Upgraded ERP Software Improves California Manufacturer's Efficiency, Accuracy and Supply Chain Management
Kinematic, a California-based medical manufacturer, needed strong manufacturing ERP capabilities to support its low-volume build-to-order production environment. They found it.
Kinematic has been a global supplier of automated manufacturing systems for the medical industry since 1980. The company develops small to large scale custom, state-of-the-art manufacturing systems built to the exacting standards and strict compliance requirements of the medical and diagnostic industry. Capabilities include all aspects of machine design and development, fabrication, assembly, and testing, as well as machine installation, operator training, and maintenance.
To support its build-to-order production environment, the company upgraded to the newest version of Epicor ERP. Greater speed and performance were also on its wish list, and comprehensive integration with Kinematic's SolidWorks CAD/CAM software was deemed essential. Moreover, Kinematic was looking to tap new ERP functionality and capabilities to further streamline its operations and help the company be responsive to customer needs.
"We're in the business of automating our clients' operations, so it only seemed fitting that we bring in new capabilities to automate and streamline our own operations here at Kinematic," said Rashell Bustamante, project manager, Kinematic.
In particular, Kinematic wanted to get a better handle on scheduling, as all departments did their own scheduling. "We wanted one master schedule for the entire company," said Skip Butler, director of operations for Kinematic. "Additionally, there was also a lot of 'tribal knowledge' that was being captured outside of any system-such as serial number lists -- and we wanted to have everything captured and maintained in one location."
New Functionality, Better Outcomes
Nearly everyone at Kinematic uses the system -- from customer service for order entry, sales and marketing, to IT, finance, purchasing, production floor personnel and engineering; even senior executives find value in the system's dashboard reporting capabilities.
"It's really simplified everyone's job here at Kinematic," said Butler.
Epicor estimating/quoting and order management is helping the company get sales orders processed faster and easier -- and be more responsive to customers.
"In the past, launching a sales order required multiple touches from various departments and it was days before we were buying the necessary parts. Today that cycle time has decreased by more than 90 percent-from an average of three days' time to two hours," said Butler.
With Epicor ERP, Kinematic has a whole host of functionality to manage all aspects of its supply chain-from the data collection/MES module to inventory management and landed cost/container tracking, purchasing management, supplier relationship management, and shipping and receiving.
And with the strong MRP and scheduling capabilities in Epicor ERP, Kinematic now has one master schedule for the entire company and the huge workflow spikes that used to occur in each department are now all flattened to a more even, more manageable flow. "We're able to process a greater volume of orders using the same amount of resources," said Butler.
Improved Information Access
Kinematic has seen tremendous improvements in its ability to access information with Epicor ERP. "The quality of the information architecture in Epicor ERP is a great leap forward," said Thad Jacobs, database administrator, Kinematic, who says he has also found the platform's Microsoft SQL Server back end to deliver exceptional performance and ease of administration.
A custom manufacturing system produced by Kinematic
"The ability to 'right click' to drill down to find information is incredibly powerful. The export tool to Microsoft Excel and the multiple list views give you lots of options to view and find the exact information you need," said Jacobs.
Operational visibility and accuracy has improved dramatically. "Everything is right there on one monitor-any order, any part in the process-where it is and who's working on it," said Butler.
"Before, everything was manually entered; now everything is prepopulated in the system-we just click and it's a done deal. There are fewer errors because we're working off of solid data, as opposed to making assumptions. Before it was easy to lose track of things, but those days are long gone.
"With all the information needed in one spot, there's no second guessing and the processing time is so much faster. Orders are just blowing through here-our on-time delivery has improved by more than 66 percent," he said.
Want more information? Click below.
Rate this article
View our terms of use and privacy policy ::m::