IT consultancy Cohesis partners with MRPeasy to boost Australia’s small manufacturers

The smart will survive along with the strong, says Simon Cohen, Managing Director of IT consultancy Cohesis. To help Australia’s small manufacturers get smarter, Cohesis partnered with manufacturing ERP software provider MRPeasy.

The smart will survive along with the strong

Manufacturing added more than $85 billion to the economy of Australia in 2021. Compared to 2020, the manufacturing sector grew by a whopping 14%.

Nevertheless, manufacturing is currently battling issues stemming from global disruptions such as the reverberations of the COVID-19 pandemic, raw material supply problems, and the war in Ukraine. Business costs for essentials like energy, materials, and logistics have skyrocketed and especially small manufacturers could find themselves in a very vulnerable position.

In times like these, they used to say that only the strong will survive. But the smart will, too. And right now, the smart are automating and digitizing their businesses to cut costs and be better prepared for disruptions or spikes in demand, says Simon Cohen, Managing Director of Cohesis, a Perth-based strategic IT consultancy.

ERP does not have to be expensive and complex

Cohesis specializes in helping SME leaders make the right technology choices and aiding companies on their digital transformation journeys, including in the implementation of various types of software. Now, in order to help the small manufacturers of Australia become more efficient and competitive, they have partnered with MRPeasy.

MRPeasy is an ERP/MRP software designed specifically for small manufacturers, featuring modules for production planning, inventory management, purchases, CRM, and finances. But when it comes to the depth of functionality, MRPeasy really towers over other solutions of its caliber. And even so, MRPeasy’s entry-level package is the most affordable of all ERP/MRP suites, with a free trial available as well, Simon states. In addition, it is MRPeasy’s policy not to raise prices for clients that have already subscribed to the software – a huge selling point for price-sensitive small manufacturers.

“When MRPeasy was developed, the core team settled on a couple of basic tenets,” says Tarvo Tamm, MRPeasy’s Customer Success Manager for the Australia and New Zealand market. “First, it needed to be easy to use even for people with sparse IT knowledge. Secondly, it had to be cloud-based so that no on-premise servers and IT staff would be needed by the clients. And thirdly, it would be affordable even for the smallest manufacturer. Today, we have over 1200 companies using our software to manage their day-to-day, 120 of them Australian.”

First implementation was a delight

In a market dominated by old-timers like Microsoft and SAP, MRPeasy feels like a breath of fresh air. Unlike other manufacturing systems that have mostly grown out of accounting or inventory management software, the true core of MRPeasy lies in production planning. The software is suitable for all industries, both process and discrete manufacturing, and for both push and pull production modes. And although the functionality of the software covers most needs of any small manufacturer or distributor, they also offer native integrations with various accounting, e-commerce, CRM, or fulfillment apps.

“We were recently engaged by a large pet food manufacturer to help them find a suite of applications to replace a combination of legacy systems and spreadsheets,” Simon recounts their team’s first MRPeasy implementation. “During this process, we captured a series of detailed requirements and researched the market to find the best fit. MRPeasy was the clear winner.”

During the implementation, Cohesis covered inventory, customer relationship management, purchasing, and production scheduling functionality using their proprietary delivery approach. They also activated integrations with Xero and Pipedrive, which they had previously introduced to the client’s software arsenal.

“The project went really well, and our client was delighted,” Simon says. “The software just works! It is reliable, flexible, has a great interface, and is easy to customize. We also love the way it seamlessly integrates with other great tools.”

Small manufacturers deserve better access to tech

Small manufacturers is notoriously conservative when it comes to integrating new tech into their processes. Especially when it comes to companies with decades-long experience, the managers as well as the employees are often set deep in their ways. In these types of situations, a software implementation, even one as easy to use as MRPeasy, could take a wrong turn and cost the company time and money without bringing the expected result. That is where consultancies like Cohesis step into play, says Simon.

“Cohesis helps manufacturers leverage digital technologies to get more out of their businesses,” he explains. “By allowing us to build a solid framework that supports, standardizes, and streamlines tasks across the whole company, our clients benefit from increased productivity, reduced costs, higher revenues, better traceability, and improved responsiveness in all areas of the business.”

 “The readiness to implement new technology has already become an important driver of success and the small manufacturers of Australia and New Zealand deserve to have better access to it,” he concludes.