Manufacturing/ERP/MRP
Manufacturing Software News, Case-Study Applications, Product Information, Best-Practice and Thought-Leadership ArticlesLiberty Speciality Steels Forges Ahead with Infor-First Policy
Infor, a global leader in business cloud software for enterprise and SMB companies, today announced it has become a key technology supplier to integrated steel producer Liberty Speciality Steels UK (now part of the Liberty House Group). Based on a deployment of Infor CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise that was completed ahead of a demanding 12 month schedule, Speciality Steels plans to use an ‘Infor-first’ technology policy as the basis of a growth strategy following Speciality Steels’ separation from Tata Steel.
The applications are structured to help deliver a single ecosystem with end-to-end functionality, minimal customisations and simplified processes. This is designed to help improve efficiency and visibility of data around products and customers, which can be used to help Speciality Steels compete globally by contributing to consistent on-time, first-time delivery of products.
Following a thorough review of the market, Infor was chosen because of its clear commitment to the cloud, a competitive total cost of ownership (TCO) and the fact that Infor would not require investment in infrastructure, which differentiated Infor from the competing Oracle and Microsoft solutions considered.
Specialty Steels deployed Infor CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise as a multi-tenant cloud deployment in part in an effort to benefit from continuous software updates, and a reduction of the burden on internal IT staff to learn how to manage a new software environment or future upgrade projects.
Speciality Steels has also invested in Infor CloudSuite HCM (including Infor Global Human Resources, Infor Talent Management, Infor Learning Management, Infor WorkForce Management), Infor Expense Management and Infor Configure Price Quote (CPQ).
“There is a clear desire throughout the business to not only establish new processes but optimise how we do business,” said Chris Smith, CIO, Speciality Steels. “To do this, we recognise the need to standardise on a single platform that is built for our industry and delivers relevant functionality via the cloud. That led us to Infor and this extended investment.”
Latter stages of the digital transformation within Speciality Steels are expected to include a full review of existing processes and the rationalisation of five existing ERP systems, set to be complete by late 2019, and is anticipated to be followed by a project to help optimise business processes. This second phase is expected to include the development of business intelligence (BI) capabilities and a possible industrial Internet of Things project that is envisaged to involve integration of management, mechanical and engineering systems.
“High value manufacturers such as Speciality Steels know that the cloud offers a lot of potential benefits as they look to invest in new technology to help transform their business,” said Simon Niesler, general manager, western Europe, Infor. “What puts Speciality Steels ahead of the game is the speed of the implementation and a keen focus on change management, the HR elements of their investment and the early consideration of optimisation, business intelligence and Internet of Things projects. Speciality Steels is in good company with other big UK brands including BAE Systems, Triumph and Travis Perkins trusting Infor as its technology partner to help deliver this change.”