Build it (BIG) and they will come
Bedfordshire-based Brice-Baker has been making silos since 1970. Today, it’s one of the world’s leading manufacturers of steel silos, providing grain handling and storage solutions to global markets. It’s not just the size of its silos though that’s big; the group’s aspirations are colossal.
Thinking Big
After more than a generation of ‘doing very nicely thank you’, the group’s turnover has more than doubled in the last couple of years. Its customer base, meanwhile, has extended through Northern Europe into Eastern Europe, Russia, Australia, the Falklands and it’s now eyeing up Africa and Asia.
What has sparked this phenomenal growth? “A conscious decision,” explains Steve Morgan, Brice-Baker’s Sales Director, “to respond to and prepare for the anticipated upsurge in the global grain storage sector.” Brice-Baker’s decision is supported by a three-pronged strategic investment and business transformation plan involving people, money and the group’s key differentiator – its complete solution offering.
Big Names
First, Brice-Baker welcomed some new faces around the Boardroom table. Frazer Newell, a master of change management, was appointed CEO. Boasting an impressive CV, Frazer’s role can be summed up in a nutshell as taking Brice-Baker to the next level. Ably assisting him are a new Head of Design and Project Management, Operations Manager and Sales Manager.
Big hitters all, with the necessary skill sets to develop the business, this ‘new blood’ provides the perfect complement to Brice-Baker’s existing industry heavyweights, Steve Morgan, Dave Porteous and Roger Horner. The most recent addition to the team is Peter Atkinson, who joined as Marketing Manager in November.
Big Bucks
Strong leadership and visionary ideas are one thing, but you also need the money to make things happen.
Brice-Baker is well and truly committed to investing in new technology, plant and machinery to improve the company’s competitive edge and enable it to make the most of the forthcoming opportunities.
There’s no better evidence of that than its recent multi-million pound investment in new technology and state-of-the-art facilities in Bristol. “The new corrugating plant takes steel straight off the coil and will allow us to manufacture much larger silos to order,” says Frazer. The new roll forming equipment is supplied by American corporation Bradbury and marks a first as it hasn’t been sold outside the US before.
The new facility in Bristol, meanwhile, offers a more efficient layout, leading to faster, increased throughput. Together, these developments will quadruple Brice-Baker’s already impressive manufacturing capacity, while improving efficiency all round.
To ensure that it’s not just one factory but the whole Brice-Baker Group that operates as efficiently as possible, the organisation has taken the unusual step (in this sector at least) of investing in enterprise resource planning (ERP) from Epicor Software.
“Epicor’s ERP solution will give us real-time integration and visibility of the business across sales, manufacturing, production, finance and project accounting, stock management and engineering,” says Frazer. “It will enable us to streamline our operation and quickly reduce lead times and stock inventory, bringing Brice-Baker a step closer to our goal of being number one in our sector.”
Key Facts
Company Name: Brice-Baker Established:
1970
Core Expertise: Design, manufacture, supply and installation of grain storage plants
Contact:
Steve Morgan Sales Director +44 (0)1480 216618
info@bricebaker.co.uk
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