Your IT Department

Case Study – Rowes Precision Products

About Rowes

Rowes Precision Products (ROWES) are turned parts manufacturers based in Derbyshire in the East Midlands. They manufacture precision turned and machined components, offering a ‘sub-contract machining service’. The company has it’s main site in Derbyshire and another in Leicester.

What Was Going Wrong?

The IT used by Rowes staff was described as ‘sluggish’. A lot of time was spent waiting for things to happen and the general perception of the employees was that things needed a refresh. They were not wrong!

The company was running it’s network on old equipment and outdated server hardware. There were a number of inefficiencies and the company was not taking any advantage of the latest technology.

What We Did…..

Rather than just replace like for like we knew that we could reduce the amount of hardware required, take advantage of new software and cloud technologies and provide a streamlined on-site experience.

The existing 3 servers became 2. One of these does the heavy lifting, whilst the other is dedicated to the payroll system. The Leicester site staff moved from Windows XP (yes that still exists!) to Microsoft 365 and all email is now cloud based. Company data has been moved into SharePoint and One Drive. A cloud based backup has been put in place.

How This Has Helped…..

Everything is much faster, both onsite and when accessing remotely. The dedicated access for payroll has been a particular help as it had been difficult to access this when off-site. The whole company can now work remotely if and when needed. This has of course been vital during the pandemic.

Running the latest versions of the server software means increased security, and all the advantages of the latest software. Whilst moving everything to Microsoft 365 makes documents more accessible for everyone in the business.

The business is now running modern software. Staff feel that everything is quicker, and that they are more efficient and productive.

What Rowes Thought…..

Your IT Department have managed the upgrade of our computer systems over the last 3 years. Last Autumn they advised replacement of our Main server at Rowes.

The planning of the upgrade was efficient and the disruption to our business was kept to an absolute minimum. It was essential that we were able to access production management and control software at all operating times.

The project was a complete success for us. File sharing, speed of access and processing is hugely improved and security feels much improved. Our systems have been future proofed and all staff are significantly more confident as a result of this investment.

Thank you to Your IT, for a speedy and professional upgrade.

Nigel Maddocks, Managing Director