, yeah, 2016 roughly, you were in a small warehouse, there's lots of stuff stacked everywhere, and some, well, I don't want to be, there's some fairly old machines there, weren't there? There were, yeah. Yeah, but still doing some fantastic engineering jobs, but where are you now? Give us a quick overview. Moved 400 yards around the corner to a unit, it's about three times the size of where we were, so the machine shop is about 2,000 square feet, and the offices, we've got four, so it's way more office space than we require at the moment, but we're growing to it, so yeah, we're just, it's been a tetchy, hectic, exciting six weeks, if that's what, to get in and get sorted out. We're still not there yet, we've still got a little bit to do, a sign went up on the building at the weekend, so that was a good break between us and the last tenants, yeah, so we're here. That's brilliant, but those, I mean, those machines, you know, there was, I'm trying to think what you had, we've got to mention the 30-year-old Beaver, of course, which is still running strong somewhere in here, I understand, but you had, was it two Hasses, I think, in an XYZ, or I'm probably completely wrong. Hass CNC lathe, which we've still got, which we've moved here, and that's a Bridgeport VMC, little 500. There you go. Just gone, been replaced by some new equipment. Right, you're saying, sorry, Geoff, I need to just, when you say some new equipment, go on, tell us what it is, please. Well, we've got some DMG Morris here, got a CMX800V machining centre vertical, we've got a little M1 with a fourth axis on it, we've got space for other machines, and then we've obviously got a sliding head lathe that's tucked in under the mezzanine floor, so yeah. Nice, great, so some fantastic new machines. Would you have been able to do this without the support of PSL? No, no. PSL Datatrack has helped us with the quotes, so we can then increase our speed in quotation, so we won't work, so we've improved like that, and then as we've got the machines, it's just, they all work together. Yeah, okay, so we've done that, you've done your quotes, we know that PSL Datatrack is a, well, Geoff, modular system? It's modular, yeah, so you start any size you like. And the important thing is, Andy, you said about everything works together. The more machines you've got, the more you've got to feed, but then the more you've got to respond, so it does all work together, and yeah, it all complements. Can I just come back on just one thing, Andy, you said about four offices. Going back to where you were when I first met you as well, you didn't have an office, you had a workbench in the machine shop, didn't you? Yeah, I did, yeah, overlooking the little hatch, so you could see who was coming through the door, yeah. I just think, for us, it's great to see a customer that makes the kind of progress you have, Andy, and it's just, yeah, it's just really, really rewarding to see. I've actually sat at a proper desk at the moment. Look at that, yeah, this is going on as a podcast. People can't see this, but big smile on everybody's faces. No, it's, honestly, it's absolutely brilliant, it really is. So, but we're talking about, sorry. Modular, so yeah, in terms of modular, you know, Andy started with quotations, but then it's a case of where do you want to go from there? And then you make the next move when your business is ready for it. Into workers' orders, whether it's in the purchase orders, you know, it makes sense to look after your sales order book, get deliveries out, get invoicing, but then you can grow to wherever you want to in the system. It ties in nicely, because what are you providing Andy with now? I'm putting you on the spot here, Geoff. Putting me on the spot, so Andy's got the full range of standard sales modules, so dealing with the quotation through to the invoice, focusing on, obviously, getting job cards out, keeping an eye on the order book, both in terms of value, what's outstanding, when it's due to go out, getting delivery notes and COCs produced, so it's all the basic sales admin paperwork, and then the invoices can be exported out to an account system, so there's no retyping of that information either. So, once that bit's done, you can then obviously improve on the purchasing, and you can go into scheduling if you need to, but it has to be on a need-by-needs basis, so you don't go into things like scheduling when it's practical to do it effectively manually, because it's you, you know what your machines are doing. As things grow, there comes a tipping point where certain other modules become a logical add-on, but you do it only when it's right to do so. So that ties it, I mean, that's key, because Andy is, I hope you don't mind me saying this, a relatively small machine shop, but your software is good for small machine shops after the big ones, like Technoturn, for example, I don't know how many machines they've got, but they've got a lot. I think our largest subbie employs just shy of 95 people, so obviously subbie is ranging quite a size, so yeah, so we deal with a very wide range of subcontractors, but yeah, it's been really rewarding over the years, we've actually supported a number of one-man band or startups in some cases as well, and then seeing the growth, and yeah, it's just great to see that you're part of that, you're part of seeing that success build. It's actually almost more rewarding to see that than to see small incremental improvements made in some other businesses, you see that dramatic improvement. Andy, you'll be up to about 90 staff in about two years' time, mate? I hope so. You never know. Yeah, Geoff, you've got a HR software to deal with the headaches that they bring. So then, Andy, you've got your invoicing, that's all bespoke to BepitCNC, so bespoke for anybody, all easily done, training, nice and easy to implement. Yeah, nice and easy, again, it's all done remotely, you've not had to go down to PSL data track or anything like that, so yeah, so after that very initial visit, it's all done remotely. Brilliant, and key, I think, and Geoff, putting the data in, first of all, is key to success and the system all working, but once that is done, which is very simple, it's all intuitive. Yeah, is that for me or Andy, Colin, sorry? I'll leave you to fight over the answer, I'll let you have a go, Geoff. Well, in terms of quotation, the way that we always describe the quotation, it's the software version of setting a machine, because that's got all the variables you need to know about for processing that job through an order, through to delivering an invoice. So set that up properly, you know, you wouldn't half set a machine, you set it properly, set the quote properly, it just runs through. And effectively, it makes the rest of the admin think of it like a production cycle, your quotes are set up, everything else is just part of the production cycle. That's it, nice and simple. So taking those new modules, Andy, another leading question here, easy to take those on? Yes, yes, it's just a matter of keying PSL data traffic call and then sorting out what you want. So yeah, we've got, we're up to, say, invoicing modules now, so there's a few other ones that we're looking at. Okay, does that tie in, because we're having a conversation before this, you need to get a mill cert, does that tie in with the next module you're going to get, or that's part of what you've already got? No, that'll tie in with the next part. Just upselling it here for you, Jeff, just upselling. I think we've had a conversation already about it, so yeah, it's just, it'll tie in with other things, so where I'll get my material from and sort of the specs that go with that stuff, yeah. So yeah, because just, let's just quickly go through that then, so someone required, well, just tell me briefly what occurred sort of early September, and Jeff, then once Andy told us that, how your software can help out? Yeah, what happened, I had a call, I had an email today from a customer who did a job early past September, and they now want a mill cert for it, they'd have asked at the time, it'd have been easy because I'd just run the supplier back, but I had to trawl back through a few emails to find out where we purchased the material from, so that's possibly the next logical step. And how would that, how would your software help with that, Jeff? So by having the purchasing modules integrated, so what Andy would be able to do in that kind of situation, when the purchase order is raised, it pulls the information through from the works order, which in turn came from the quotation, so Andy would know exactly what to buy, also who to buy it from, because you can define preferred suppliers. When you then receive the material, you book it in through Goods Received, you can scan in copies of the cert, or save copies that they've emailed through to you if you wish to, save them in the relevant system folder, and then at that point, once the material is in there, it's been allocated and so on, if the customer then comes back in the future and says, right, I've got a queer on this works order, or here's my purchase order, can you find the works order, I'd like the material cert, it's one quick keyboard shortcut to jump to Goods Received, and you can see the supplier cert and mill cert. There you go, so all nice and simple and intuitive. Yeah, it's just straightforward, and once you know how to use two or three of the modules, it's the same kind of process to navigate through the other modules. Gents, I'm worried that time is going on, and people are listening to this, they won't be seeing it, because I've just seen Andy's on the phone there, he's probably got an inquiry coming through, we could see you Andy, don't worry, he's probably got an inquiry coming through to get something machined, so I'm just going to do a quick summary, so Andy, you've taken on the system, invoicing initially, saved you lots of time, won your business, I'm just paraphrasing the incorrect paraphrase, but just summarising, new modules to make the company even more streamlined, even more efficient, there's lots of nodding going on in the background, anything else you want to add Andy? No, not really, it's just the fact that it's so easy to use, and it's saving us a lot of time here, just by clicking through the modules, yeah, that's all I would say. Nice and simple, Geoff, anything from your good self? Well really, just thank you Andy, for obviously having the faith to give Datatracker a go, it's like I said, it's great to see the improvements that we can help a business like yours make, it's very rewarding, and yeah, it's just really enjoyable, so yeah, thanks very much Andy. There you go, gentlemen, now you both failed to remind me to mention the quote, so I'm going to mention this quote from you Andy, and I quote, we are engineers, not administrators, and we can now focus on what we do best, manufacturing high quality components and looking for new business opportunities, when the time is right we can look to invest in complementary, I'm assuming that's not free by the way, modules to streamline our business even further, so there you go, fantastic quote from Andy, and gentlemen, thank you very much for joining me, another MTDCN podcast, Andy, great, great success story, it really is, it's absolutely brilliant, and long may it continue, get some more machines, and we look forward to coming back to visit you, and Geoff, thank you again for joining us, and we'll keep those articles and technical corners and videos coming strong, thank you very much for joining me, as is usual, that's this week's MTDCNC podcast.