Fire Protection Manufacturer Grows by 25% First Year of Going Live with MRP Software

After replacing accounting software and spreadsheets with a modern MRP system, Vanquish Hardware Protection saw a massive revenue boost without scaling headcount. “In the first year after going live, we grew in revenue by 25% while adding just one or two new employees,” Sales Director Mike Sutcliffe says. “There’s no way we could have done that without MRPeasy.”

Protecting hardware on fire doors

Vanquish Hardware Protection is a UK-based manufacturing company that produces intumescent fire protection products – materials that expand when exposed to heat to help prevent the spread of fire. The company operates in a highly niche area of the fire protection market, specializing in protecting fire door hardware. The products are designed to sit discreetly behind hinges, around lock mechanisms, and with other hardware to protect the components and help retain the door’s structural integrity in case of fire. 

Founded in January 2021, Vanquish is still a relatively young company. However, the team behind it brings decades of industry experience, with backgrounds in fire protection manufacturing stretching back to the early 1990s. Scaling fast since its inception, Vanquish grew to 22 employees and reached an annual turnover just shy of £3 million by the end of 2024, as demand for its products was rapidly rising.

Vanquish offers both off-the-shelf products and bespoke solutions. For resellers, they also have a comprehensive white label service. Having made a name with fire door protection products, Vanquish had clear ambitions to diversify its portfolio and scale further. But soon enough, the pace of growth exposed cracks in how production was being run.

Rapid growth exposed faults in internal processes

In the early days, Vanquish utilized Sage 50 in combination with spreadsheets for its production, stock, and order management – a makeshift production system it had inherited from its predecessor. The system worked reasonably well with a low order volume, but as volume increased, it became a clear bottleneck.

The core issue wasn’t a single point of failure, but the accumulation of manual and duplicate work across departments. Orders were first entered into Sage and then manually re-created in Excel as production operatives maintained their own documents. Labels, specifications, and work instructions were also stored separately. Accounting and admin teams needed constant back-and-forth to get a full picture. This fragmentation and lack of central data introduced significant risk and added labor strain. 

“Our processes relied heavily on manual coordination – from scheduling in Excel to managing labelling and gathering production information,” explains Sales Director Mike Sutcliffe. “While this approach supported the business for a time, it became clear that it wasn’t scalable for our growing operation.”

As demand increased, the limitations of manual systems began to impact efficiency. Occasional material mismatches or quantity discrepancies required rework, adding time to the production cycle and placing pressure on production schedules. Recognising these constraints gave the company a clear opportunity to streamline operations, strengthen accuracy, and better support on-time delivery.

“Sage is really accounting software. It certainly doesn’t help you with manufacturing, production scheduling, or live stock tracking,” says Mike, “so we realized that we were lagging behind and needed a new system if we wanted to keep growing.”

Ease of use was the benchmark for finding a new solution

Vanquish didn’t start the search for a new production system with a detailed ERP shortlist. Instead, an email from independent manufacturing and ERP consultancy, Smart Manufacture, introduced the team to the SME-oriented manufacturing system MRPeasy. “We had been thinking that a change was needed for a while without getting into a lot of detail yet as to what that should look like,” says Mike. “Then we received a timely e-mail from Smart Manufacture, and that started us down the MRPeasy route right then.”

Although MRPeasy was new to the team at the time, it quickly stood out during evaluation. Vanquish briefly considered another alternative, but this offer felt overly complex and reminiscent of the tools from which they were trying to escape. “The alternatives still looked complicated, like Sage all over again. MRPeasy does what it says on the tin – it’s simple and intuitive.” 

Escaping from a workflow fragmentation nightmare, ease of use proved decisive for Vanquish Hardware Protection. The value MRPeasy promised became apparent almost immediately. “I jumped on the trial, and within half an hour, I could already see how everything fits together.”  MRPeasy struck the right balance – powerful enough to manage manufacturing complexity, but simple enough to allow for fast adoption. The decision was made.

From go-live to real operational impact

With implementation support consultancy from Smart Manufacture, Vanquish started implementing MRPeasy around October 2024. Rather than overwhelming staff with a rapid, all-at-once rollout, the team’s priority was making day-to-day work easier first. MRPeasy is designed for self-implementation and offers a range of resources to simplify the task. For example, there are dozens of demo videos explaining features and an AI-powered chatbot trained on the software’s functionalities.

Vanquish successfully managed to bring MRPeasy online without significant hurdles. “The live chatbot is brilliant, and the support team gets back to you promptly with great replies. I can’t fault them,” Mike comments, “Within just a few months, Vanquish was online with MRPeasy and putting orders through the new system.” 

The impact was felt quickly, especially on the shop floor. Instead of relying on printouts as before, the production team could now see live data like work orders, specifications, and stock availability, all in one place. “People aren’t second-guessing the data anymore. Our shop floor staff have direct access to info that’s relevant to them, through tablets and workstation computers. It has stopped people running around trying to source information.”

This applies to administration and accounting as well, who now get a birds-eye view of the entire production process. After the change in software, Vanquish also switched its accounting system from Sage to Xero. The latter has a native integration with MRPeasy, enabling accounting automation that streamlines order processing and cost tracking. 

Fewer errors, better stock control, and an OTIF score nearing 100

One of the most immediate improvements came from live inventory tracking. With MRPeasy, stock levels are always accurate and shared across the organization in real-time. Vanquish’s previous worry of double booking or using the wrong materials is a thing of the past. 

Order handling, which once required constant workarounds and duplicated data entry, is now also much more straightforward. “We can load orders and book materials in seconds or use a customer-issued part number with zero workarounds,” says Mike. “We don’t really use the automated scheduling feature and still effectively do it manually, but even so, MRPeasy’s scheduling simplicity has definitely made a huge difference in managing production.” 

Mike also lists the ability to attach work files and specifications within work orders as a core benefit for the Vanquish team. Thanks to the built-in OneDrive integration, MRPeasy allows production teams to stay within the same app to get access to all relevant information regarding any build. “That direct OneDrive link in the order has been incredibly useful for the workshop floor.”

With clearer scheduling and fewer production errors, Vanquish’s delivery performance improved dramatically. “Our OTIF is now constantly above 99%. It’s never been better!”

MRP software that lets you grow without adding complexity

For Vanquish, the takeaway is straightforward – waiting too long to move away from spreadsheets and manual workflows can quietly limit growth. By centralizing production data, reducing manual work, and giving teams real-time visibility, MRPeasy enabled Vanquish to scale to the market’s growth potential without losing control.

The results speak for themselves. Mike Sutcliffe sums up his experience: “In the first year after going live, we grew in revenue by 25% while adding just one or two new employees. There’s no way we could have done that without MRPeasy. Certainly not without bringing in a lot more people. So, my advice is to just go for it! There’s nothing that would hold me back from going ahead with this system as an SME.”

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