Left to right: Simon Kenney and Richard Wilson (both Goodfellow)One of the UK’s leading suppliers of advanced materials and metals has accelerated its digital transformation journey after implementing a new world-class ERP (enterprise resource planning) system.
Goodfellow has completed the integration of
Microsoft Dynamics 365 into its business, which supplies a 170,000-strong product range to customers in more than 30 different countries around the world.
Together with the company’s advanced e-commerce website and enhancements to its CRM system, the new ERP will provide long-term operational efficiencies and allow it to launch new materials more quickly, as well as strengthening its already exceptional level of customer service. Importantly, it will also give the firm the capability to scale as it looks to embark on a proactive acquisition trail, a path that accelerated with the purchase of US-based Potomac Photonics, Suisse TP in Switzerland and, closer to home, the Bureau of Analysed Samples (BAS) during the last 12 months.
Goodfellow’s CEO Simon Kenney said: “This is the biggest transformation project we have completed as a business this century — that is the scale of what the team has achieved. We now have an ERP system that gives us real-time access to every facet of our operation. Cash used to be king, but that is quickly changing to data as it allows us to make informed decisions on purchasing, post-processing manufacturing and sales — all with the aim of supporting our customer base in the best possible way we can.”
Huge taskHe continued: “There is not many businesses like ours that supply up to 170,000 different products, so to migrate these to Microsoft Dynamics has been a huge task, but one the IT and sales team have done superbly. What it will help us to do is introduce new ranges quicker and we are currently in the process of announcing two new lines in the coming months.”
Goodfellow, which received an investment from Battery Ventures in 2021, supplies a comprehensive range of metals, alloys, ceramics, polymers, compounds, and composites. The company has built a strong reputation as a trusted supplier to firms involved in R&D, advanced engineering, space and the scientific sector, with subsidiaries across Europe, North America and China helping to extend its global reach.
From its headquarters in Cambridge, the material specialist also provides a range of post-processing facilities, including rolling, electroplating, sputtering, heat treatment, disk punching/turning and guillotining/sawing. The acquisitions of Suisse TP and BAS also gives it access to ‘state of the art’ laboratories, testing facilities and an unrivalled Certified Reference Materials (CRM) capability.
CTO Richard Wilson added: “We are at an exciting stage of development, with organic growth and acquisitions all in the pipeline. To get to where we want to be we need to have a technology platform that can help us scale globally and, in Microsoft Dynamics 365, Adobe Commerce and Salesforce, we now have that in place.”
He concluded: “I am proud of the team’s achievements in implementing these new technologies and we are all looking forward to leveraging future benefits from these best-in-class systems. Whether it be through artificial intelligence (AI) supporting product recommendations or data insights to aid stock management, Goodfellow is set up perfectly for a digital future.”