Implementing an ERP & Making it Work
A ferrous casting facility shares its successes and obstacles in establishing an ERP within its operation. JESSICA G. OKHUYSEN VALLE, CORPORACION POK S.A. DE C.V., GUADALAJARA, JALISCO, MEXICO
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n mid-2011, Corporacion POK S.A. de C.V., Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, an engineering firm offering metalcasting and
machining solutions, transitioned from lot (or heat) traceability to individual serial number traceability to comply with the needs of some of its customers. Instead of migrating only some of the products to serial number traceability, the company
opted to convert all part numbers to this type of tracking. Management saw it as the best way of tracing parts and trusted it would standard- ize criteria and deliver more precise information for quality and problem solving. By early 2012, POK had an urgent
need for a system capable of track- ing the serial numbers throughout the entire manufacturing process and
rendering automatic material certificates. Doing it through spread- sheets was consuming too much time and vulnerable to human mistakes. While in the process of creating a
tailor-made traceability system, POK discovered an already established sys- tem for the metalcasting industry that could execute the needed tracking and purchased the software in mid-2012.
The Implementation Plan Implementing an enterprise
resource planning (ERP) system is a huge task for any size company, and mistakes in implementation can have costly consequences. The main component of an accu-
rate implementation plan is time; however, history has shown time- frames in ERP implementation are likely to be broken. Understanding this before starting is important for the project leader (and whomever that person is reporting to) to avoid feeling frustrated and instead con- tinue working toward the set goals. POK designed an implementa-
tion plan after a week-long initial visit from the software provider. Te objec- tive of that visit was to get to know the company and understand the full capabilities of the software. First, POK had to assess its oper-
POK installed ERP software to meet an urgent need to track part numbers throughout the entire manufacturing process and rendering automatic material certificates.
32 | MODERN CASTING September 2015
ations and evaluate if it was going to keep any of the existing systems. At the time, the company was planning through Excel and using an ERP software system for accounting and human resources. The metalcaster also had the first phase of the in-
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