Surrey-based Linear Precision Engineers Ltd (LPE) was established by engineers Andy Allan and Julian Parsley to provide advanced engineering machining solutions over 30 years ago.

The company now offers a range of services to its customer base in aerospace, defence, packaging, safety, printing and photographic equipment, and April 2020 is the 20th anniversary of its first investment in PSL Datatrack (www.psldatatrack.com) production control software.

Mr Allen said: “It is one of the best investments we ever made. We have added to the original modules, as our business requirements have changed, plus we have benefitted from all the upgrades and support provided by PSL Datatrack over the years.”

Among LPE’s business objectives (www.linearprecision.co.uk) is to ensure a reliable service from quotation to invoice, maintaining an all-round high standard of customer service.

It was harder to achieve that 20 years ago, when the administration associated with the growing business was undertaken manually — and had started to become unmanageable.

Invoices had to be typed, manually filled-in route cards were created for parts’ production processes, and orders and confirmations had to be faxed to suppliers and customers.

Mr Allen said: “I knew there were systems out there to help us, but it was PSL Datatrack who came up with the solution that really met our needs.

"We started with the sales modules, followed by other modules as we needed them — Purchase Orders, Goods Received and Component Stocks have all been added over the years.

"PSL Datatrack is essential to maintaining our ISO 9001:2015 accreditation, giving auditors all the information they need instantly.

"Our customers require traceability within our production processes, and PSL Datatrack provides a full traceable history of all the parts we produce.”