Posted by Tina Jolicoeur on Wed, May 26, 2010 @ 11:33 AM
Call me old-fashioned, I still enjoy a good commercial or print ad. Not only are they entertaining, but I appreciate the skill, innovation and imagination put in to them. Right now one of my favorite ad campaigns is Microsoft's 'I'm a PC and Windows 7 is my idea'. Of course I know that it's just an ad campaign and those are actors, but I'm sure Microsoft considered change requests when they developed Windows 7. Wouldn't it be great if we had a voice in the improvement of all of the devices, software, appliances, vehicles, etc. that we use everyday? That got me to thinking about EnterpriseIQ software and we've always been customer driven, taking and implementing literally hundreds and hundreds of software change requests (SCR) per year. That's evident especially now that we have reached our one year anniversary since implementing IQMS Community Server. Anyone who logs in can see We have over one thousand SCRs posted to Community Server - in just one year! Not only are there over one thousand SCRs, over half of them have been approved. Our customers, real users not actors, can say they have a voice in the improvement of our ERP software.
All SCRs can be viewed by all customers. Customers can comment good or bad on any SCR; they provide input on whether or not they like a feature and if it would be beneficial to them and/or all users. They also comment when they disagree with a change request. Which leads me to my next train of thought. I sometimes picture our lead developers, who review EVERY SCR, as Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty. There's a scene when he is going through the prayer emails and is so overwhelmed he grants every prayer. Not only do our Developers read every SCR, they have to sometimes take the time to decipher what the customer is requesting and then consider, "Is this in the best interest of all users?" That's because our software is fully integrated and we don't make changes to the core software without considering all of our customers and their manufacturing types.
A nice feature in Community Server is all customers can view the status of SCRs from submission, to review, to approval (or denial) to programming, testing and documentation. Customers can filter on the status of the SCR as well. For example a customer can choose to view only SCRs that are pending approval or just the SCRs they've submitted. A lot of our customers have been with us since the 'early' days and they know they sometimes had to contact IQMS to find out the status of their SCR, now they can go to Community Server any time they'd like and review the status without picking up the phone or sending an email.
IQMS employees love Community Server too. Support, Development, Testing, Sales, Professional Services- all of us view the requests, look at the status and view any notes. We can quickly see which customer and/or user made the request, refer back to what they were trying to achieve and how they were accomplishing that currently. We often have conference calls to review an SCR, it doesn't matter where we are, as long as we have web access, we have access to the SCRs. The turnaround time for SCRs has improved exponentially. There isn't a bottle neck at any level. And it's not that we weren't trying to get to all of the SCRs before in a timely fashion, but there were hindrances that are no longer there with this method.
So, if you are an IQMS customer or thinking about becoming one, let me give you some tips on how to get your SCR reviewed and approved.
- Attach a screen shot. We are visual people and a picture speaks loudly and clearly.
- Be brief but succinct in each area of the SCR; what is your request, what are you trying to accomplish and how do you achieve your goal currently. Is it a workaround, a separate report, etc. All three of the questions on the SCR are well thought out, we are trying to keep our customers focused on their request and ask leading questions that prompt our customers to provide well thought out responses. Re-read your request; if you can, have someone review it. I do a lot of proofing and always find errors or missing information in other people's work, but often miss it in my own writing.
- Make sure to leave the box checked to email responses to the SCR. When we reply we might be asking for further information or more detail and the faster you can respond, the faster we can push your SCR through the approval process. And when you respond to our reply, do so within the SCR not in the automatically generated email.
- Take the time to review other customer's SCRs on occasion and reply to a SCR if you'd like to see the same change. Then when you submit a SCR your community is more likely to have your back. If you have a special area of use in EnterpriseIQ, for example, Quality Document Control, review just these SCRs on occasion. Not only will you know what's coming in the next version, you can comment on an area of the software that's important to you. You have a voice.
- Review other SCRs to see if what you've requested is already approved. If you are on an older version of the software, you can also read the What's Changed documents for the newer versions before you submit a SCR.
Our customers have a voice in the continuous improvement of IQMS' EnterpriseIQ software; they are IQMS customers and EIQ is their idea.
Posted by Shannon Holloway on Fri, May 21, 2010 @ 12:24 PM
I watched the new Alice in Wonderland movie a couple weeks back. It was very entertaining and, in a strange way, educational as well. (Spoiler warning - if you haven't seen it, I mention some details below that you may not want to know.) After the 3D excitement was over and I was driving the 7 miles home from the theater, it struck me how many similarities there are between Alice's journey and the journey of ERP software implementation. I know, a bizarre analogy, but this is how my mind works sometimes.
The parallel that stood out most was the mental voyage that Alice took within herself. She started completely in the dark with no understanding of why she was there or where she was going. If you are part of a newly appointed team who has been given the task to implement a new ERP software package, you may feel the same way and the quote, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there" might come to mind. Just as Alice has the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, and many others to show her the way and help her along, it is the job of the software provider to be the guiding influence to ensure a successful implementation. From your sales person, to your implementation expert, along with trainers and technical support specialists, you should have a team of experts to help you along the way as well. This starts by providing a picture of where success will take you. Stephen R. Covey said it well when he advised us to "Begin with the end in mind". (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) It is important for everyone in the organization to see how a successful implementation will benefit the company, their customers, and themselves.
Once Alice understood why she had been brought back to Wonderland and the large task that lay in front her, she was a bit overwhelmed. Her exact words were, "This is impossible". To that, the Mad Hatter replied, "Only if you believe it is". Even with that advice and all of the other help she was given, Alice was still unsure. She continued to search for a "Plan B", a safety net that would prevent her from having to take the risk she was so determined to avoid. During an implementation, it is very easy to try and hold on to "what we've always done". It is important for everyone involved to understand why the status quo is no longer good enough and that going back is not an option. This leaves the only means of success to be moving forward.
It wasn't until Alice looked at all that was at stake that she realized that failure wasn't an option. It was then that she threw away her safety net and made the decision to be the champion that everyone else knew she was. Whether you are the implementation project leader, a member of the implementation team, or an end user learning the new software for the first time, decide to be the champion. Look back only to find the starting point where improvement begins. Look forward to find understanding, possibility, and ultimately success.
Posted by Neil Gow on Tue, May 18, 2010 @ 07:03 AM
What an exciting time to be involved in software development! Right now the economy is tough, but we can't rest and wait for things to get better. Here at IQMS headquarters in Paso Robles, California the development team is pushing forward and creating our own destiny. Some of the most extraordinary new ideas are coming to fruition as we explore the possibilities.
Last year we introduced the RealTime LightStick to bring visibility and awareness to the plant floor. It doesn't matter if you are using Wired or Wireless RealTime. EnterpriseIQ can give the entire plant a look at what is running "lean" or not. With a glance at the Work Center everyone will instantly know if a machine is down, running standard, or faster/slower than standard! If the red light is blinking it means the work order has been completed. It can also be used as a call for technical help, just push a button and the LightStick scrolls through all the colors, attracting attention right away. Once you respond and cancel the call you can address the situation whatever it is!
What is even more exiting is that some of the best ideas come right from you the customer! A new LightStick status shows a flashing yellow light which indicates the scrap is exceeding the allowable scrap percentage on the Bill Of Material (BOM). Great customer input! This is now available for both Wired and Wireless RealTime users.
For those of you who have EnterpriseIQ ERP systems you know we work very hard to accommodate the ideas brought to us. This is all made possible through Community Server. Our online forum allows the customer to submit a software development request and if it is feasible, everyone who is paying attention gets to vote on the change. So if it works for you, great! If not, then chime in and voice your concern to both IQMS and the rest of the customers! Our management staff and the primary designers are watching Community Server for more of the ideas that meet your needs for today's competitive manufacturing world.
I'm thrilled to say my next blog will be regarding the newest idea to come from IQMS. I won't say anymore right now, but don't miss it! Its full of ideas from you!
Posted by Diane Ramaglia on Wed, May 12, 2010 @ 03:13 PM
I have been in the manufacturing business for over 18 years. When I first started I was working in accounting and then moved over to operations. It was all about dollars and cents and what we could improve to be more profitable. The plant manager was a great teacher and focused on continuous improvement. He would have us look at the root cause of an issue and tell us to "fix it or else." We all knew that "or else" meant having a job the next day or not so we took this suggestion seriously.
First, we started to look at our plant utilization based on the production reports that were being entered into our ERP system. We started to review our downtime reports to track what truly was keeping our machines from running. We found that setups were not being started when they were supposed to due to a lack of labor and machines were sitting idle due to a lack of material or machine operators.
Next, we started to evaluate why we didn't have enough labor for machine setups. One reason found was that the scheduler was scheduling multiple jobs to be setup at the same time. We started to look at minimizing the number of setups within a shift. We decided to put two people on a setup which allowed the setup to take half the time that it would normally take. So far, so good. But soon reality showed that there were times we truly did need additional setup technicians due to the demand coming in from the customers. After reviewing the cost of the machine sitting down due to setups, we found that it was costing us more than hiring a new setup/process technician. So we hired a couple of setup technicians to keep our shop running.
Our next step was to look at why we didn't have operators to run the jobs. We established that there had been a cut back in the number of operators per shift because of the previously mentioned setup issues coupled with wanting to eliminate having operators being paid to just sit around. Since we fixed the setup issues, we could better utilize our labor capacity reports to determine how many operators we needed for each shift. While we still maintained a minimal direct labor force, we also hired temporary employees as needed for certain machines/jobs to backfill labor where it was truly needed.
Lastly, we tackled the issue of raw material. We found that the machine monitoring system was accounting for cycles that the production report but our actual people were not. This was an eye-opening gap in material consumption and inventory management that would not have been identified without our ERP software. It was discovered that during the setup of certain jobs, more scrap was being produced than what was originally accounted for in the creation of BOM's. There were two things we reviewed: how to cut back on the scrap being produced and should we update the BOM's to more accurately reflect the setup process. Depending on the part being produced we modified our records accordingly and the gains were significant.
To see the changes we had made using the information from the system was great. I still use this information today when assisting other companies with their internal issues.
To view another success utiliation story, we invite you to read about Donnelly Custom Manufacturing.
Posted by John Asi on Fri, May 07, 2010 @ 03:13 PM
Successful companies have always been on the search for ways to streamline their business processes and run their daily operations as efficiently as possible. These companies know that their success as a business relies on how efficiently they interface within the supply chain and adapt to demand as needed. The brutal economy that crippled companies around the world last year and the slow recovery that has followed has forced many companies to evaluate how they operate within the supply chain and find ways to increase their productivity while keeping the cost of doing business down. EDI is a powerful tool in streamlining business processes and providing cost savings in the right environment.
So one might ask, "What is the wrong environment?" Good question. Too many times the consideration for using EDI does not go beyond the effort needed to get an EDI file in-house and possibly formatting a report to output some needed information from the data because a trading partner requires communication through standard EDI documents. Another situation may be the result of a legacy system that has been in place for many years with no one understanding what the magical "EDI box" really does other than it regularly outputs reports containing business critical information. From there a user might take that information and key in any orders and then call it a day and a job well done if they entered all the data correctly. In either case EDI has not proven its usefulness as a powerful and effective cost saving business tool.
Finding the "right" environment in which to implement EDI is not very difficult. It does require a little investment of time, a good understanding of internal business processes, and the right tools to make the most effective use of EDI within the corporation.
The time investment comes in the form of doing the research and understanding what documents a trading partners can work with and if those documents are used in sufficient quantity such that they consume a significant time to handle manually. A simple example of this is an automotive manufacturing delivery schedule (X12 862 or EDIFACT DELJIT). While receiving 1 or 2 on a weekly basis may require several hours to process manually, handling 20 or more of these documents becomes a significant process.
Understanding internal business processes is critical in order to adequately define business rules that are needed to correctly translate and process EDI. Knowing how key data elements are used within the company will help in configuration and support of the EDI process.
Ultimately, the most important piece in the equation is having the right tools available to make effective use of the EDI process and the data it provides. EnterpriseIQ and its integrated eCommerce module is such a tool. The eCommerce module is capable of processing both inbound and outbound transactions. Being integrated makes it possible to take inbound EDI data directly into the system and automatically create forecast schedules and firm sales orders and output order acknowledgements (855), shipping notices (856) and invoices (810) just to name just a few transactions. With the powerful MRP engine in EnterpriseIQ, the system can create work schedules and purchase requirements based on the data provided by the EDI transactions. Add the ability to take purchase requirements and generate outbound vendor purchase forecasts/orders (830 and 862) through the eCommerce module, EnterpriseIQ shows its strength. Another tool available within the EnterpriseIQ suite is EServer. This tool is used to completely automate the defined business process for handling EDI from start to finish. Specific actions can be defined to allow processing of acknowledgements, orders, notices, reports or any other requirements to effectively monitor and process the data flowing through the system. Utilizing EServer with the eCommerce module and the MRP engine allows EnterpriseIQ function seamlessly and efficiently within the supply chain while reducing the amount of time required handling manual processes, eliminating the chance for human induced errors, and keeping data and material flowing where it needs to.
Any company looking to streamline their processes and better fit into the supply chain should take the time to research how EDI might help them cut costs and become more efficient. While EDI may not be a fit for every company, knowing how they interface within the supply chain can provide valuable information and other opportunities to look for efficiencies.
Review how automotive supplier Nissen Chemitec America is utilizing eCommerce solutions by reading their case study.
Posted by Glenn Nowak on Tue, May 04, 2010 @ 10:45 AM
If you can't measure it you can't improve it?! How many times have we heard that before? But when we go into manufacturing companies looking for ERP systems and ask some of the basic questions, like "what is your on-time shipment accuracy?" or "what is your machine efficiency?" or "what is your daily cost of scrap?" we get blank stares or answers like "it's over 90% I think" or "it's in the 70 to 80% range I think" or "we don't have that much scrap." That would be like an ERP software company responding to the question of "how many of your customers meet the target go live date" with the answer "most of them". "Most" can mean a lot of things - 95%, 75% or 51% which is a big difference in the bottom line.
For most businesses today the difference in a couple of percentage points on machine efficiencies, OEE, or scrap rates can mean thousands of dollars per day. IQMS customer Plastic Components Inc. has detailed their costs to the point of knowing exactly how much profit they make - on every product they make - and conversely how much it costs for every piece of scrap they make. This information is published to the employees so that they can know and take ownership of exactly how much it costs when they make bad product. So instead of saying "this scrap is costing us money" they go to the chart and say this scrap cost us "x" number of dollars and we have to make "y" number of extra product to just break even. This type of accuracy is not only something that their employees understand but provides a more tangible target for success.
The PCI example is just one example of how a company can define their business metrics. The first step in the process is to determine which metrics are important to you as a manufacturer. Companies usually know what they want to measure already and most ERP software companies will have published sets of key performance indicators (KPIs) that you can use to select the most important metrics for your business.
Once you have selected the metrics you want to measure for your business, you need to set your benchmarks of where you are today. Unfortunately, in many cases the data may not be readily available in most ERP systems and therefore it becomes cumbersome and time consuming to gather the data. If you have an ERP system with the built in KPIs the process becomes simpler than if you have to gather the data from spreadsheets or other sources within your operations.
The next step is to make the objectives and results available to your team. In the case of PCI they published the metrics on bulletin boards on the shop floor so all their employees can see how well they are doing against their goals and how their contributions are affecting the bottom line of the company. Once your employees can see how their efforts make a difference within the company and the rewards of profitability - whether they are job security or performance bonuses - then you have truly achieved the goal of measuring for improvement.
For more information on PCI, please review their case study.