Industries / Manufacturing
You have outgrown your systems. We help you choose what replaces them & we make them work on your floor.
Independent MRP selection, validation and implementation for manufacturers who need the systems that run their operation to actually run it. We are an implementation partner for MRPeasy, Katana and Cin7. We take no commissions and no referral fees. The recommendation comes from your requirements.
- Mrpeasy, Katana and Cin7 implementation partner
- Implementations across AU, NZ, SG, PH, CH, UK and USA
You know you need independent advice when...
You have no reliable view of production and inventory
"We're making decisions on old numbers, and half of them come from a spreadsheet."
Your production and finance systems do not talk to each other
"The same order gets entered multiple times, and the numbers still don't match."
You've seen other systems but cannot decide which would work best
"Every demo looks good. We can't tell which one fits our business best."
You went live and the floor went back to spreadsheets
"We bought it, we trained on it, and nobody uses it the way it was meant to be used."
You think you have found the right tool, but you are not sure
"We think we've picked the right system. We're about to spend a lot of money finding out."
You have no technology strategy behind your decisions
"We fix what breaks and buy what we're shown. There's no plan, and nobody owns the risk."
What We Do
What Cohesis does for manufacturers
We help manufacturers select, validate and implement the systems that run their opportunity to cash processes: from enquiries, orders and sales, through procurement, production, shipping and invoicing.
Cohesis was established in 2019 and is led by Simon Cohen, who has worked in IT since 1998. We have delivered MRP projects for manufacturers in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the Philippines, China, the UK and the USA.
The integrations, custom applications and dashboards are built by our own technology team. Selection, implementation, integration and reporting come from one team, so nothing gets handed to a third party halfway through.
Our clients are typically manufacturers of 20 to 200 people, running multi-stage production, holding inventory across more than one location, or exporting.
How we start
Where we start depends on how confident you are in the research you have done
Each engagement has a defined scope and is priced as either a fixed fee or a time bank, depending on the size of the work. You know what you are buying before you start.
MRP Selection
You are starting out or weighing multiple options
"Help me choose the right MRP system for my business."
For manufacturers who want the analysis done across multiple platforms before committing. Independent evaluation across the major MRP platforms, mapped against your processes, your data structure and your integration requirements.
We build demonstrations using your own configuration, so you are comparing systems against the way your business works rather than a generic showcase. You get a documented recommendation with the reasoning behind it, the alternatives on record, and a decision you can defend to whoever signs it off.
MRP Validation
You have a preferred choice, but you are not certain
"Tell me whether the system we've chosen is right, before we commit."
For manufacturers who have done the research and reached a preferred choice. We test that thinking against the way your business works, your data and your integration points, and we build demonstrations in your preferred platform using your own configuration, so the test is against your real processes. You get a written report that either confirms the choice or sets out plainly where it will not stand up.
Sometimes it does not stand up. It has happened on several occasions, and in those cases the report has saved a business from a very expensive mistake. That is what you are paying for: finding out before the Implementation budget is committed, not after go-live.
MRP Implementation
The decision is made
"Help me configure and roll it out properly."
MRP Selection and MRP Validation are separate engagements from the Implementation. What they share is the Discovery and the data analysis. Both require us to map your processes, your application ecosystem and the data behind your decisions, and that is the same work an Implementation begins with.
That work surfaces the integration, process and workflow problems before the Implementation starts, rather than during it. Working through them in advance is what makes the recommendation solid enough to commit to. Your team then arrives at the Implementation already confident in the approach, and that momentum is what carries adoption long after go-live.
Because the Discovery is already complete, the Implementation itself costs less than it otherwise would. Across both engagements the total is higher than an Implementation alone, since it is more work. However, the value of this approach is that the cost is split into stages, the decision is tested before the budget is committed, and the Implementation starts with fewer unknowns in it.
If you have already done your analysis and you are confident, we can take you straight to Implementation. Our tried and trusted approach has been used internationally by manufacturers in chemicals, fabrication, food, furniture, glass and pet food.
Everything you need, from strategy through to application selection, intergation and beyond.
We cover the full technology lifecycle for manufacturers. Whether you need independent advice, a platform implemented, or systems connected, we have a structured service for where you are right now.
ICT Health Check
A fast, structured review of your whole environment: systems, security posture, supplier arrangements and what you are currently paying for. Fixed scope, fixed price, and an honest picture of where you stand.
ICT Risk Management
Where technology risk is building across systems, suppliers and data. Assessed against ISO 27001 and the ACSC Essential Eight where they are relevant, not applied as a blanket checklist.
Technology Roadmap
Where you are now, where you need to be, and the order the work has to happen in. Each recommendation tied to a one, three or five-year horizon. An executive summary your owners or board can act on.
vCIO Leadership
Ongoing technology leadership once the plan is set. Someone senior who knows your environment, keeps the roadmap moving, holds suppliers to account, and is accountable for technology decisions between board meetings.
MRPeasy
Production planning, inventory, purchasing and manufacturing MRP for growing manufacturers. Cohesis is an MRPeasy Authorised Implementation Partner.
Katana
Manufacturing ERP built for made-to-order and multi-channel manufacturers who need real-time visibility across the shop floor and sales channels.
Cin7
Inventory and multi-channel order management for manufacturers selling across multiple channels who need stock and fulfilment in one place.
Finance platforms
Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks implemented and integrated with your production stack. We implement all three; we hold no partner status that makes one our preferred recommendation.
Change Management
Structured adoption support across the rollout: readiness assessment, role-based training, process redesign, and the follow-through that stops staff reverting to the old way once the project team leaves.
API Development
Where native integrations fall short, we build the connection. Katana to Xero, MRP to finance, production to reporting. Built by our own team, not a generic connector that covers the common cases and misses yours.
PowerApp Development
Custom applications built inside your existing Microsoft 365 environment. Processes currently held together by a shared spreadsheet and someone's memory, built into something the whole team can run reliably.
Power BI Dashboards
Reporting leadership can act on, built from the systems you already run. Production, sales, finance and inventory in one view, compiled once and kept current, rather than rebuilt by hand every month.
AgendisRISK
Our own risk and compliance platform, built inside Microsoft 365. Risk registers, actions, incidents and board reporting, with ownership and due dates attached to everything, so the register reflects the current position.
AgendisTime
Time and attendance with award interpretation, feeding your MRP time logs straight into Xero payroll. Built for award-heavy sectors, and manufacturing is named first among them.
Platforms we work with
Technology strategy
Know what you are building towards, and in what order
Priorities set by production impact, not by what is easiest to implement
Every item on the roadmap is ranked by what it changes for the business, not by vendor timelines or what happens to be easiest to deploy next.
An executive summary your owners or board can act on
Named owners, timelines and milestones, presented in a form the people signing it off can read without translation from a technical team.
Technology risk that nobody currently owns, named and ranked
Where technology accountability has gaps across systems, suppliers and data, we name them and rank them before they force a decision at the wrong moment.
How we run an implementation: Discover, Transform, Embed
Most implementation problems are visible before a single line of configuration is written. They sit in the data, the process gaps and the integration dependencies nobody mapped at the start. The method exists to surface them there, while they are still cheap to fix.
We assess what your systems do today, where the data is unreliable, and what has to be true before configuration starts. Where integrations are needed, they are specified here rather than discovered halfway through.
Where we ran your MRP Selection or MRP Validation, most of Discover is already done. The process mapping, the data analysis and the integration specifications carry over, so the Implementation starts further forward than it otherwise would.
Bespoke test case development
Data analysis
Business process mapping
Integration specifications
Data cleansing
Bespoke dashboards
Bespoke reporting
System configuration
API development
MRP & CRM integrations
Change management planning & delivery
Hypercare through the first weeks live
Post-implementation review
Role-based training
Change management
Systems fail when the people using them are not ready
A new MRP platform does not produce results on its own. If your team is not ready for it, adoption stalls, workarounds multiply, and the investment erodes quietly. We run the change work alongside the build, from first stakeholder conversation through to the weeks after go-live.
Adoption starts during the analysis, not at go-live
Where we ran the MRP Selection or MRP Validation, your team has already walked us through their own processes, so the new system arrives as something they helped shape rather than something imposed on them.
Resistance surfaced before it stalls the rollout
We assess readiness early and deal with where resistance is building, on the floor and in the office, rather than after it has cost you time.
Training delivered by role, at the point it is needed
Each function learns what it needs when it needs it, with practical guides that stay usable after we leave. Production, purchasing, administration and finance each get what is relevant to them.
Adoption measured at defined intervals
Usage, proficiency and the outcomes you invested for are reviewed at set points, so you know whether it landed and what still needs attention.
In-house build capability
Where the platform stops, we build the rest
No MRP does everything a manufacturer needs, at least not out of the box. Native integrations cover the common cases and stop short of the specific ones. Processes that matter to your business often sit outside the system entirely, on paper or in a spreadsheet, when off-the-shelf products do not handle them.
That work is built by our in-house Agendis technology team. So the same people who scoped your Implementation build the integration, and there is no handover to a third party or anything lost in translation.
Katana to Xero
MRPeasy to Xero
ProspectCRM to Katana
Pipedrive to MRPeasy
Bespoke discounting logic replacing a manual approval process
Chemical testing application
A manufacturer running quality testing outside their MRP system, capturing results on paper rather than against the batch. The app moves testing into the system and ties every result to the production run it belongs to.
Cut list management application
A manufacturer whose cutting instructions were being worked out manually from every order. The app generates them from the order data instead.
Your business changes. Your systems have to change with it.
Many of our manufacturing clients stay with us after the Implementation closes. Production lines change, volumes grow, new channels open, and the systems that run the business have to keep up.
Configuration changes as processes change
New integrations, and changes to the ones already running
New reports and dashboards as the questions leadership asks change
Advice on the next decision, before it becomes urgent
Five engagements. Five different starting points.
Our clients include manufacturers across chemicals, composites, fabrication, food, furniture, glass and pet food. Some come to us early, before a platform decision is made. Others arrive after a decision has been made and need it tested or delivered.
Andy Elliot
Managing Director, Ayos Composites Inc.
David Johnson
Head of Business and Digital Systems, SpeedShield
Advanced Pet Care Australia
Pet food manufacturing and export - Western Australia
Pool Controls
Pool and spa device manufacturing - National
Speedshield Technologies
Telemetry hardware - Aviation, automotive and mining
Natural Balance
Pet food manufacturing and export - Western Australia
Tell us where you are, and we will tell you which engagement fits
FAQS
No. An MRP system runs production planning, bills of materials, inventory and scheduling. ERP usually means a single platform handling everything, finance, sales and production together. Systems like SAP, Infor and Oracle sit in that space, and it is not where we work.
What we do instead is combine an MRP with the other systems your business runs on: finance, CRM, e-commerce, shipping and freight, reporting and document management, all properly integrated. For a manufacturer of 20 to 200 people that delivers equivalent capability at a lower cost. There is no rule that makes one approach right. The deciding factor is whether the integrations hold up, which is why we build and support them with our own team rather than relying on native connectors.
