management of our relationships with and sales to our cus- tomers, long range planning of capacity requirements and short range production scheduling, supply chain manage- ment, inventory management and cost controls,” according to a report by ERP provider CDC Software. Brian Harwood, plant engineer for Southwest Steel Casting Co., Longview, Texas, said his company added ERP software to gain accurate auditing of its production system. “[It was] a complex venture because the project changes the
‘heart’ of the business, affecting how it is managed,” he said. One thing is certain: manufacturers use ERP systems
more than any other industry (Fig. 1). So what exactly are ERP systems? Tey are all of the above, according to a recent Aberdeen Group report, but you only get out of them what you put in. “Tere is risk in perceiving [ERP software] as a neces-
sary infrastructure and neglecting to measure the business benefits resulting from its implementation,” write the authors of the study. At the heart of most (if not all) ERP systems are mod- ules—the different divisions of the software that control each reporting system and work together to manage all aspects of a business. Each software system offers a certain number of modules (financial reporting, inventory management, mainte- nance, etc.) that each user can put to work. In its study, the Aberdeen Group found that companies
using computerized ERP systems used only a fraction of the modules made available to them; on average, companies surveyed said they used about 73% of their system’s func- tionality in 2010. Even the best companies used less than 100% of the system. After putting an ERP system’s features to work, you must
continually monitor its success, according to the Aberdeen Group study. Te group found that top performing companies were 111% more likely to quantify the business benefits of ERP implementations than their competitors. And be aware that the system may not achieve all of the goals that you set out to achieve when installing the software. “Providing visibility is one of the primary goals of
ERP,” the authors of the study write. “However…[we have] observed little progress in attaining real-time visibility of processes from quote to cash in the majority of survey respondents.” According to J.B. Brown, president of Bremen Cast-
ings Inc., Bremen, Ind., his company implemented a new ERP system several years ago to standardize its pricing and production orders and gain an even greater understanding of manufacturing costs. “I look at how much manpower we utilized in this com-
pany on stupid things like chasing down payments because of inaccurate pricing,” Brown said. “[ERP] has been a great thing. It was a lot of heartache [to implement], but knowing your costs is invaluable.”
Rounding Up the Software
On the following pages is a look at the products provided by the three major suppliers of metalcasting industry-specific ERP software, with information provided by the software manufacturers.
Guardian Foundry System
Guardian Software Systems, Oconomowoc, Wis., has been designing software solutions for the manufacturing industry since 1987. Guardian’s “Paperless Routing and Touch Screen Data Collection” module sets the Guardian Foundry System apart from other ERP software systems Highlights of the system include:
• Online dispatching. • Job information, including the ability to view images, specifications, and tools and gages related to the part, the bill of materials, available serial numbers, work order details, work order instructions, process instructions, and machine parameters and order status.
• Online counter for proper part count. • Real-time direct and indirect labor collection. • Real-time event driven and on-demand alerts. • MSDS searches. • Quality data tracking, including pass/fail assessment, min- max range, min-max alert range, check percentage and target.
• Scrap reporting. • Optional interface to machine statistics. • Time and attendance. • Human resources functions.
32 | MODERN CASTING December 2011
Guardian features paperless routing and touch screen data collection. Te Guardian Foundry System’s solutions are focused
on the metalcasting industry. Guardian delivers foundry specific, business integrated solutions, designed for the way metalcasting facilities operate.
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