A world leader in the manufacturing of speciality malt extracts, PureMalt, is an independent, privately-owned company located in East Lothian, Scotland. Blending a unique range of refined malt extracts for food and beverage industries in more than 50 countries worldwide, PureMalt’s expertise has transformed over the past 40 years from flour milling and malting to today’s specialised production of refined malt extracts.
With products including a range of flavours from roast, crystal, and pale extracts, PureMalt’s malt extracts are used in an array of foods and drinks including beers, sauces, conserves, baked goods, and soft drinks.
Previous business challenges
PureMalt wasn’t able to easily communicate from department to department. Most of the company’s previous systems were primitive—with Microsoft® Access® databases that were ten to fifteen years old or very early versions of financial accounting systems—and all operated within their own environment, with their own team, and with no understanding of the wider business.
PureMalt was aware that something needed to change if it was to continue to grow and fulfil its expansion plans. They decided that the company needed to implement a flexible supporting system that would allow communication throughout different departments in the business—something the aging system already in place was unable to do.
Selection process
Choosing the right product was vital to provide the company with a more cohesive approach, improve inter-departmental communications, and streamline the production process. Consequently, when it came to the evaluation process, PureMalt implemented rigorous selection criteria with the heart of the organisation in mind—its employees. They identified ease of use, functionality, and streamlining processes as the key selection criteria.
However, topping the criteria list was the need for manufacturing software with the ability to integrate financial processes, rather than an accounting system, informing PureMalt how to operate most effectively. Epicor Tropos fit the bill perfectly.
“What set Tropos apart was the fact that it is a software platform that is clearly born out of a production and manufacturing focus, whereas some of its competitors’ products seem to have grown out of a finance package,” says Ross Turner, key account manager at PureMalt Products Ltd. “The manufacturing focus is key to supporting the growth of our business and how we compete with our counterparts,” he continued.
Increased business growth
Following the initial rollout of the Epicor Tropos—an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution designed specifically for process manufacturers—PureMalt rapidly started seeing business benefits. Now Tropos helps every area of the business, from raw material procurement and quality control through stock creation and sales order fulfilment.
Turner comments, “Previously, as an ingredient supplier, one of the most complicated operational tasks we encountered was product labelling. Over the decades, the complexity of our product labelling had become, to all intents and purposes, out of control, and was almost a full-time job for one employee. However, the implementation of Tropos enabled us to automate the process and—almost overnight—streamline the business.”
Turner adds, “Also, thanks to Tropos, we now have a better understanding of product costings. Knowing how much it costs to produce our products allows us to generate greater value, and has meant we have seen increased sales and profits.”
Planning for the future
“When we started this project, we anticipated a start and an end date. Now we have taken the view that Epicor is a long-term partner that can, almost on a monthly or quarterly basis, contribute towards new initiatives that allow our business to improve both operationally and commercially,” continues Turner.
“We may have now finalised the initial implementation of the Tropos solution, but there is so much more functionality we can benefit from that our Epicor consultants can and will assist us with benefitting from,” he adds. “Needless to say, we are excited for the future.”
