Inbound Logistics | October 2024

By upgrading its system and tapping into SYSPRO ERP’s additional capabilities, E.T. Browne gained better control over inventory and the supply chain, allowing it to predict demand, understand how fulfilling the anticipated sales pipeline would affect production schedules, and anticipate demand peaks.

in the company. “It’s easy to see and share and more intuitive to use,” says Goes. “As a result, we can achieve a fill rate of greater than 95% and we’re able to process our purchase orders much sooner, resulting in better supply.” NEW MANTRA Ultimately, E.T. Browne’s decision to upgrade to SYSPRO 8 2023 was all about requirements planning and requirements optimization. Accurate forecasting is vital to the skin care company. It involves determining current inventory, their needs for the future, their production requirements, and subsequently their purchase requirements. “That’s where we’ve really been able to drive efficiencies,“ says Goes. “Having all of that information in one system, and having all the systems talk to each other and be aware of one another, drives much better results.” There is always a bit of a learning curve when any new software is implemented. Gorey’s observation is that E.T. Browne has adjusted to SYSPRO 8 2023 well. She also notes Peter Goes’ quest for continuous improvement. “He constantly looks at its new features and functionality to determine how E.T. Browne could harness them to give the

company more efficiencies throughout the system, not just inventory,” she says. For his part, Goes is more pragmatic. “The step we are now working on is adhering to the system,” he explains. “If the system tells us to do something, we can’t think we’re smarter than the system. We have to trust it enough to follow through.” Goes believes this is a problem most organizations face when implementing change along these lines. “People are used to doing things a certain way, and it’s just something you have to work through,” he says. “We work with our people so they are not afraid to make that change.” He considers change management to be the hardest part of the process. “The technology can do more than what we have the capability of rolling out and actually trusting at this point,” Goes says. “So, we’re trying to take steps toward that.” Having reduced inventory by 22%, which enabled the company to grow profits by 113% on revenue growth of 7% year- over-year, E.T. Browne is committed to staying the course with SYSPRO. “Whatever can be done in SYSPRO is now being done in SYSPRO,” Goes says. “That has become our mantra.” n

By upgrading to the latest version of SYSPRO ERP, E.T. Browne was able to align its business to fully leverage SYSPRO’s material requirements and planning (MRP) capabilities. “We implemented SYSPRO’s demand planning and forecasting modules and E.T. Browne has seen a dramatic decrease in inventory while still having the correct inventory on hand when they need it,” says Gorey. By leveraging the SYSPRO ERP’s demand forecasting and supply chain management capabilities, E.T. Browne in effect created a just-in-time inventory system. It’s a model that works well for them. The system significantly reduces the amount of raw material and product the company has to have on hand at any given time, which translates directly into increased profits. At the same time, the manufacturer is still able to keep one month of expected demand, plus another month of buffer. “We can now do all of our forecasting natively in SYSPRO with their engine, so we’re able to better evaluate key markets and key customers, enabling our forecasting and capacity planning to be much more accurate,” says Goes. SYSPRO provided a tool that makes information readily available to everyone

October 2024 • Inbound Logistics 39

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