ERROR-FREE O-RINGS: NORTH COAST SEAL BUILDS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Transcription

1 ERP IMPLEMENTATION CASE STUDY ERROR-FREE O-RINGS: NORTH COAST SEAL BUILDS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE USING ABAS ERP

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 01 Introduction 02 Getting to Know NCS 03 Hector the Inspector: Automating Video-based Inspection 04 Recognizing the Time for Change 05 Collaborating With abas 07 Reinforcing Culture 08 Emphasizing the Customer 09 Building a Foundation for the Future

3 With abas ERP software in place to support its processes and employees, NCS managed to go 481 consecutive days without having a quality error. Introduction O-rings and gaskets may seem like simple things: Small bands of rubber that seal pipes, faucets and similar items. However, a slight flaw in rubber quality, flash, a miniscule error of measurement or nicks can cause leaks, hardware damage and catastrophic failure. North Coast Seal is a sealing solution distributor committed to making sure these issues are not happening to the end user. To achieve this end, the company has established an operational focus that emphasizes customer experiences and uses the abas ERP system to refine its processes and support quality goals. With abas ERP software in place to support its processes and employees, NCS managed to go 481 consecutive days without having a quality error. It also helped the team support their customers with no errors. This was not a fluke: The company has a current streak is close to 100 days... and counting. Quality is very big with us. Being a distributor, we don t make anything, said Tom Sasura, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. So we need to verify the quality coming in from all of the vendors we are working with. We measure and inspect every part. The company does this verification in part by using a video inspection machine that video-inspects a wide variety of sizes of O-rings, gaskets and seals. 01

4 Tom Sasura VP of Sales and Marketing North Coast Seal Terry Sasura President North Coast Seal Tina Crocker Operations Manager North Coast Seal Tim Sasura Quality Control Manager North Coast Seal Getting to Know NCS Based outside of Cleveland, Ohio, NCS is, at its core, a family business. Since opening in 1985, the company has worked to identify customer demands and refine its processes and procedures accordingly. The result has been extraordinary customer loyalty. In fact, some of the original customers that were with the distribution and fulfillment provider during its early years are still there today. NCS specializes in the distribution of O-rings but also handles gaskets, plastic materials and any other solution needed for industrial sealing. This creates a great deal of inventory diversity, with some O-rings just a few millimeters wide, up to much larger options. NCS serves industrial companies in a variety of sectors, including: Natural gas Automotive Aerospace Medical Snow removal The business also supports the fulfillment demands for many consumer products, such as garden hoses and faucets. Purchasing seals in bulk empowers NCS to pass discounts down to customers, but the company doesn t compete solely on price. An array of products use NCS s seals, like natural gas for example the quality and chemical makeup of the rubber is so critical that trying to offer the least expensive solution leaves customers at risk for using the wrong materials. Some O-rings are made simply to seal, like in a garden hose, in which case a leak is annoying, but not catastrophic like it would be for your gas line. Other O-rings need to hold up to extreme environmental conditions and function flawlessly for years. NCS ensures that their customers get the right seal and material for their application and that each part gets inspected with appropriate measures. All of this is possible due to the company s focus on using technology to gain an advantage over the competition through its inspecting machinery, processes and ERP software. Meet the NCS Management Team Tom Sasura Vice President of Sales and Marketing Terry Sasura President Tina Crocker Operations Manager Tim Sasura Quality Control Manager 02

5 Hector the Inspector inspects the O-rings from OD, ID and cross section it ensures that you re getting a 100 percent good O-ring Tim Sasura Quality Control Manager North Coast Seal Hector the Inspector: Automating Video-based Inspection We re different than our competitors because we have a vision machine that inspects O-rings. Not many in the industry have one and, if they do, it doesn t do what our machine does, Quality Control Manager, Tim Sasura, noted as he discussed Hector the Inspector, an aptly named machine capable of inspecting more than 100,000 O-rings daily for quality. The day we visited, Hector was set to go through a batch of 18,000 medium-sized O-rings. The process was scheduled and finished in two hours and eight minutes. Within this ecosystem, NCS uses abas to gain greater visibility into operations in real time. Our machine will inspect O-rings, the ID/OD cross section, and it ll test for defects in anything that it can, he explained. Hector the Inspector inspects the O-rings from OD, ID and cross section it ensures that you re getting a 100 percent good O-ring with no flashing, no dinks, no dents. It can be a nearly perfect O-ring based on what the customer wants. Hector does not stand alone. NCS also includes Molly the Measurer in its family of solutions, and it serves to provide precise measurements to ensure O-rings are up to specification. These types of solutions are the basis for automation and successful coordination between humans and machines. Within this ecosystem, NCS uses abas to gain greater visibility into operations in real time, making it much easier to maintain high levels of quality across every phase of operations. 03

6 The company needed to gain visibility into everyday operations. They knew they needed a new ERP system. Recognizing the Time for Change NCS was working with an antiquated DOS system that worked well for a long time but had limited the company s visibility into everyday operations. When an error came up, it became extremely difficult to identify precisely what went wrong. The company needed to gain visibility into everyday operations. They knew they needed a new ERP system, but that was only the starting point. Flexibility to support growth was also a priority. NCS was (and still is) in a major growth period, which meant they were exploring a variety of avenues to expand as a business. In the past, similar initiatives were often complex and challenging to manage. The time had come to become more organized and transparent. Initially, NCS had approached a few ERP vendors and did its due diligence to identify feature sets and capabilities that aligned with abas stood out early on because it checked off nearly all of their requirements in the base feature list. the organization s core demands. abas stood out early on because it checked off nearly all of their requirements in the base feature list and also would be able to grow and adapt alongside the business, something that was particularly important with NCS s expansion. These overarching considerations aren t all that made abas stand out. The graphs, charts and intuitive interface meant that NCS workers could get the information they needed easily. Furthermore, a built-in customer relationship management system had a significant impact on the eventual decision to adopt the ERP platform. 04

7 Collaborating With abas Implementing an ERP system has enabled NCS to further its core goal of using excellence in quality to fuel better customer service. To achieve this, the company is using abas ERP in diverse ways, including: User-Specific Customization Like any business, each worker at NCS has personal and position-specific preferences for how they work. Different types of data are more or less relevant to each user, and having the right information at the right time can mean the difference between spotting an error and having that mistake make its way to the customer. abas allows each department to customize their work screens based on the priority that they need to see, said Tina Crocker, Operations Manager for NCS. Although North Coast s processes are all standardized whether you are doing order entry or shipping or receiving North Coast s process to fulfill that order doesn t change. But abas allows each individual s screen to work for them. Users on various teams need visibility into entirely different sets of data and reports. The freedom to customize interfaces based on specific requirements enables a greater degree of productivity and flexibility. Users can choose the information they see and intuitively drill down into the specific data sets they need. Everyone is able to customize their screens, their orders, their workflow to what really works for them, so it makes their day easier, said Crocker. abas basically works for North Coast Seal, and we make it work for us, getting orders in and getting orders out efficiently. 05

8 The customization is pretty much endless. Whatever you want to do, abas is able to do it for you. Tina Crocker Operations Manager North Coast Seal Specialized Pick Ticket and Fulfillment Scheduling Workflows The materials used in gaskets, O-rings and seals must hold up against many different environments. If an O-ring in a gas pipe in a home leaks, for example, the result is a risk of explosion. NCS cannot afford to send customers O-rings that do not meet spec, meaning it has to track each item in its inventory with batch control and cure date to make sure they are good to ship. These product-specific shipping requirements are monitored to meet specific deadlines on orders and to meet customer priorities and similar tasks. NCS was able to customize the abas ERP solution beyond its out-of-the-box functionality to create a picking and fulfillment solution that empowers users to optimize shipping scheduling with minimal complexity. Within the ERP interface, users can view details on the rubber cure date, customer priority and similar factors influencing fulfillment, set an appropriate pick-and-ship date with the click of a button. On a single screen, users can view all relevant parameters and either manually determine the optimal shipping time or set an automated work order. The customization is pretty much endless, said Crocker. Whatever you want to do, abas is able to do it for you. 06

9 Reinforcing Culture Businesses will often struggle to achieve their goals if they are unable to get workers on board with organizational priorities. NCS is a family business, and it strives to ensure all employees are included in the organization s growth and identity. To this end, NCS aims to clarify processes and records to create a sense of accountability throughout the business. The transparency and efficiency enabled by an ERP system have helped establish a bedrock for this culture. abas has changed our company, said Tim Sasura. We re more organized in terms of lot control and batch control. Things aren t as hectic as they were with the other systems. abas tracks mistakes and lets you see what went wrong. There s only one way to do a task in the system, and it s either right or wrong Sasura says that with employees being held more accountable, they take their time and take their job more seriously. It makes us a better company and creates a better work environment. At lunchtime we re probably the goofiest folks around, but when it comes right down to work, everybody has a certain job to do, and everybody takes pride in their job. With so much emphasis on quality and customer service, NCS needs to be able to view inventories, customer interactions and work orders at each level of the business. Besides improving accountability, NCS has established systems set to provide immediate feedback to employees and give them a strong stake in the company s success. On the production floor, NCS maintains two lights, one yellow and one red. When the yellow light turns on, it means somebody has identified a mistake before the error made its way to the customer. The user who identifies that error gets a bonus. A red light turns on when a mistake leaves the facility, and efforts are made to jump on the problem and rectify the issue immediately. Beyond this rapid feedback, NCS also tracks each day it goes without making a mistake and gives employees a bonus for each month that goes by without an error. Unifying real-time data across the business enables the organization to build its cultural values into everything it does by eliminating visibility gaps that may have existed throughout the organization. We have a very laid back culture, said President Terry Sasura. There are a lot of family members here and sometimes, for other people who are not family members, you think it s harder to mesh because family is family. But we make everybody here feel like family. At lunchtime we re probably the goofiest folks around, but when it comes right down to work, everybody has a certain job to do, and everybody takes pride in their job. 07

10 The goal is to ensure each customer gets precisely the correct product, including the right material, size and detailed specifications Emphasizing the Customer When it comes to customer service, NCS has a simple philosophy: If a customer has a problem, the issue belongs to everybody. They first focus on fixing the problem and resolving the situation, then they can go back and figure out what went wrong and how to avoid the situation moving forward. Instead of trying to point fingers, NCS emphasizes getting the customer out of trouble and moving on. This begins with preventing issues through robust inspection with Hector the Inspector, Molly the Measurer and a team of qualified professionals. The goal is to ensure each customer gets precisely the correct product, including the right material, size and detailed specifications to ensure it s ready to use when it arrives on the customer site. The big-picture data available in the abas ERP system helps in achieving this goal through the role-specific transparency into data mentioned earlier. This information can trickle down into reports and dashboards for sales teams and business leaders, ensuring these users understand the overarching conditions that could impact a given customer order. The result is an environment in which customer-centric operations go beyond inspections and extend into the way orders are processed and shipped. Ultimately, once a customer begins working with NCS, the company strives to have its service be so good that the client never has a reason to leave. 08

11 Building a Foundation for the Future NCS is moving into a new stage of development as a business. It has grown a great deal as a company over its more than 30 years of operations, but a new period of expansion is on the horizon. They recently purchased additional warehouse space and have ambitious plans for both organic and inorganic growth in the upcoming years. With its plans in place, the organization has been striving to establish a higher degree of organizational cohesion that drives efficiency, creates data visibility and allows for stronger communication. The decision to implement abas ERP stemmed largely from the system s ability to grow as NCS changes and expands. When NCS started working in the industry, it was using paper-based products. Over time, computerization began to take hold and advanced, custom systems were put in place. Today, working with abas ERP is driving a complete transformation across the business, creating visibility that is helping the business fully embrace and enact its cultural and operational goals. NCS s efforts with abas ERP have allowed it to embed excellence into its everyday operations. What s more, when something goes wrong, the company has a one-on-one relationship with an abas support professional, ensuring they get help from somebody who knows their systems, understands their business and can help get everything fixed quickly. Every problem that happens at NCS eventually makes its way to the customer experience, and the technology and relationship established with abas is helping NCS improve operations and lay the groundwork for sustained growth. Terry Sasura put the situation simply, highlighting the role abas ERP is playing in helping NCS achieve its goals and build for the future: North Coast is looking to grow every day, and to have a system that supports what we want to do is really encouraging, she said. 09

12