Page 31 - MetalForming July 2019

expanded eight times in only 19 years of existence. Of course, with growth comes growing pains. Analyzing and acting upon an ever-increasing amount of data, in a timely manner to ensure productivity and quality, represents a huge challenge, as does funneling use- ful information to those within TOA USA, and those it supplies and pur- chases from. For example, the company must ensure the on-time delivery of some 90 truckloads of products to cus- tomers each and every day.
To meet such challenges, in 2015, the decision was made to seek out and implement a new ERP system. TOA USA ultimately chose IQMS as its ven- dor of choice, and after going live in the summer of 2016, adoption has increased across departments and processes.
“In 2015, we realized that change was needed,” says Dean Weller, TOA USA senior manager of information systems, who, with a group of company associates, sat down with MetalForm- ing to detail the implementation. “We had a ERP system for accounting and one for manufacturing. They didn’t communicate, so our accounting team had no visibility into production. Ship- ping was the only automated depart-
ment, using a radio-fre- quency scanner to track when parts arrived. Overall, everything lagged. We didn’t record any production until the following day, or two days or more if we got behind ...just no visibil- ity into any of our sys- tems.”
With multiple solu- tions with multiple databases producing multiple spreadsheets, and departments trying to track other depart- ments, often with old data, a solution was needed.
“We examined our current systems, which were old, and decided to
explore other options,” Weller says. “We didn't want to look at data two days behind. We didn't want to have your systems and my systems. We wanted visibility into what's going on right now, and we wanted to see into lower inven- tory points—real-time availability and inventory tracking led us down this path.”
Delivers Real-Time Reporting
The 2016 rollout of the new ERP sys- tem covered shipping, accounting and inventory-control functions. In only a few years, the ERP solution has deliv- ered numerous positives.
• Real-time production and process monitoring of data captured by sensors enable TOA USA to confirm that the correct job is running, which has vir- tually eliminated issues with labeling and production reporting. The moni- toring also triggers alerts of abnormal conditions, allowing employees to take immediate action.
• Electronic data interchange (EDI) communications have significantly reduced manual entry, providing greater efficiency and accuracy. For example, TOA USA receives about 20 truckloads of steel from vendors each day. These vendors use EDI to send
invoices as Excel files, which directly import into the IQMS-integrated ERP and MES system. The TOA USA account- ing team then can access all of this information. Similarly, TOA Winchester, an Indiana-based Tier-Two sister com- pany, ships 11 truckloads of materials to TOA USA with labels produced by its own ERP software. Using EDI, the Winchester subsidiary sends TOA USA a flat file with serial numbers that import directly into the IQMS system, removing the need for relabeling.
• Traceability in TOA USA’s ERP sys- tem enables the production team to quickly track down production dates and lot numbers in order to quarantine the concerned product. This allows for rapid identification and containment of suspect products, significantly reducing the likelihood that such issues will become customer concerns.
• Mobile devices play a greater role as Chromebooks at all work centers collect shop data. Additionally, produc- tion team leaders have tablets and make use of IQMS’s SmartPage tools and cus- tom apps developed by TOA USA, which provide team leaders with insights into information from the ERP system that
An associate in the welding department interacts with the ERP ShopData applica- tion. While data such as start and stop time are automatically recorded, informa- tion regarding the reason must be added—and is added in real time.
Fabrication: ERP
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A press-line workstation employs a computer notebook and printer that allow ERP-system data to be input and output, and provide automatic printing of labels corresponding to the parts produced.