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Epicor® Instrumental in Quadrupling Output of Benson Group Site

Bardon Site Goes from £10m to £40m Production Revenue, as Company Extends Epicor Use to Remaining Manufacturing Sites

Epicor Software Corporation today announced that Benson Group, one of the UK’s fastest growing packaging manufacturers, will extend its use of the Epicor Manufacturing enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution and Epicor Advanced Planning and Scheduling to its packaging plant in Crewe, Cheshire, Medica Packaging Limited.  Additionally, Benson Group has achieved a four-fold increase in production output at its flagship manufacturing facility in Bardon, Leicestershire, which is underpinned by the Epicor solution.

In its eight year relationship with Epicor, Benson Group has grown from a single-site £10m business to one of the UK’s largest manufacturers of folding cartons with 2009 revenue expected to reach £90-£95m. This has been achieved through significant investment in new business processes, technology and manufacturing equipment, as well as innovative and modern manufacturing techniques to keep ahead of the competition.

“Epicor has been an instrumental element to achieving the success we enjoy today through greater efficiency in our processes and sites,” said Phil Towersey, IT manager at Benson Group. “For example, our accounts team is the same size as it was eight years ago, despite a huge increase in our revenues. Epicor’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling solution has helped us achieve a four-fold increase in output at our Bardon site to £40m. We are now able to deal with changes effectively and plans are communicated to the shop floor accurately, and in a timely manner. Our manufacturing is very nimble and able to deal with change requests at 3 p.m. on a Tuesday and reschedule jobs rapidly through Epicor to meet a Wednesday deadline. This would have been impossible with our previous solutions.”

Through Advanced Planning and Scheduling, Benson Group has been able to achieve a much higher utilisation of its manufacturing lines, reduced downtime between jobs and ready make times, by ensuring cut and finishing operations based on the same die board are scheduled to run in sequence. This streamlining of manufacturing processes has helped the company win and retain contracts with major food manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies across the UK.

“Benson Group’s achievements in the last eight years have been astounding,” added James Norwood, senior vice president, product marketing for Epicor. “At the heart of this has been a management team’s desire to lead the way in what can be achieved in manufacturing, by looking at every aspect of a business for opportunities to be more efficient, and embracing new technology and techniques to achieve that goal.”

For more information contact: Duncan Gurney, The PR Network
+44 (0)7912 495630, duncan.gurney@theprnetwork.co.uk

About Benson Group
Benson Group is the UK’s leading privately owned printed carton supplier, producing packaging product for both the food and pharmaceutical industries. Headquarters are in Bardon, Leicestershire, where the company owns 130,000 sq ft of production and warehouse space. Benson Group achieves annual sales in excess of £93 million. Food manufacturers are the main customers at Bardon and for the company’s two North East facilities in Newcastle and Gateshead. These two sites have a combined total of 200,000 sq ft of manufacturing and warehouse space. The fourth site in Crewe, Medica Packaging, serves pharmaceutical and healthcare companies. It has 73,000 sq ft of manufacturing, warehouse and office space. Since 2000, investment in new plant and equipment across the four sites totals in excess of £25 million.

Benson Group creates packaging for many well-known companies, brands and retailers. Key account clients across the Group include GlaxoSmithKline, Northern Foods, Reckitt Benkiser, Greencore, Bakkavör, Samworth Brothers, and leading supermarket chains. For further information on the Benson Group visit the www.bensongroup.co.uk Web site.

About Epicor Software Corporation
Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ:EPIC) is a global leader delivering business software solutions to the manufacturing, distribution, retail, hospitality and services industries. With 20,000 customers in over 150 countries, Epicor provides integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM) and enterprise retail software solutions that enable companies to drive increased efficiency and improve profitability. Founded in 1984, Epicor takes pride in more than 25 years of technology innovation delivering business solutions that provide the scalability and flexibility businesses need to build competitive advantage. Epicor provides a comprehensive range of services with a single point of accountability that promotes rapid return on investment and low total cost of ownership, whether operating business on a local, regional, or global scale. The Company’s worldwide headquarters are located in Irvine, California with offices and affiliates around the world. For more information, visit www.epicor.com.

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Epicor is a registered trademark of Epicor Software Corporation.  Other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.  The product and service offerings depicted in this document are produced by Epicor Software Corporation.