Customer - Bharat Engineering and Fabricators, located in Kozhikode, Kerala, specializes in manufacturing and supplying electrical panels and related products. Established in 2015, they have gained expertise in providing solutions such as LV switchboards, power control centers, motor control centers, and more. They cater to industrial, commercial, and marine markets, ensuring compliance with international standards. The company manages around 5,000 items in its operations, reflecting its significant scale and inventory needs.
Company has the fabrication facility, production facility for busbars and testing & assembling facility in Calicut.
Website : www.bharatelectrical.com
Challenges
Before implementing ERPNext, Bharat Engineering and Fabricators faced several significant challenges that hindered their growth and operational efficiency:
Fragmented Software Systems:
They relied on multiple standalone software solutions for different departments, leading to data silos, inefficiencies, and communication gaps.
Complex Quotation Process:
Preparing quotations involved coordinating between design, estimation, and sales teams to finalize costs for enclosures, MCBs, switches, installation, and logistics. This manual process was time-consuming, error-prone, and lacked standardization.
Inventory Management Issues:
With approximately 5,000 items in their inventory, tracking stock levels, procurement needs, and warranty information was challenging. This often led to delays, overstocking, or stockouts.
Limited Production Planning Visibility:
Their manual production scheduling system made it difficult to track job progress, allocate resources effectively, and anticipate delays.
Procurement Inefficiencies:
Lack of timely purchase alerts and visibility into material requirements led to procurement delays, impacting production timelines.
Project Management Complexities:
Managing projects with multiple design tasks, bill of materials (BOMs), and production steps was cumbersome without an integrated platform.
Financial Oversight Limitations:
Disjointed accounting processes made it difficult to generate accurate financial reports and track expenses, revenues, and profitability.
Scaling Challenges:
As a company serving domestic and international markets, they struggled to scale operations while maintaining quality and timeliness.
These challenges created bottlenecks in their operations and highlighted the urgent need for a unified, automated solution to enhance coordination and efficiency across all business functions.
Benefits
The ERPNext implementation brought transformative benefits to Bharat Engineering and Fabricators, addressing key operational challenges and introducing new efficiencies:
Streamlined Quotation Process:
A custom quotation format provided detailed insights into each product, including breakdowns for enclosures, MCBs, switches, and additional costs like installation, transportation, and customs. This ensured professional, client-specific quotations and reduced manual effort.
Automated Workflow Management:
The seamless automation of processes—from enquiry to sales order creation and project setup—eliminated redundant tasks. BOQs created during estimation were automatically converted to BOMs, saving time and minimizing errors.
Enhanced Inventory Control:
Real-time tracking and management of 5,000 items were enabled, ensuring better procurement planning, stock visibility, and warranty tracking through serialized inventory.
Efficient Production Planning:
The system facilitated production scheduling and progress monitoring through job cards, enabling the team to track each phase of manufacturing with accuracy.
Impact
The ERPNext implementation brought significant transformative changes to Bharat Engineering and Fabricators, positioning the company for sustained growth and operational excellence:
Faster Turnaround Times:
Automating processes from enquiry to production reduced lead times drastically. What previously took hours or days to coordinate is now streamlined into efficient workflows.
Scalable Operations:
With ERPNext in place, Bharat Engineering is now better equipped to handle increasing volumes of orders and expand into new markets without compromising on operational efficiency or customer satisfaction.
Enhanced Team Collaboration:
Departments such as design, estimation, procurement, and production now operate cohesively. The automated flow of information has eliminated silos, fostering transparency and coordination.
Data-Driven Decision Making:
With real-time insights provided by customized dashboards, management can monitor key metrics such as production efficiency, inventory levels, and financial health. This has led to faster, more informed decision-making.
Cost Savings:
Improved inventory management and production planning have minimized wastage, optimized resource utilization, and reduced unnecessary expenses across the organization.
Customer Satisfaction Boost:
Faster quotations, reliable delivery schedules, and accurate warranty tracking have elevated the overall customer experience, strengthening Bharat Engineering's reputation in the market.
Simplified Compliance and Reporting:
The integrated accounting module ensures accurate financial tracking and reporting, making it easier to comply with regulatory requirements and streamline audits.
Future-Ready Framework:
With ERPNext's flexibility and scalability, Bharat Engineering is now well-prepared to integrate future technologies, expand functionalities, and adapt to evolving industry demands.
The impact of ERPNext goes beyond operational improvements—it has empowered Bharat Engineering to enhance its market position, build stronger client relationships, and scale with confidence in a highly competitive industry.
Proactive Procurement Alerts:
Automated purchase requisitions alerted the procurement team promptly, ensuring timely material availability and preventing production delays.
Integrated Financial Management:
The accounting module consolidated all financial operations, simplifying invoicing, expense tracking, and reporting. This provided management with real-time financial insights and improved decision-making.
Dashboard Customizations:
Tailored dashboards offered an at-a-glance view of critical metrics, enabling management to track key performance indicators (KPIs) and operational health effortlessly.
Improved Client Experience:
Faster turnaround times, detailed quotations, and streamlined order fulfillment enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty.
These comprehensive benefits have empowered Bharat Engineering to operate with greater efficiency, accuracy, and scalability, paving the way for sustained growth and success in a competitive market.