instantly be booked into a “rework route,” helping POK obtain a rework and scrap percentage instantly. All the certificates to be sent to the customer, including NDT reports, dimensional verification reports, material test reports, hardness reports and shipping documents, were generated imme- diately, printed and placed with the parts.
POK didn’t actually see results of the implementation until it could finally generate reports. Te ERP software works alongside
SAP-owned report designing software. With both software programs, POK can generate any report and visualize any type of information. Knowing how to use the report-designing software has been an important factor in the success of the ERP program implementation. Giving people data they can use and analyze has been key for the acceptance of inputting data into the software in the first place. POK’s first major success was the automation of all cer-
POK launched a pilot trial of shop floor data collection where the operators themselves input data in real time.
tificates of conformance and material test results. Te spec- trometer and carbon and sulfur analyzer were linked to the ERP database, and the report was created in the reporting software. Tis reduced the amount of man-hours needed to put the information together by 70%, but most importantly, it did away with human error. Today, POK generates many reports through its ERP.
Supervisors receive daily, weekly or monthly automatically- generated email reports of relevant information about their area. Reports include: • Parts poured. • On-time delivery score. • Pending open orders. • Parts in finish goods. • Parts currently at outsourcing. • New orders received. • Projected sales per customer. • Scrap rate.
POK’s Investment POK has operated its ERP software for more than two
years now. After 30 months, the average cost per month was $4,125. Although licenses only account for $1,150 per month, onsite training accounts for the highest percentage of investment. POK has held 15 onsite training sessions (four in 2012, five in 2013, four in 2014, and two so far in 2015). As POK continues to evolve, so should the ERP system. POK hopes to continue with quarterly visits from the ERP software provider. Calculating ROI can be tricky because many benefits
of an ERP system are intangible. By monitoring scrap rates, POK can pinpoint specific problems to address and solve. By reducing the level of inventory, POK has
reduced its material costs through better procurement and planning. Properly calculating the cost reduction is time consuming and difficult, but the company has concluded the benefits of utilizing the ERP program surpasses the monthly cost.
Ongoing Improvements Initially, POK concentrated on training the shop floor
workers directly, believing that supervisors were already inundated with a large amount of work. However, the super- visors are the leaders of their areas and would have been better served to be part of the earlier training. POK is now working on training them and providing them useful reports from the system. With their enthusiasm, the ERP program has received a boost of input of information. Te plant cur- rently is finishing creating quality plans for all products, just as it did in the manufacturing cell pilot run. POK also is analyzing bottlenecks and has been able to
track efficiency in the production lines. Te plant is rede- signing its pattern warehouse to ensure important informa- tion and location of each pattern are recorded into the ERP program. Tis will help reduce time for “pattern seeking,” while also enabling the plant to keep track of pattern usage and plan pattern quality inspection and repair. POK also is implementing a costing module. Since the
company now has enough data to analyze, it is discovering its manufacturing costs. In the near future, the plant would like to spread the shop floor data collection pilot run to all areas, most likely beginning with the CNC shop. POK also will begin quoting and estimating through the ERP program. Further, it will link the system to its CMM machine so dimensional results won’t have to be manually input. Finally, POK will link its accounting system to the ERP system.
September 2015 MODERN CASTING | 35
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