ERP installation leads to lowered inventory
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Manufacturing News, Source : The Manufacturer US
Published : 07 Aug 2002 16:36
Inventory management is a serious business at Waldmann Lighting, which assembles specialized task lighting products.
Achieving an accurate parts inventory count and lowering inventory levels using their accounting package was next to impossible during several years of rapid growth, according to Jan Schaefer, co-president. Following installation of ERP software from Syspro, the company has finally reached that goal. “At the end of last year, when we did our physical audit, we only had a $6,000 discrepancy on a $3 million inventory. We were so excited,” she said.
The $130-million Illinois-based company combines parts from German parent company Waldmann with US-made parts to create high-end finished products. As the company grew in the mid-1990s, tracking all those parts became a tremendous burden, said Schaefer. “We had a lot of discrepancies at year end when we counted our inventory. Not having everything integrated was a big problem. Accounting, assembly, inventory control, purchasing, and order entry—there was nothing to link them,” Schaefer said.
As she looked at potential replacements for the company’s small accounting package, Schaefer found most applications were biased toward accounting or manufacturing. Eventually, she chose Syspro’s Impact, which she felt had equally good features on both sides and was user friendly. “That was important to us because we had 26 employees at that time and 17 [of them] would be on the system,” she said. The business process advice the company received from reseller Business Technology Partners (Northbrook, IL) also helped with the transition. “They didn’t just come in and install and throw in some training. They worked with us to improve our operations,” said Schaefer.
Schaefer is enthusiastic about the benefits to the company resulting from the implementation. “Our inventory is now very accurate. We’ve got accurate bills of materials. Everything is integrated, so when the sales department puts the sales forecast in, that’s what triggers a purchase, and production can see when orders are due. Everything works together. It’s allowing us to keep a lower level of inventory because we don’t have to do so much guesswork,” she said.
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