Venhill Engineering Ltd

  A tailored service for Venhill Engineering Ltd.

The Company:

Venhill Engineering has been manufacturing quality control cables and hydraulic lines since their humble origins in the 1970’s. Since then, they’ve grown considerably in size and complexity, well beyond the era of hand-written job cards and excel tables. Today, they boast a catalogue of over 100,000 finished cables and hoses -all supported by a comprehensive range of over 5,000 individual components- the inventory management of which has grown with the company and now represents a significant aspect of maintaining business continuity.

Just as important as the materials -the lifeblood of Venhill- are the finished goods. The many thousand cables and hoses that are made weekly all need to be appropriately managed, invoiced and sent out the door. Continuously ensuring that their internal processes are sound is why Venhill holds the ISO9001:2015 accreditation, and whilst Venhill has a very well established warehouse management system, the spring of 2024 saw the need to perform upgrades and improvements to the underpinning systems that the business operates on daily.

The Need:

Venhill identified several operational challenges that prompted the search for a more robust and efficient solution:

Speed and Operational Improvement

  • The existing system was experiencing slow processing times and frequent ERP drop-outs.
  • There was limited visibility into product movement and user activity.
  • A faster, more stable architecture was needed to support growing operational demands.

Implementation of Batch Numbers

  • Compliance with the EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) required the introduction of batch tracking.
  • Batch numbers provided clarity on product age and stock rotation.
  • This feature also reinforced Venhill’s commitment to quality, complementing existing ISO 9001:2015 and other accreditations.

Custom Label Designs

  • The ability to print customer-specific labels directly from the core system was essential.
  • This eliminated the need for a secondary printer terminal and reduced the risk of label transposition.
  • The use of GS1-128 barcodes, containing both Product Code and Batch Number, further streamlined operations and minimised errors.

The Solution:

MJM implemented a tailored solution based on the project proposal, with additional customisations developed specifically for Venhill post go-live. Key elements included:

  • A new system architecture designed for speed and reliability.
  • Integration of batch number functionality to meet regulatory and operational needs.
  • Custom label printing capabilities embedded within the core system.
  • Deployment of high-performance scanners and printers throughout the facility.

The Benefits:

The implementation delivered significant improvements across multiple areas:

  • Performance: A much faster and more stable system with virtually no ERP drop-outs.
  • Stock Control: Enhanced visibility and control over inventory and product movement.
  • Operational Efficiency: Streamlined processes with reduced manual intervention and error rates.
  • Technology Upgrade: New scanners and printers operating efficiently across the site.
  • Support: Ongoing, responsive support from the MJM team, ensuring continued success.

“The upgrade really has transformed the internal performance of the business. Knowing the per-bin quantity of stock items is enormously helpful, and the system UI provides an intuitive means of moving stock digitally. Booking finished goods into stock and printing the corresponding label is now done in a flash, and the dispatch areas’ ability to pick and pack independently of each-other gives us further flexibility to process orders efficiently. Equally, the office teams now see the exact live-status of an order and can provide insightful feedback to the customer on what parts are outstanding or yet to be made. We’re very happy we made this upgrade and we look forward to seeing continued success going forward ” – Martin Bradfield, Director at Venhill