Hovat is a UK-based printed packaging and labeling manufacturer providing solutions mainly for the food industry. Celebrating over 50 years in business, the company has built a reputation for innovation, adopting diverse techniques in the sectors it serves over the decades.
Owned by packaging conglomerate Grafham Holdings, Hovat is a sizable operation with 75 full-time employees and an annual revenue exceeding £11 million. With two manufacturing locations, an in-house design department, and a large warehouse, managing the company’s inventory and production activities requires high levels of control—control that only a short while ago was lacking—the company’s inventory software was almost as old as the company itself.
Ancient stock management system was hindering efficiency
When Hovat’s Head of Finance, Colin Britton, came aboard in 2023, one of his first tasks was to oversee the company’s transition to a new operations management software solution.
“When I joined, they used software developed in the 70s. It was originally used to record stock for the Vietnam War! The software was running on ancient 8-bit computers, and since the system’s parent company had lost most of its clientele over the years, the maintenance cost was pushed onto the few remaining clients. So, we were paying around £2,500 a month for the package,” he says, “It was a no-brainer that we needed to move to something more modern.”
Colin then came across MRPeasy during a web search. This fully cloud-based package promised a combination of cost efficiency, ease of use, and rugged functionalities, including comprehensive traceability. He created a trial account, requested a demo, and was quickly convinced to proceed with the SME-focused manufacturing system.
Guided onboarding delivered quick results
The process of acquiring new software began in September 2023. Having a production setup of considerable size and complexity, Hovat’s management decided to opt for an assisted implementation early on.
Colin picked one of MRPeasy’s long-standing UK partners, Smart Manufacture, to aid with setting up and transitioning to the new system. This greatly eased the transition to the new system, completed in May 2024. “Our employees have taken to using MRPeasy very well,” Colin says.
Full traceability with no paper trail
When asked about the core benefits MRPeasy has brought to the manufacturer, Colin first brings out MRPeasy’s ability to streamline communication between departments, contractors, and suppliers:
“Previously, everything was done by printing hard copies. The printers would start printing at six every morning to get a pile of printouts for the day. Now we can email suppliers purchase orders or copies of drawings straight within the system. We’ve saved thousands of pounds on postage alone in less than a year since moving to MRPeasy.”
Traceability has become streamlined across departments, too. “It’s a lot easier to trace anything now – just a simple report, accessible straight within the app. We’re saving hours and hours compared to the old way of tracing any item,” he says.
Accurate costing and real-time access to financial information
MRPeasy has also greatly simplified Colin’s work as Financial Director. For one, the ability to log on and manage the finances of Hovat’s two facilities from anywhere has been instrumental. “I took my computer to Australia on a business trip, and I could work from halfway around the globe,” he muses.
Unit pricing and cost accuracy have seen large improvements as well. In the old software, all invoicing was done on a monthly basis, so Colin had no idea of the true margins per product. “It’s a lot easier for us to see where cost increases are eroding a customer’s margin. We can deal with actual margins now, not theoretical.”
Thanks to MRPeasy’s exporting tools, accounting and financial auditing have also become greatly simplified. Colin notes: “Because we couldn’t export anything to Excel before, analyzing things was difficult for the auditors. Now, they can get any report on the screen and pop it out as a CSV if needed.“
With the outdated infrastructure out of the way and modern production software properly set up, Hovat is much better equipped to support future growth. MRPeasy has helped Hovat revamp the company’s production, stock, and cost control in a matter of months.
For more information, visit https://www.mrpeasy.com/.
