Find out how BGB saved hours of admin and now delivers their engineering work faster and more reliably thanks to smoother, error‑free information flow.
Teething problems require deep diagnosis
Issues came to light for BGB when there was a company-wide strategy to streamline efficiencies. The search began for software systems that would enhance cross-departmental collaboration, while helping to drive paper-based systems and manual processes out of the company’s workflows.
As part of this commitment to innovation, BGB replaced an ageing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system with a solution that offered greater efficiencies and more streamlining. In terms of the ERP itself, it was a success. Everything looked ready to go. Then a side effect became apparent, one which had a negative impact on workflows, and daily progress. It all centered on the inputting of data to the ERP system, arising from the communications breakdown between BGB’s existing Vault and the new ERP software.
Senior management teams at BGB felt there were too many information silos in play, placing hurdles in front of the smooth flow of data through the business, in a standardized and consistent way; the essence of automation. This is where it fell at the first hurdle, relating to the connection between the new system and BGB’s existing vault.
The two solutions simply could not talk to each other. The result of this was a return to manual input, which had not been an issue with the previous ERP solution.
BGB has worked with Symetri for nearly 15 years. Symetri had previously helped BGB to integrate systems between its UK and US locations. The project had involved large scale data migration to move all data into one shared vault, supporting cross-team collaboration for BGB’s transatlantic engineering projects, by enabling teams in the U.S., and the UK to work together as one team (see the story here).
Fast forward to present day, and BGB asked Symetri to recommend how to bring the Vault-to-ERP data flow in line with the standardization and consistency running through the rest of the company’s systems and processes.
Describing the challenge, Stephen Wright, from the BGB design engineering team says:
“Inputting from spreadsheets was causing frustration and wasting time. We needed a way of more tightly integrating our systems, the way in which we create parts for the BOM. The frustration in the team was amplified by the concerns we were getting from customers about missed lead times.”
With BGB’s previous ERP system, this wasn’t an issue. In just five clicks, all relevant BOM details could be entered, allowing the designer to move on confidently without needing to go back and double-check.
The issue wasn’t the system itself but how it was configured—the user experience and the missing prompts needed to ensure consistency across users. It came down to making sure BGB’s Vault and ERP were aligned and speaking the same language.
Take nothing for granted | The Design Process Review
To understand the full extent of the challenges BGB was facing, and create the best path forward, Symetri recommended a Design Process Review (DPR). The DPR goal was to highlight current and potential process and data-exchange stumbling blocks.
The Symetri team analysed existing data and interviewed key designers to identify desired outcomes. Covering file creation, types and properties through project lifecycle, the exhaustive review stripped processes to their fundamentals and produced step-by-step recommendations to align software logic and maximise automation.
“When we introduced a new ERP system, we hadn’t expected to bring in fresh problems, but that’s what happened. We worked around it for six months, but every aspect of inputting data to the ERP system became a pain point. Then Symetri introduced us to Sovelia Vault. Almost at a stroke, their recommended solution resolved the issues at the core of the background systems. Now the workflows flow, to everybody’s satisfaction.”
Supporting designers | Accelerating lead times | Increasing customer satisfaction
The detailed ‘diagnosis’ of existing configurations within Autodesk Vault, compared to those within the ERP system, led to Symetri’s recommendation of the adoption of Sovelia Vault. This proprietary software, developed by Symetri, enabled BGB to bring in a ‘one-platform’ approach to the handling of data. It does away with any need for manual Excel spreadsheets, a practice which BGB had discovered was adding 2-3 hours on average to each design project.
At every stage, Sovelia Vault keeps users on track by enforcing mandatory fields and guiding them through the process. Each interaction now moves the project forward, rather than requiring users to retrace steps as before. Previously, designers often had to rely on non-digital notes and enter details inconsistently, which created the original problems. With Sovelia Vault, that inconsistency ends.
Consistency is now a given. Confidence in the data and the system is now enjoyed across the business. No more margin for getting it wrong, no longer any scope at all for manual error.
“Sovelia has transformed the key underpinning part of our design processes. A few clicks of the mouse and the data is in, the project progresses,” says Stephen. “It gives the design team back the time they’d had to spend on basically a support task – a fundamental one, but not one that drives innovation. Now designers can focus on doing precisely that."
See how Sovelia Vault helps get data from Autodesk Vault into your ERP, with guided input and automated BOM export.
BGB is a family-owned engineering solutions provider that develops and manufactures power and signal slip rings for wind turbine manufacturers globally.
It has provided approximately 30,000 units in off-shore and on-shore turbines. BGB’s rotary transmission systems and products are also used in nuclear and tidal energy, construction, utilities, and transport.
The company, founded in 1976, is dedicated to innovation in areas such as fibre optic rotary joints, and its patented inductive control technology, which uses contactless power for lights typically installed on luxury vessels.
Location/s: UK & USA
Sector: Manufacturing & Industrial
Industries they serve: Nuclear, Tidal Energy, Construction, Utilities and Transport
What they design: Slip rings, Fibre Optic Rotary Joints (FORJ's), Brush Holders, Rotary Unions and Other Rotary Solutions
