David Gray is an electrician-turned-entrepreneur from Northern Ireland who invented a new power tool that would change the lives of electricians worldwide. His inventions – the ViperClip and the ViperClip Gun – make fastening electrical cables during construction quicker, easier, and safer than traditional cable clips.
David and his wife Julie funneled all their savings into the business, developing the product for 10 years before starting to manufacture and sell it. In 2021, they only had a thousand pounds and very few options left when they applied to participate in the TV show Dragons’ Den to secure extra funding for their dream. The dragons saw treasure in their invention and provided them with what they needed to bring ViperClip to electricians worldwide.
Business analyst experience drove to integrated software
As an experienced business analyst, Julie Gray knew they needed a system to integrate the whole operation.
“We wanted a system that would connect everything, automatically exchange information between different departments, and reduce the amount of data duplication needed to keep everything up to date,” she says.
Julie evaluated different software offerings but felt they were either too complex or too simplistic for their operation. Then, an acquaintance recommended MRPeasy.
“MRPeasy is sat right in the middle in terms of ease of use and functionality,” she says.
Julie wanted the system up and running before they started accepting orders, as she felt implementing it while they were fully operational would have been much harder.
“The implementation took around six months,” Julie says. “But it was not due to the complexity of the software, but rather delays that we were having on our end.”
New system ensures quality and traceability
Now that the system is implemented and products are being shipped, Grays Clip uses MRPeasy to track each item’s journey from procurement through production to final delivery. As they subcontract the manufacture of the ViperClip Guns, it is essential to make sure customers receive a functional product.
“Quality is very important to us,” Julie says. “We monitor our subcontractor’s quality data and perform extra inspections in-house. Serial numbers allow us to track the details of each product.”
The company also uses MRPeasy to manage returns. Having a digital trail associated with each product helps the team trace back quality inconsistencies. This enables the team to quickly fix any hiccups in their processes or communicate when there’s a problem on a supplier’s side.
Accurate planning and seamless processes
The new software has also introduced meticulous planning into the company. After determining their projected demand, they can create manufacturing orders for the necessary quantities. The software then looks at current inventory levels and production capacity and automatically calculates what needs to be ordered, when production can start, and how long it will take.
“We can always make sure we have enough stock and staff to fulfill orders,” Julie says. “That planning aspect in MRPeasy is very important to us.”
MRPeasy’s price list functionality enables the company to create different pricing systems, e.g., for bulk orders by distributors versus single items ordered through Shopify. Invoicing is also done via MRPeasy, which synchronises the info with their accounting system and provides a convenient overview of pending invoices, cash flow, and other financial metrics.
“Another small everyday thing that has made our work more efficient is MRPeasy’s labeling system,” Julie says. “The software generates labels with barcodes and other product info that we can then easily print and stick onto our packages.”
“MRPeasy is just easy to wrap your head around,” she says as a final thought. “It’s a nice, simple, and clearly laid out system.”
For more information, visit www.MRPeasy.com.
