MillMaster goes Organic with Hi Peak

Early in January 2007 Ian Proctor, Hi Peak Managing Director, contacted BMS looking for a replacement for his existing IT system.  It had been doing sterling service for many years, but was no longer keeping up with current requirements in a changing industry.  He was looking for a solution that would enable him to develop his feed business over the coming years, to help him stay ahead of his competitors, and was aware that MillMaster was used by many of the top players in the industry.  Being one of the very few organic feed compounders in the UK, Ian is used to managing change in his business and with the  market-leading MillMaster software solution he was expecting things to change for the better.

Following an initial phone conversation with Steve Mitchell, Director of Professional Services at BMS, to ensure we did actually understand feed manufacturing, a meeting was arranged to review MillMaster and its possible use at Hi Peak.

Richard and Steve spent a day at the Hi Peak mill at Killamarsh on the edge of the Peak District discussing with Ian and Karen Hotchin, Director (and sister), how the business operated and how they envisaged the new system would improve workflow.  There followed an intensive two day meeting at BMS with the Hi Peak team looking at how MillMaster would operate in the key areas of their business.  The software in these fundamental areas was demonstrated and Ian and Karen were able to see exactly how MillMaster would operate in their business.  They were able to put any questions arising to the BMS team who were then able to show the solution. 

A commercial proposal was drawn up and sent to Hi Peak to review.  Ian, who keeps a very tight rein on the finances of the business, wanted to make sure he was getting value for money.  That satisfied, a live date was agreed for 1st October 2007.

Once the commercials had been agreed, the implementation team of Alec and David moved in.  Initial hardware was installed in June - just as we entered the monsoon season!  Unfortunately, the Hi Peak offices were flooded and the AlphaServer disappeared under the muddy water not to emerge.  However, help was at hand: BMS had a new server quickly configured and delivered to site so that setup and training could start with a delay of just a few days.

We then embarked on the transfer of data, setup of the MillMaster application, user training and getting ready to go live.  In between, we replaced the loan AlphaServer with an Integrity server after the flood waters had receded.

Hi Peak did not have a computerised purchase contract system, so this was chosen as the first live module and by September it was up and running.  Progressively during October and November the rest of the system went live and the old system was dropped.  Alec Taylor, BMS Implementation Project Manager for Hi Peak, was involved in the project at every stage and is pleased with the implementation “Hi Peak have responded very positively to the changes and have picked up the day to day operation very quickly”. 

Hi Peak now have the latest MillMaster software running their business day to day, the next challenge will be the move to replace the current HP RMS database with the MySQL database. 

Once MySQL is in place, we will be working with Ian to start the introduction of the new Browser software, less than eighteen months after the contracts had been agreed and the deal done.  Ian commented that “it’s been an interesting nine months, unexpected torrential rain, three implementations of hardware, replacement of a system we have used for many years.  We now look forward to the very latest Browser-based software from BMS which we hope will help keep our business ahead of our competitors”.