October issue of Metalforming Magazine
(
www.metalformingmagazine.com) focuses on ERP in the ETO
environment.
To win business, ETO metalforming manufacturers must provide
accurate estimates and quotations to a demanding customer base.
Often, payment for a project is only received after it is
installed and operating on a customer's site. Following the
sale, these firms must provide warranty tracking and aftermarket
services, including the sale of spare parts, which may
constitute a significant share of the company's business. The
institute (
www.etoinstitute.org) provides resources, discussion
boards and tools to assist ETO metalforming companies in
overcoming their unique challenges. Challenges faced by
Engineer-to-Order (ETO) and project-based metalforming
manufacturers that cannot be resolved by traditional
manufacturing systems are profiled.
Designing and building complex products to exact customer
specifications frequently involve long lead times and heavy
engineering content. Quantifiable results for a metalforming
conveying manufacturer such as HMM, following an ETO ERP system
implementation, should include reduction in costs by 30 percent;
increase in margin by 10 to 25 percent; 100-percent revenue
growth with little additional indirect cost; improved change
control resulting in $250,000 in additional revenue; reduced
delivery cycle times by 40 percent; greater visibility and
control over project costs; reduced costs in one department by
50 percent; reduced accounting month-end closing time; and
elimination of non-value-added activities resulting in savings
of more than $100,000 annually.
Harry Major Machine & Tool Co. (HMM), Clinton Township, MI, an
automation and washer manufacturer and maker of conveyor
equipment, extensively researched better ways to bring its
products to the marketplace, mainly for automotive and Tier One
suppliers, including metalforming companies. To that end, the
company recently implemented ETO enterprise-resource-planning
software from Encompix, Cincinnati, OH, and is beginning to see
substantial internal process improvements related to the
implementation, according to Bill Jurek, HMM materials manager.
"This ETO ERP system has assisted in analyzing in detail the
material costs, schedules and releases to the floor," he says.
That has allowed the company to build products on time and to
the budgeted requirements, bringing improved timing on
deliveries to customers.
Encompix
www.encompix.com Roger Meloy 513-733-0066
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