Established in 2004, Alexander Dennis is a long-standing member of the NFI Group, the largest bus and coach manufacturer in the UK as well as the global leader in the design and manufacture of double-decker buses. Based in Larbert, Scotland, the company has more than 1800 employees and operates facilities in 10 countries.
Alexander Dennis purchases tens of thousands of different SKUs in a complex global procurement operations. Its vehicles have battery-electric, hydrogen fuel cell, diesel and hybrid drivelines and are assembled in a variable schedule on the same lines, so parts delivery on the line is essential to avoid costly line stoppages.
Syspro MRP works alongside DataSwitch to calculate the required parts and volumes, and automates the admin by providing confirmed dates of parts deliveries. Instead of uncertainty around when parts will arrive, accurate dates of material availability are now reliable.
Alexander Dennis knows what buses it needs to build on a schedule, and Syspro converts and stores this data as a bill of materials with appropriate lead times. DataSwitch automatically pushes suppliers’ changes in lead times through the MRP system, which calculates the impact on the build schedule.
The full stack tech environment Alexander Dennis has built has sped up the change process, giving the company more time to react and ensuring production quality is maintained.
By leveraging Syspro’s Material Requirements Planning (MRP) solution, Business Intelligence software and the DataSwitch purpose-built automation and integration tool, Alexander Dennis has enhanced its ability to source the correct parts on time. The automation tools have also sped up data exchange by automatically receiving and translating information from suppliers in any data format.
To adapt effectively to supply chain delays resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and military conflicts, Alexander Dennis needed to speed up its data exchange, improve supply chain management, and optimize the potential of Robotic Process Automation (RPA).
For more than 20 years, Alexander Dennis has used Syspro to manage its enterprise IT systems. More recently, the company worked closely with Syspro to introduce new solutions which focus on improving its supply chain management, data integration and RPA.
