British wheelchair manufacturer implements new system to manage growing demand
Cheshire-based all-terrain wheelchair manufacturer The Mountain Trike Company has introduced new software to streamline its customer service and production processes.
The company has selected an integrated manufacturing CRM & MRP software from UK cloud manufacturing software provider Flowlens, which will enable the mobility manufacturer to modernise its production planning, scheduling, and inventory control.
Established in 2011, The Mountain Trike Company has developed an innovative and award-winning range of all-terrain mobility products, including the new battery-powered eTrike.
The company was founded by inventor and Managing Director Tim Morgan, who came up with his off-road wheelchair concept whilst studying at university before turning the design into a product.
Over the last nine years, the wheelchair supplier has expanded its portfolio and operations, shipping globally and securing distribution partnerships in the UK.
According to the company, the decision to invest in the new software was driven by worldwide demand for its products growing rapidly.
“As demand for our products has grown worldwide, our manual ways of working are no longer fit for purpose. Our all-terrain mobility products are made up of several sub-assemblies with their own bill of materials, and staying on top of the stock requirements has become a particular challenge,” explained Tim.
“With growth in orders, our combination of spreadsheets, CRM, Sage 50 and manual processes create bottlenecks and time-consuming admin to stay on top of stock levels, purchasing and the resulting paperwork. This requires much human input, and we want to free up time for our team to focus on customers.
“Having surveyed the market, we identified Flowlens as providing the right combination of cloud-based MRP assembly software, built-in CRM capabilities, workflow reporting, and integration with Sage 50 accounts.”
Flowlens integrated manufacturing CRM and MRP software is designed for small manufacturers of equipment, machinery and plant says the company, replacing spreadsheets and disjointed manual processes.
Rich Dale, CEO of Flowlens, added: “Flowlens was designed for growing manufacturing businesses like The Mountain Trike Company. Integrating processes to provide better visibility of potential problems and stock demand. The built-in CRM means customer interactions, billing and after-sales service are captured, creating a single platform for the business to work from.
“Our Implementation Team are now working with Mountain Trike on a staged roll-out process, and we’re looking forward to seeing the early benefits this delivers for the business.”