Case Study: Delivering IFS Support for Donaldson Timber Systems
Donaldson Group is one of the UK’s most established family-owned suppliers of timber and engineered wood products. Through its specialist division, Donaldson Timber Systems, the business delivers timber-frame wall panel building systems to house builders and commercial building developers across the country.
The Requirements
With three major UK manufacturing sites, including a high-volume facility near Oxford, Donaldson Timber Systems can manufacture and deliver panels for hundreds of houses and buildings per week.
With complex manufacturing requirements, deep integration into the construction industry, and growing pressure for digital alignment, the manufacturer needed an ERP solution that could scale with its ambitions.
The Solution
IFS was selected as the system thanks to the Project Deliverables module which fitted the manufacture-to-order model that Donaldson operates. But after the initial implementation project, it became clear that a partner with a better understanding of their needs was required.
With a strong background in the construction industry and considerable expertise to bring to the table, Muzulu won the contract as the ongoing support partner, as Amy Chekansky, ERP Business Analyst for Donaldson Group, continues.
“Due to the way our business operates, our IFS implementation is really quite customised. There’s a lot of different ways that we do things here at Donaldson Timber Systems that make it harder to support IFS than might commonly be the case.”
“So, we really needed a support partner that not only knew IFS inside out, but also how our business worked. And in both respects, Muzulu have been fantastic and a dream to work with.”
With more than 230 IFS users across its three UK sites, Donaldson Timber Systems uses a two-tiered helpdesk structure. Users submit issues to the internal IT helpdesk, where the team, including dedicated ERP analysts, filter out the more common types of ticket, e.g. basic user or procedural errors, routine access or permissions tasks and handle them without needing to reach out to Muzulu.
For tickets requiring deeper technical expertise, IFS-specific diagnostics, or customisation changes, these are escalated to Muzulu through a structured ticketing system.
These cases are then managed by Muzulu’s IFS-specialist support desk, with regular bi-weekly calls between teams to prioritise work, align on upcoming initiatives, and ensure smooth delivery.
The setup is flexible and tailored, from minor configuration tweaks to complex reporting solutions and ensures that high-priority business needs are addressed quickly.
What truly sets the relationship apart, however, is the personal connection and ongoing dialogue between teams. Muzulu’s helpdesk staff and the Donaldson team are firmly on first name terms. The partnership is built on familiarity, shared understanding, and mutual trust as Amy explains.
“With Muzulu, it doesn’t feel like we’re working with an external vendor. We almost consider them to be part of our internal team. With other support partners you don’t always get that personalised service. It’s often a case of having an account manager to work with and then you feel like just a number on a list. That’s not the case with Muzulu.”
Muzulu’s support extends far beyond simple troubleshooting. Their team acts as a seamless extension of Donaldsons, helping not just with day-to-day queries but also strategic decisions around upcoming cloud upgrades, reporting changes, and even warehouse scanning projects, continues Amy.
“Muzulu aren’t just resolving issues. What we do is really collaborative and they’ve helped us grow with IFS and learn every step of the way since implementation. They’re advising us, helping improve processes, build up our own documentation and generally making sure we’re ready for the next stage of our ERP journey.”
The Result
As with any ERP project, there were inevitable bumps in the road but Donaldsons now have a trusted partner in Muzulu that helps turn complexity into clarity. Muzulu doesn’t just support the IFS system – they support the people using it every day.
The partnership has also influenced broader strategic thinking and with a major cloud upgrade on the horizon, Muzulu remains a key advisor and partner for Donaldson Group. Their commitment to continuous improvement, embedded support, and sector-specific knowledge ensures that, whatever comes next, Donaldson is ready.
“We’ve found a great partner in Muzulu. It’s rare to find support who brings this level of care, continuity, and capability.” – Les Calder, CTO at Donaldson Group