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ERP Helps Metal Former Go Paperless

November 18, 2024
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Omex Mfg. ULC, Stratford, Ontario, Canada, which produces drivetrain, seating and body-in-white components for automotive Tier Ones and OEMs worldwide, has been busy installing several new servomechanical presses. Tying all of its processes together, and connecting the firm to customers and suppliers, is on-premise ShopEdge enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, which first went live in 2012 to replace an inadequate DOS-based paper-heavy system.

1-shop-edge-Omex-production-tracking“Only a few individuals had access to the DOS-based system, which operated more like manufacturing resource planning to oversee inventory,” recalls Justin Slawek, Omex plant manager who, in a co-op position at the time, helped deploy ShopEdge. “And, we had different software for gauge tracking, production inventory, barcode-label printing, machine maintenance and tooling. We spent time and energy trying to connect these, and the connections were a paper system. Also, we had no terminals out on the production floor. Operators had to record their downtime and the parts being produced on paper, and we had scheduling on paper.”

In short, the old reporting and tracking methods were inefficient and inferior.

“When we switched to ShopEdge ERP software, we focused on ensuring that we had live data available out to the operators to simplify communication,” Slawek says. “We wanted the different facets of our organization to operate on the same system and have complete visibility off of one terminal.”

The ERP system also would allow a real-time connection to customers and suppliers, which had been lacking prior to the ShopEdge implementation, according to Slawek. And, ordering supplies and inputting customer orders was entirely manual—slow and prone to administrative errors when inputting data.

“Now, ShopEdge allows us to pull in electronic data interchange from our customers and cascade it to our scheduling and our suppliers—a simplified process that brought huge productivity gains,” says Slawek.  

As a Tier One supplier, Omex also adopted ERP technology for quality and traceability reasons.

“We produce a lot of safety-critical transmission components, and our OEMs can’t produce without them,” Slawek says. “We need to deliver conforming product to our customers when they need it, and we need to be able to trace that product back. With our ERP, if a customer returns a serialized part, we can provide the day it was made; the operator who made it; the heat number, tooling condition and machine condition when we made it; and the quality checks made on the product …it’s all interconnected, and all paperless.”

As time passed after the ERP implementation, Omex has found other ways to make ShopEdge pay off.

”Because of interconnectivity within our plant, we know the exact locations of all of our materials,” Slawek says. 

Before, Omex had to allocate certain areas as space for various materials to make that material easy to find. But, this required space that wasn’t always available. Now, with material electronically scanned and traced, it can be placed anywhere under roof and still easily be found.

“This allowed us to reduce warehousing space dramatically,” Slawek says, “and prepared us for growth within our own facility footprint without expanding.”

Another plus: Through the ERP, supervisors can generate and send out reports at the end of each shift, and ShopEdge enables review of production data remotely from cellular devices. These and other benefits helped convince Wico—the Omex parent company—to implement ShopEdge at multiple facilities in 2023.

Industry-Related Terms: Checks, Gauge
View Glossary of Metalforming Terms

 

See also: ShopEdge Software Inc.

Technologies: Management

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