ERP enables growth

Bristol Machine Works, Sudbury, Ont., offers complete manufacturing services, including custom machining, welding, heat treatment, chroming, and gear cutting. Global Shop Solutions

Situation

Bristol Machine Works, Sudbury, Ont., manufactures OEM parts for mining and heavy equipment manufacturers around the world. These parts include hydraulic cylinders, brake assemblies, machined weldments, gearbox housings, machined castings, and smelter furnace cooling blocks.

The shop offers complete manufacturing support, including machining, gear cutting, welding, heat treatment, and chroming services. It performs contract work for the local mining industry and offers engineering services for global smelter manufacturing firms.

Bristol Machine also is registered with the Quality Management Institute to ISO 9001:2000 standards and the Canadian Welding Bureau to W47.1 Division 2.1.

Recently a large OEM client started requiring that all of its suppliers have an ERP or MRP system in place to communicate quotes and orders better in its supply base. In addition, Bristol Machine’s existing business management system had numerous drawbacks that suggested a more up-to-date system would yield a significant ROI.

“Our previous system had no scheduling capabilities,” said Alain Theriault, engineering manager for Bristol Machine. “The manufacturing piece couldn’t talk to the financial piece. And we had to enter everything twice, release everything twice, and hope that we got pricing between the two correct. Our customers realized we needed an ERP system, and so did we.”

Resolution

After researching different ERP packages, Theriault settled on Global Shop Solutions’ ERP software because of its intuitive interface and its integrated manufacturing, financial, and scheduling modules. It also chose this system because it can handle OEM, serial manufacturing, make-to-stock, and one-off job shop projects all in one system.

Bristol Machine’s old system lacked the ability to handle bill of materials (BOMs). As a result, all BOMs had to be built manually, which was a slow process. With its new ERP software, Bristol Machine now can build large, multilevel BOMs. More important, the BOMs make all the data visible and linked, allowing the company to easily check the status of all subcomponents on a project, roll up their costs, and determine the true cost of the project.

“Creating BOMs in Global Shop Solutions lets us track all the different work orders so they are together to finish the entire assembly,” said Theriault. “That way, we no longer have $50,000 projects waiting on a $10 part for completion. And [the ERP] links all the costs together for one final assembly, so we know as soon as a project is done how much it costs.”

The system also gives the company accurate historical costs. This helps it know where it can go with quotes to get new business and allows it to adjust to changing market conditions more quickly because it knows the true costs compared to sales.

Bristol Machine uses the ERP’s global application builder (GAB) to save time and simplify operations on the shop floor. One of these supports the company’s extensive use of sophisticated CNC machines.

A Scooptram frame weldment is ready to mount after machining, fabrication and welding, and paint. Global Shop Solutions

The shop’s old system contained a large database with all the setup sheets and manufacturers’ instructions for manufacturing parts. Unfortunately, this database was not compatible with its new software. Using the custom GAB application, workers now can access the database directly from the data collection stations on the shop floor.

“Instead of having two separate, stand-alone databases to manage all the manufacturers’ instructions, we have one that seamlessly integrates,” said Theriault. “We don’t have to re-create our database. We don’t have to bother with duplicate data entry. And our people have instant access to the documents they need right on the shop floor. The time savings are enormous.”

Bristol Machine also makes good use of the software’s ability to create custom reports. It also has done some customization within the sales analysis module to improve its financial acumen.

“One of the real strengths of Global Shop Solutions is that it makes our financial status easily visible at any time,” said Theriault. “We operate three separate plants, and we’ve made a few customizations to sales analysis that allow us to individually see the financial health of each plant.”

Theriault believes that the true measure of an ERP software goes beyond its technical capabilities to include the quality and competency of people that develop, implement, and support it.

Bristol Machine Works, www.bristolmachine.com

Global Shop Solutions, www.globalshopsolutions.com