Managed services
Keeping the line running and invoices moving with a managed operation
A Midlands manufacturer was hit by IT downtime and slow order processing. A managed service cut outages and moved orders and invoices faster.
Results at a glance
- -79%
- Unplanned IT downtime
- -45%
- Order-processing time
- -64%
- Order-entry errors
- -3.5 days
- Days to invoice
14 to 3 hours a month
The challenge
The manufacturer ran lean, with one overstretched IT person and a finance team keying orders and invoices by hand. Unplanned downtime on shop-floor systems stopped production, and paperwork backlogs delayed both dispatch and cash collection.
Growth had outpaced the back office, and errors in order entry were causing shipment disputes. Leadership wanted dependable IT and faster processing without building an internal function they could not keep staffed.
Pain points
- Unplanned downtime on shop-floor systems halting production
- Orders and invoices keyed by hand, creating backlogs and entry errors
- Delayed dispatch and slow cash collection from paperwork bottlenecks
- A single overstretched IT resource with no cover or clear ownership
Our approach
- Took managed ownership of IT with proactive monitoring and defined response targets
- Set up a processing team to handle order entry and invoice matching to agreed accuracy standards
- Digitised the order-to-invoice flow so exceptions were flagged rather than discovered late
- Data handled under UK GDPR with a Data Processing Agreement and controlled access to order and finance systems
Results at a glance
The results
- Unplanned IT downtime fell from around 14 hours a month to under 3 as monitoring caught issues early.
- Order-processing time dropped and entry errors fell, cutting shipment disputes.
- Invoices went out sooner, shortening the time from dispatch to payment.
When a line stopped we lost real money, and the invoices always ran late. Handing IT and processing to one managed team steadied the whole operation.
Common questions
Yes. A single managed service takes ownership of IT with proactive monitoring and handles order entry and invoice matching to agreed accuracy standards, with one point of accountability.
These are representative engagements. Client identities are anonymised and the metrics are illustrative of the type of results this work delivers, not audited figures for a named client.
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Six-hour response. UK GDPR compliant. Named UK accountability.