Manufacturers face a plethora of challenges every day, regardless of where they are located and the industries they serve. Sometimes, though, companies in different industries use the same product to meet several of these challenges. Consider, for example, the many ways that Infor SyteLine (CloudSuite Industrial) enterprise resource planning (ERP) software has helped Brookfield AMETEK (formerly Brookfield Engineering Laboratories Inc.) and CAV Aerospace Ltd. since 2012.
Founded in 1934, Brookfield manufactures a wide variety of industrial controls for laboratory and online process applications. These devices include viscometers, rheometers, powder flow testers and texture-measuring instruments.
Nearly five years ago, company management began looking for software to support, integrate and optimize four key initiatives at Brookfield’s Middleboro, MA, assembly plant: lean manufacturing, kaizen (continuous improvement), kanban scheduling and just-in-time production. Greg Krysko, manager of information and communication technology at Brookfield, knew that meeting these challenges would also increase plant productivity while maintaining high product quality standards (ISO9001:2008).
“Our [main] focus is to reduce process steps and transactions to avoid wasting time, and SyteLine helps us do that,” says Krysko. “It offers us a clear path to the future, so, as our business changes, we’ll know how to integrate and grow.”
Besides integrating seamlessly with Microsoft-based programs, SyteLine is easily configured to meet Brookfield’s specific business needs in each application. Krysko says the software has improved supply-and-demand visibility and forecasting, ensuring availability of needed parts. Equally important, it has helped managers develop and implement long-term equipment maintenance plans.
For UK-based CAV Aerospace—which designs, assembles and integrates ice protection systems and aerostructures for small passenger jets and unmanned aerial vehicles worldwide—SyteLine helps the company meet a different challenge: establishing consistent financial consolidation and reporting processes at all of its manufacturing locations in the UK and Poland. Previously, each facility ran a different ERP system or none at all.
Don Marshall, group financial analyst at CAV, says the company can now run a profit and loss statement for every site with the touch of a button. As a result, the two-week, month-end consolidation process has been shortened to three days. Another software benefit is it quickly, accurately and easily converts local currencies into pounds.
“[The software provides] instantaneous data [that] we can download into chart form and share,” explains Marshall. “We now can discuss all the key performance indicators for the previous week, which we never could do before.”
The latest version of SyteLine is 9.00.30. It lets users locate and store company data on a single database or divide it into different databases as needed to fit any complex environment or IT requirement. This version also lets customers use HTML5 markup language to securely access data from a wide range of browsers and devices.
CAV’s manufacturing capabilities include sheet-metal fabrication, CNC routing, laser and spot welding, rubber and brake press, stretch-form, and wet treatments. The company’s workers assemble aerospace components such as avionics racks, access doors and tail parts.
For more information on ERP software, call 800-260-2640 or visit www.infor.com.
