Despite the extent of change, that transition went quite smoothly, Ribbons says, which she credits to the time spent by the implementation team on issues such as clarifying business needs from the system, clear documentation, user training and user involvement. "We were fairly prepared when we went live on day one," she recalls.

A month after implementation, the company's meticulous migration planning paid off when financial managers were able to use the data ported from the old system to produce accurate, end-of-financial-year reports - even though Vantage hadn't been running the system for fully 11 months of that year.

Since then, users have come to embrace the accuracy and capabilities of the new system.

A range of reports - based on clean and consistent data - are readily available to support all facets of Bedford Industries' operations. "In most cases they've been able to throw their spreadsheets away," Ribbons says.

More timely reporting supports more timely decision-making, ultimately promising to significantly improve the efficiency and flexibility of the company's operations. Bedford is looking for a five-year ROI for the system, with most of the savings coming from the company's leaner and more accurate operations.