October 2008 Edition

SHOP MANAGEMENT

Product Management in Three Easy Steps

A precision machining manufacturer finds out how simple it is to incorporate its product management software

Treske Precision Machining, Inc., Sherwood, OR, provides precision machined parts, welded frames, and integrated assemblies to its customers. The company uses the latest equipment and systems to meet the demands of the changing manufacturing environment. Understanding that superior quality and on-time delivery are basic customer expectations, Treske strives to exceed expectations by developing efficient manufacturing methods and supply chain systems matched to the requirements of its customers.

A substantial growth in its customer base and pending ISO certification changed Treske’s requirements for managing product information. Legacy processes were no longer sufficient to keep up with the increased management of documentation. Treske’s product documentation was stored in various files on network servers; Bills of Materials – BOMs – were managed in Excel spreadsheets and prints were saved in PDF format. This setup lacked accessibility and the capabilities to keep documentation in a controlled environment such as tracking, linking, and where-used searching.

Managing data was a tedious task and often resulted in inefficiencies.

"To prevent losing control over our increasing product documentation, we needed to implement a system to track and manage this information and make it accessible to everyone," Mark Brenden, engineering manager for Treske, said.

Step One: Implement an ERP

The company had implemented an Enterprise Resource Planning – ERP – solution from Epicor Software Corp., Irvine, CA. Epicor Vantage 8.0 was used to manage manufacturing information such as job planning, purchasing, inventory, and financial data. Treske management also knew the best way to manage its growing product information and properly track documentation for ISO certification was to employ a Product Lifecycle Management – PLM – solution.

Treske’s goal was to integrate the ERP and PLM environments to share information through an automated process and eliminate double-entry of part data.

Treske entered new part data on a daily basis. Manually entering that data into two systems was error-prone and time-consuming. The company wanted all released information, particularly BOMs, automatically uploaded to Epicor from the PLM system.

"As we searched for a PLM solution, one of the key requirements was that it needed to integrate with our Epicor ERP system," Brenden said. "With more than 100 users required to access the system, we wanted a straightforward and user-friendly product that the average user could navigate without difficulty.

"We compared several PLM vendors during our selection process and found the Empower system from Omnify Software, Andover, MA, was the only product that provided the intuitive solution, integration capabilities, and affordable price point we were looking for," Brenden said.

"Added to that, the Omnify sales and support team was responsive to all of our questions and understood our need for integration with Epicor. The more questions we asked its competitors, the more expensive the solutions became."

Step Two: Find a PLM System that Integrates

"Omnify had everything we wanted in a PLM solution, and more: an open integration platform, ease of use, low cost, and an outstanding support team," Brenden said.

"Omnify’s support team was instrumental in making the overall implementation a smooth process. The Omnify system was implemented, complete with training and integration to Epicor, in a little under a week."

The software provider’s Empower is the master control database for all system and product documentation at Treske. With the package, Treske has a single system to manage its more than 20,000 part numbers and associated prints. Centralized storage for all product documentation with revision control, part association, and controlled editing helps Treske comply with ISO standards and facilitate its requirements to receive certification.

The ability to enter a part number, bring up a print, and see the latest revision eliminated delays in finding information.

"The application let people find information themselves and move forward without waiting for engineering," Brenden said. "Product development team members, including engineering, document control, and planners, can access product information."

The open integration platform coupled with Epicor Service Connect provided an easy integration process. With the integration, engineering does not have to manually enter information in two locations. When engineering releases a part Engineering Change Order – ECO – from Empower, it is uploaded to the ERP system, then planners can create a method for manufacturing, approve a revision, and generate a job.

Automated data sharing between Empower and Epicor lets Treske eliminate errors due to manual entry of BOMs as well as ensure planners have correct and current information.

As part of Treske’s philosophy to develop efficient manufacturing methods, it plans to integrate Empower even further into its manufacturing operations. All documentation used by machinists to set up a job will be managed within Empower.

Wireless remote station setup on the shop floor will let machinists access the required documentation. This will save time in finding information and also eliminate the need to print files.

"The fewer tools we have to use, the more efficient we are," Brenden said.

Step Three: Watch them Work Together

"Now that we have Omnify, our ability to look at parts and find documents is much faster," Brenden said.

Sharing data between its PLM and ERP environments has also sped up engineering change order cycles for Treske. Information, such as the quantity of parts in inventory, how many parts are being manufactured, and change history, is now at the fingertips of the engineers processing ECOs.

Information can be accessed to create an ECO and then routed, via workflows, for appropriate signoff. The released ECO is then uploaded to Epicor.

"Prior to Omnify, people had to go onto the shop floor to find this information," Brenden said. "Our overall ECO processing time has been reduced by more than 75 percent."

Treske customer support is more efficient with the software integration. Accurate and current information across engineering, manufacturing, and sales guarantees that the paperwork that must ship with a part – from the invoice to the packing slip – is correct, with revisions and part numbers all matching. Because parts are returned if the supplied documentation is incorrect, this automated process has resulted in reduced returns and significant cost-savings for Treske.

"With data sharing, we are assured that the documentation generated reflects the most current revision," Brenden said. "This has also relieved some big headaches in our shipping departments." Omnify Software

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