Manufacturing organisations frequently deal with vast quantities of data and have to co-ordinate the exchange of information between employees, customers, partners and suppliers.

Consequently, communication is paramount, and companies attach great importance to the efficiency of their supply chains,
customer relationship management, and business integration.

The Internet can prove a powerful tool through which manufacturing companies can manage their information flow, work more closely with partners, establish direct links with suppliers, and fulfil customer demands by the most efficient means possible.

Furthermore, e-commerce solutions can enable engineers and manufacturers across the globe to share design ideas and information with ease.

Crosby's experience in I.T. and communications means we can help you harness the Internet's potential quickly, effectively and without incurring unnecessarily high costs.

We can also draw on our understanding of the latest voice, fax and mobile technologies to provide services which will enhance the clarity of communications within your company.

We can:

Help you use internet services to:

• Automate the supply chain to create a seamless flow of information between employees, customers, suppliers and retailers.
• Establish an e-commerce exchange to encourage collaborative product development.
• Integrate your business with online manufacturing networks and marketplaces, giving engineers access to global resources to help them with their designs.
• Gather client details to foster customer relationships.

Help you use voice services to:

• Connect all your sites for a low monthly fee, saving you the huge rental costs of BT leased lines.
• Arrange audio conferencing between large numbers of people (ideal for communications between designers, engineers and your manufacturing plant).
• Set up alarm/event driven voice alerts. For example, your engineers can receive an automated phone call when a piece of equipment or part of a process fails within your facility, then using a telephone keypad they can remotely access your systems to stop or start processes and possibly even diagnose the problem using their mobile phones.

Help you use fax services to:

• Send and receive documents or diagrams when a computer is either unavailable or inappropriate. Whether it's equipment designs, fault resolution procedures or instruction manuals, a fax-on-demand solution can enable engineers to retrieve printed documents from a remote source.
• Set up automatic fax alert services. For example, a fax could be automatically sent when part of a process fails or requires further diagnosis. Automated fax services could be linked directly into plant machinery and provide a full report on a problem including error codes and technical details automatically generated by the system.

Help you use mobile services to:

• Track items (including spare parts, goods, vehicles, or even people) in real-time, using location-based services. With just a mobile phone, you can track anything, and even receive GPS co-ordinates of its location.
• Keep the communication chain intact by using text messaging to inform people when certain deliveries arrive, or when items become available in stock.
• Enable field engineers to search parts databases, or allow resellers to check the availability of stock through a mobile device.
• Allow customers, retailers or engineers to use their mobile phones to browse your catalogue. With full colour pictures and detailed information retailers or engineers could also use this who are on the road.
• Take advantage of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), a new technology that enables you to keep track of the whereabouts of any item within your facility through a remote system. Whether it’s a machine component, document or spare part, with RFID you can instantly view its location in real-time.

Crosby can help you take advantage of the Internet and improve communication links within your company, giving you the edge over your competitors, and dramatically improving the cost-efficiency of your operations.

Talk to us today and see how we can help you.