Rae-Line, a market leader in the design and manufacture of commercial upholstery for trucks, caravans, sports and safety padding, has chosen SYSPRO to support its digital transformation journey as the business embarks on an ambitious period of growth.
The 47-year-old company, based in Kilsyth, Victoria, counts Kenworth Trucks as one of its longest-serving customers and prides itself on how its staff continue to deliver exceptional client service by providing timely solutions to help solve customers’ problems. Rae-Line has been recognised as Kenworth’s ‘Supplier of the Year’ seven times.
Brett Vorhauer, Managing Director for Rae-Line says the business has been successful at reactively addressing issues, but that the company is now at a point where employees’ time needs to be freed up to allow them to do more with the limited time they have. Despite a solid customer base, the growth of the company and its customers’ businesses means the organisation needs to progress its digital transformation journey, so that efficiency can be improved via better predictability throughout the supply chain.
“Due to customer growth, the business has outgrown our legacy system of relying on manual data collection and requires a more integrated IT system,” says Vorhauer. “Having the support of a systemised ERP solution will help us further service our clients efficiently whilst being able to predict any needs or issues one or two weeks ahead.
“This in turn will help boost our profitability, not just in terms of cash flow but also with how an ERP helps replace the less mundane tasks for my staff so they can work on other aspects within the business.”
The team at Rae-Line will be able to automate some manual processes such as material requirements planning, capacity planning and digitise customer schedules, ensuring staff are working on the latest information. Current systems, such as payroll and CRM, will be integrated with SYSPRO’s software and cashflow will also be improved by reducing the need to hold more materials on site. Having access to a comprehensive dashboard will help the management see whether production is going to plan.
While the decision to purchase a new ERP was collectively made by Rae-Line’s key decision-makers, the entire senior management team is looking forward to overcoming several business challenges by being able to make better decisions with the data the business will be collecting through the SYSPRO ERP system. Of the ERP providers who participated in the sales process, SYSPRO was a stand-out choice due to the company’s detailed knowledge and its complementary partnership approach.
“SYSPRO’s approach and willingness to help its customers is the same culture we have at Rae-Line,” Vorhauer adds. “Their team is an ongoing partner in our business. It’s no different to my banker or insurance broker – these are people we rely on for their expertise in our business and to help us continue to improve,”
In addition to the cost and efficiency benefits, the wellbeing of employees is equally important for Rae-Line. Vorhauer believes the ERP system will help to reduce stress in the workplace, because an estimated 70-80 staff members will have more certainty in what they’re doing since they can see problems more clearly and be better prepared to deal with them.
“Rae-Line and SYSPRO share the same business philosophy,” says Rob Stummer, CEO of SYSPRO Australasia. “We put the customer first and take pride in delivering exceptional customer experiences. We are committed to partnering with Rae-Line to enable them to better respond to the challenges of a rapidly-evolving customer-facing business.”
Using the best technology to remove paper-based records, and to make the information flow as immediate, relevant and accurate as possible is an IT strategy that works for Rae-Line. After the current initial phase of the project is complete, Rae-Line will work with SYSPRO’S engineering team to actualise the design process. The project is currently ahead of schedule and expected to officially go live by April 2020.