Manchester firms: old software replaced or connected, without stopping work.
We have worked across the Pennines since 2021, most of that time with an engineering works in Oldham. In Greater Manchester the job is usually old business software and the admin that has grown up around it. AI comes in where it earns its keep.
The Greater Manchester firms we work with
Engineering and manufacturing businesses in the towns around the city: Oldham, Rochdale, Bolton, Stockport, Trafford Park. Wholesalers and distributors with warehouses near the motorway network. Professional and service firms in the city centre with more paperwork than people.
Many run on a mix of an ERP or accounts package, a shop-floor system and a lot of spreadsheets in between. The spreadsheets are where the time goes and where the mistakes come from.
How we cover Manchester from Sheffield
Manchester Piccadilly is about 50 minutes from Sheffield on the train. We come over for the first visit, for workshops with your team and for go-live, and do the rest remotely with a weekly call.
At Oldham we worked in two-week blocks with a fixed scope each time, tracked on a board the client could see. Most Manchester clients get the same rhythm.
| Area | Before | After | Proof |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business software | Slow in places and risky to change | Updated and sped up, one module at a time | Oldham Engineering |
| Planning | No contract forecast | A contract forecast report, plus the reports the business asked for | Oldham Engineering |
| Links to other systems | An old link to the JobBOSS ERP | The JobBOSS link upgraded, and a link to Fastems shop-floor automation started | Oldham Engineering |
| Ownership | No path to owning the system | An in-house specialist we helped recruit, and our retainer ended in December 2023 | Oldham Engineering |
Source: Oldham Engineering case study. Work ran from March 2021 to December 2023.
An engineering works in Oldham
Oldham Engineering works out of Castle Iron Works. It machines, fabricates and assembles heavy parts for nuclear, defence, rail and power generation.
Oldham Engineering
We modernised the software it runs contracts, sales, production and reporting on, then recruited the person who took it in-house.
Everything Boxed
A supplier of furniture and household packs met its biggest customer’s deadline for digital ordering and invoicing, and kept the account.
Starting with us
- 1
Free call
Tell us which job takes the most time, and which system your team avoids touching.
- 2
Assessment
A written plan with a price and a payback on every line, quoted before it starts.
- 3
Two-week blocks
Each with a fixed scope and a visible board, so you see progress and spend as you go.
Questions
- Will you come to our site in Greater Manchester?
- Yes. We visit for the first look at how the business runs, for workshops and for go-live. Day-to-day work is remote.
- Our system was written years ago by someone who has left. Can you help?
- Yes. That was the position at Oldham. We bring it up to date in small, safe steps and leave it in a state your own team can own.
- Do we need AI, or just better systems?
- Often the first saving is a better link between two systems. AI only goes on the list if it beats the cheaper fix.
- Do you work with our ERP?
- We have worked with JobBOSS, Sage and bespoke systems, and we connect ERPs to shops, warehouses and customers’ ordering systems.
Which system is holding you back?
We will put a number on what the old system costs you each year, and on what fixing or replacing it would take.
Max RevittFounder and Director