Bradenham PWC: live on MRPeasy in four months, planning to double

Bradenham Preformed Wood Components was founded in 2020 by Tony Green and Robert Grajcar, two colleagues who had worked together for 30 years in the preformed wood industry and decided to go their own way. Manufacturing is in Slovakia. The warehouse and sales team are in the UK.

The company makes solid wood components, assembled frames and preformed plywood components, and it has been growing steadily. The admin behind it was not keeping up. This is how Bradenham got MRPeasy live in four months, with our consultant David keeping the project moving.

Paperwork that “took forever”

When the business started, everything ran on spreadsheets and a collection of separate documents. Tony’s wife produced the delivery notes, invoices and order confirmations by hand.

“It took forever,” Tony says. “You had to create a new document every time, populate it with data, and do this over and over again.”

It was Tony’s son Oliver, joining the business, who said the systems needed an overhaul. Tony had used a manufacturing ERP at his previous company, but it was far too large and complex for a business of Bradenham’s size. A referral brought them to us.

A consultation, a look at the system, a decision

“Smart Manufacture said that MRPeasy could work for us,” Tony recalls. “So, we did the consultation, looked at the system, and concluded that this was the system for us.”

Implementation ran from September 2024 to go live in January 2025. Four months, and Tony is clear it would have been quicker if the founders had not been running other businesses at the same time. That is a very common situation in small manufacturers, and it is exactly where an implementation partner earns their keep.

“Luckily, David from Smart Manufacture kept the process going and pushed us to move forward.”

Paid for itself within the year

Almost a year on, Tony says the system has already covered its own cost and the admin that used to eat the day is now quick.

“Even though it’s still relatively new, the benefits are already incredible. Time savings are enormous; the system makes everything so quick. If we’d kept the old system, I don’t know how much time we would have lost scaling up.”

Bradenham has grown steadily over the past few years and the plan is to double in size over the next few. “We’re not a massive business, and I don’t want to be huge,” Tony says. “But doubling where we are in the next few years is achievable.”

Tony’s advice: the sooner, the better

Ask Tony what he would say to another small manufacturer or distributor bogged down in admin and he does not hedge.

“We dragged it out longer than we should have, but once we implemented it, we saw the benefits immediately. My advice is: the quicker you put a system in place, the quicker you’ll benefit.”

He also has a view on what a good consultant looks like when the new system keeps slipping behind more urgent business.

“We were fortunate to work with David. He wasn’t pushy, but he pushed us to get things done. We had deadlines, and we had to do the work. Again, the sooner you implement, the sooner you’ll see the benefits.”

Running a growing business on documents and spreadsheets?

Bradenham’s project shows what a small team can get done in four months when someone keeps the momentum up. If your admin is holding back your growth, have a look at MRPeasy or talk to us about an implementation with the same kind of support.