Product category:
ERP and MRP software
News Release from: Infor | Subject: Visual Enterprise
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 10 June 2005
Visual Enterprise manufacturing system
aids growth
Within less than seven years, a manufacturing management system from Infor Global Solutions has helped AWS Electronics to build its business from GBP 4m - GBP 12m turnover.
Within less than seven years, a manufacturing management system from Infor Global Solutions has helped AWS Electronics to build its business from GBP 4m - GBP 12m turnover and from 15 to 27 customers Other benefits accrued by the full-service British contract electronics manufacturer are better engineering change control, more accurate and faster materials traceability and higher productivity
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 17 Jun 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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Derek Fulluck is managing director of AWS Electronics.
He joined the company in 1997, when it was acquired from its founder.
His previous career had been with UK computer maker ICL.
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There he had managed several business units and installed the company's own manufacturing management software.
He knew a lot about such systems and what he wanted from them.
Arriving at AWS Electronics, he found a company with great potential but it was run on a Pegasus accounting package, spreadsheets and manual methods.
He recognised that it had to change if his ambitions for the business were to be realised, so his team looked at several leading suppliers of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, one of which was Visual Enterprise, now a product owned by Infor Global Solutions.
Fulluck has a management team with project management skills but IT plays a key role, which is where the Infor system comes in.
Installed in early 1998 and routinely upgraded, it continually and reliably provides essential support to managers and operators in a number of vital areas.
They include financial control, MRP, stock and work in progress (WIP), purchasing and sales, engineering and related engineering change records.
As the business expanded, the system has allowed AWS Electronics to increase the number of BOMs and related part numbers (32,000 in real time, of which 8,000 are in stock at any one time) it is able to handle.
More suppliers can be managed and the company now has 450 with which it works.
Productivity is well up in key areas such as purchasing, finance, WIP, and order book management.
Engineering changes are highly controlled and for customers requiring it, Visual's traceability module simplifies the otherwise time-consuming task of tracking audit trails.
Part of those gains have been possible due to the Infor system's ease of use.
Information is displayed and organised in a highly graphical form.
Staff are able to quickly understand and act accordingly and no one finds using the system a problem, with 40 people using it concurrently - up from eight when first installed.
Derek Fulluck said: "Infor is central to all our planning and operational controls from initial customer order and bill of materials (BOMs) through to accounting and historic traceability.
Visual is our 'Bible'.
It provides vital data analysis to help manage our complex business." Replacing a combination of software and manual methods by a fully integrated IT resource to support business expansion, the system has addressed other issues.
As Fulluck puts it, its ability to address 'mile-wide, inch deep' business tasks with a minimum level of overhead resources is important.
It has also allowed the company to manage individual, small batch assemblies and material procurements as projects, which he believes is a significant advantage.
A function that he finds especially valuable is the Visual EIS module.
Based on an 'instrument panel' it produces rolling 12-month analyses of trends happening in the business.
Fulluck is just beginning to use it and says Infor also offers a more advanced business intelligence package.
He may bring that in later, but for now the function he has is a great step forward.
Although compatible with office administration and related software (Visual incorporates Microsoft technology), AWS Electronics has not yet needed to link the system to others, except one, which is an interactive customer service function residing on the company's website.
Accessed by password, customers may review the status of their outstanding order book, check delivery records and monitor any quality issues.
That may be done at any time, from anywhere and with any device that has a connection to the internet.
Visual provides that system with real time information.
"Both current and prospective customers value the ability to view real-time, un-sanitised data," said AWS's business development manager, Mark Howitt.
Infor has brought benefits in relation to software upgrades, training support, advice on various options, or new methods of operating the system and the bug interpretation and fixing that is part of IT.
The Visual Enterprise system stood out as being best for AWS Electronics' requirements and it was already used by a number of manufacturers in the electronics sector.
The established nature of the supplier and its well-developed product capabilities also appealed, coupled to competitive price in relation to essential functions.
Integration and fast, accurate sharing of data matters a lot to AWS Electronics.
On an outsourced basis not only does the company manufacture for customers in different sectors but it also designs, develops, procures parts and materials, assembles and tests a variety of sub-assemblies and complete products.
Repetitive contract and project work ranges from producing complex cable sets, printed circuit boards (PCBs) and related assemblies to finished goods such as satellite base station units and vending machines.
The company said that it is familiar with the demands of the scientific instrumentation, medical equipment, aerospace and defence, transport and telecoms industries.
It provides an all-embracing service that includes third party logistics (3PL) support and other attributes valued by the market.
As a result, fast access to common data by all parts of the business is essential, so that everyone knows what is happening, what they have to do and by when.
The company's services are well supported by investment in design, production and test equipment.
Electronics manufacture is one of the world's most aggressive industry sectors, which is why surface mount technology (SMT) and automated pick-and-place machines populate a substantial part of the 48,000 square foot shop floor, complemented by related robotic systems and skilled manual processing where necessary.
Intense quality assurance including 6 Sigma and 5S management techniques are also applied, plus lean manufacturing principles and an array of top-level training standards.
AWS Electronics tackles large and complex assemblies and products, reflecting its 'can do' attitude.
That said, the company sticks to what it does best - contracts and projects comprising low-volume production runs of tens of thousands of units, rather than mass-production.
Its assembly lines are geared to both batch production and flow manufacturing.
Derek Fulluck brought in consultants to introduce lean methods and JIT plus kanban are used harmoniously alongside more conventional methods, including IT.
Typically, PCBs are made using a mix of demand-pull lean, plus push-based materials requirements planning (MRP), the latter provided by Visual Enterprise.
Fulluck concluded: "There is absolutely no doubt that our company would not have been able to expand our business scope, capabilities and markets in the way we have without an effective ERP system.
Visual has provided an affordable entry-level and development path that matched our technical needs and ambitions.
We look forward to continuing our success with the support of colleagues at Infor, well into the future.".
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