ERP Modernisation for Defense Manufacturing
How Inteched designed and delivered a modern ERP platform for a defense manufacturer, unifying procurement, production planning, finance, and supply chain operations under a single auditable system.
Industry
Defense Manufacturing
Duration
14 Months
Services
ERP Implementation, Systems Architecture, Data Migration, Compliance Engineering, Change Management
Context
The client is a defense manufacturer producing complex weapons systems and military equipment for government and NATO-aligned customers. Operating across three production sites, the organisation had grown significantly in scale and regulatory complexity — yet remained dependent on a heavily customised, end-of-life ERP platform that the vendor no longer supported. The legacy system could not accommodate growing regulatory demands, including ITAR/EAR export control enforcement, DCAA audit trail requirements, and AS9100 quality management obligations. As contract volumes increased and government scrutiny intensified, the limitations of the existing platform became a material operational and compliance risk.
Procurement, production planning, finance, and logistics had evolved into isolated silos, each relying on manual workarounds and disconnected tooling to compensate for the ERP's shortcomings. Cross-site planning was effectively impossible, and reporting was unreliable due to years of fragmented master data. Inteched was engaged to lead the full ERP modernisation programme — from requirements definition and vendor selection through to go-live and hypercare — replacing the legacy platform with a modern, defense-grade ERP solution capable of supporting the client's current operations and future growth ambitions.
The Problem
End-of-Life Legacy ERP
The existing ERP was heavily customised and no longer supported by the vendor, creating security vulnerabilities, upgrade blockers, and an unsustainable maintenance burden.
Disconnected Multi-Site Operations
Three production sites operated on separate systems with no consolidated view of inventory, capacity, or financials, making cross-site planning impossible.
Regulatory & Export Control Compliance
The legacy system could not enforce ITAR/EAR export control rules or generate the audit trails required for government contract compliance (DCAA, AS9100).
Poor Data Quality & Visibility
Years of manual workarounds had resulted in fragmented master data, duplicate records, and unreliable reporting that undermined operational decision-making.
Our Approach
1. Requirements & Vendor Selection
Led a structured requirements gathering process across all business units, producing a 200-point functional specification. Evaluated three ERP vendors against defense-specific criteria including ITAR compliance, multi-site support, and MRP capability. Recommended and secured approval for the selected platform.
Phase 12. Data Cleansing & Migration Strategy
Audited 8 years of legacy master data across items, BOMs, vendors, and financials. Designed a phased data migration strategy with automated cleansing pipelines, reducing duplicate records by 74% before cutover.
Phase 23. System Configuration & Customisation
Configured the ERP to support defense-specific workflows including controlled document management, export licence tracking, and government contract billing. Built custom modules for ITAR-restricted item flagging and automated export control screening.
Phase 34. Integration with MES & PLM
Developed bidirectional integrations between the new ERP, the existing MES, and the PLM system using REST APIs and an enterprise service bus. Enabled automated BOM synchronisation, work order creation, and real-time inventory updates across all three sites.
Phase 45. Parallel Run & Cutover
Ran the new ERP in parallel with the legacy system for 10 weeks across all sites, reconciling outputs daily. Executed a phased cutover starting with finance and procurement, followed by production planning and logistics. Zero critical issues at go-live.
Phase 56. Training & Hypercare
Delivered role-based training to 180+ users across three sites, including finance, procurement, production planning, and logistics teams. Provided 6 weeks of on-site hypercare support post-go-live, resolving 47 post-launch issues within SLA.
Phase 6The Outcome
Improvement in master data quality following cleansing and migration
Unified real-time view of inventory, capacity, and financials across all production sites
Reduction in purchase order processing time through automated approval workflows
ITAR/EAR export control screening and DCAA audit trail coverage from day one