Burgess Pet Care
Looking for a 24-Carrot ERP system.
As a leading manufacturer of feed and bedding for small animals, dogs and cats, Burgess Pet Care realised, to continue growing the business, they needed to improve their internal systems. They chose Gradient to bring their structured but flexible system evaluation and selection process to provide Burgess with confidence that they had considered the breadth of the ERP market and chosen the right system.
The client
Proud of their independent, family-run and Yorkshire-based history, the Burgess family started out as flour millers in the 17th century. They began focussing on producing farm animal feeds in the 1960s. Then, combined with a move to their current premises in East Yorkshire, Burgess Pet Care increased their drive to make high quality, nutritious food for smaller animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters, to complement their dog and cat ranges.
Burgess is now a well-known brand serving domestic and export markets, featured in leading supermarkets and independent retailers. They are often recommended by vets and the animal health community.
The challenge
Whilst Burgess had systems in place across the business, there was a lack of integration. This created operational inefficiencies, data silos, and limited visibility across production, supply chain, and financial performance.
The production of animal feed is rightly subject to strict control and traceability requirements and Burgess’ BRC certification is fundamental to their manufacturing and distribution operation. This, added to the need to optimise their manufacturing and stock management, drove their search for a more complete, integrated and modern offering that would grow with Burgess in the future.
Burgess’s requirements were clear:
It was also key to Burgess to find an implementation partner who shared similar values and had a proven experience in UK pet food manufacturing.
The approach
Initially we ran our Business Systems Health Check, to help understand the users’ perspective on the reality of their operational life. This produced a “maturity evaluation” to enable future progress to be measured. We then focused on deeper dive ‘discovery’ workshops to understand the current processes in detail whilst identifying opportunities for improvement within the business. We also took time to meet with key third-party system providers, especially in relation to the existing Manufacturing Execution System, which is core to their production operation.
As we were building out a comprehensive Requirements document, we reviewed the mid-market ERP landscape. Having approached ten potential vendors to assess them against the key high-level requirements, Burgess and Gradient agreed the most appropriate vendors to move forward with, and we sought detailed responses to the Requirements document from four.
Our assessment of those responses was brought together in a comprehensive report. This allowed Burgess to confidently select three for face-to-face meetings and scripted demonstrations that were scored by business stakeholders. Burgess was able to quickly reach a consensus on the most appropriate solution for them and therefore start the work with us to build an investment proposition and justification.
The result
“Gradient’s ability to grasp the essence and nuances of our business was invaluable. They understand the opportunities that a modern ERP will provide whilst giving us confidence in our selection. They managed the work and vendors involved to the timescale we required, given our resource availability and competing priorities.”
Mark Womersley, Managing Director, Burgess Pet Care
