Bigger and Better for 2013

Last year in the UK, the Marussia F1 Team put Sage ERP X3 at the heart of their operations. At Sage, we were so pleased with our new partnership that we continued to work with the Team as Official Supplier through the 2012 race calendar.

This year we are very happy to announce that we have extended our partnership with the Team in a new European Sponsorship deal for 2013. The new partnership means that Sage’s branding will now appear on the Marussia F1 cars, team apparel, media boards and trucks for the 20 Grand Prix events in the Formula 1 calendar this season.

Kevin Lee, Operations Manager for the Team reminds us of the journey we went on last year, and talks us through how Sage ERP X3 will support the Team on and off the track in 2013…

When I joined the Marussia F1 Team at the end of the 2010 F1 season, the organisation was in its infancy, split over three operating sites, and was still developing sufficient operating procedures.

It was immediately clear to me that there was a requirement for an integrated management solution. At the time the Finance Department were using Sage 50, upgrading to Sage 200 in January 2011, with the software used solely for invoicing purposes. All other areas of the business, from stores to purchasing, goods in to end user, managed and tracked processes simply using spreadsheets. To operate in the highly competitive and technical world of F1 an integrated system was a must-have!

Once we had identified the need for an integrated ERP system we started researching the available options, basic searches at first, looking online at the range of different vendors and solutions on offer. From previous Formula 1 Team experience I had come into contact with a range of solutions, then following discussions with other contacts in the industry we were quickly able to identify the type of solution we required.  We needed a package that was flexible, quick to implement and had the ability to grow with our business. With an already successful customer/supplier relationship, Sage immediately presented itself as a vendor that we should be talking to.  A meeting with Sage was set up and after visiting their HQ in Winnersh for a Product Demonstration I was certain that the Sage ERP X3 solution was the one for us. Our Production Manager at the time and our new FD (who had only been in the role a week before visiting Sage HQ) were fully on-board with integrating Sage ERP X3 into the business.     

The first scoping meeting took place at the Marussia Technical Centre in Banbury in early August 2011, and considering we had a two week enforced factory shutdown (part of the F1 Sporting Regulations) the system went live on 20 October 2011, all within the set time scales and more importantly within budget. The most impressive part of the integration for me was that there was no customisation required; Sage configured the system to our needs, showing the flexibility and adaptability of the solution.

With compressed installation timescales, we decided to take a “walk before we could run” approach to introducing the solution to the business, initially switching on only a select number of the core ERP X3 modules (Stock Control, Purchasing and Finance). Using Sage ERP X3 we now have control and visibility over the complete life cycle of each part of the car, from part design release, to purchase orders and stock control, right through to invoicing and finance.

This year’s Marussia F1 Team MR02 car has been built with support from Sage ERP X3. Over time we have integrated more and more modules and increased the number of user licences from 20 to 36.  

We are also planning on rolling out the Sage HRP HR and Recruitment modules in the Spring, further joining together each area of our business.

As the business continues to grow the Sage ERP X3 system will continue to grow with us. Sage ERP X3 really is helping us to keep the pace off-track.