Multiple Affiliate Management through Global Shop Solutions  

Read Part 1 Here

Calnetix’ growth has been so dynamic that it nearly tripled its employee base in 18 months. The growing pains associated with rapid expansion also cropped up in executive management. Controlling time and attendance, costing, scheduling, and other factors, was much easier with 20 or 30 employees rather than 90 or 95. Potential problems are compounded exponentially as affiliates spin-off and come online.

Working across multiple databases with dozens of schedules out of sync defined the need for a single ERP system capable of bringing all of the data under one single-view “home base” control. For Calnetix’ executive management, the new GS Dashboard is the best tool they’ve found for centralized ERP and MRP control.

Calnetix has continued its success due to the flexibility Global Shop’s ERP system has afforded them over the years.

According to Calnetix CFO Ian Hart, the flexibility built into Global Shop interfaces very well with (more…)

Calnetix-R&D and ERP

If you think that keeping a major manufacturing operation running smoothly from day to day is a hard thing to do, try running four major manufacturing operations at the same time and under one roof. This is the challenge for Calnetix, a Cerritos, California, company that is a world leader in developing and manufacturing high speed electric motors and generators.

Much of the technology that Calnetix uses in their products is the result of their own significant research and development (R&D) efforts into the development of frictionless magnetic bearing technologies, known as high-speed permanent magnet radial-flux machines. The result has been the (more…)

Global Shop’s Configurator Calculates Millions of Design Options
       
Read part 1 here 

Martin explains, “The Global Shop Configurator helps our customers to choose from the millions of different options available to them within our manufacturing services. And, it’s all automated-automated pricing, automated part number, automated description, automated router.

In other words, we’ve made our process as automated as possible-from the order entry on out, and that has given us great flexibility in what we can provide to our customers. Global Shop has elevated customer service for us to a niched marketing capability. With the Global Shop Configurator, we exceed (more…)

21st Century ERP Preserves American Craftsman Tradition

They say that a personal approach to finely-crafted wood furniture is a lost art in the United States. In a world of plastic and particleboard, the centuries-old tradition of taking a piece of American hardwood like Appalachian oak or Pennsylvania cherry, and turning it into an heirloom chair or table is simply not worth the effort.

Well, don’t tell that to the Martin family of Meyerstown, Pennsylvania. Nestled into the rolling Amish farmlands of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Martins have been producing some of the best solid wood furniture made in America for over 20 years.

However, theirs is neither a typical industrial job shop, nor a sleepy backyard shed woodworking operation. Martin’s Wood Products (MWP) is a highly sophisticated custom furniture manufacturer whose lineage of family management has kept pace with the technological and enterprise resource planning (ERP) advances of the 21st century. According to MWP’s General Manager James Martin, one reason they’ve been able to (more…)

Global Shop Solutions Means Customer Care
 
Read Part 1 Here.

Continuous improvement is a hallmark of the Global Shop approach to ERP. In their headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas, Global Shop research and development works every day to produce cutting-edge modules that will help the modern manufacturer realize enhanced profits and greater management efficiencies.

One recent feature coming out of R&D is the Dashboard, and this, along with the various other modules, is what sets Global Shop apart in the world of ERP software systems. “We do use the Dashboard constantly, and it has been a really nice added feature for us in the Global Shop software. It’s easy to use and a key place to go to get quick metrics on the spot,” Miller relates. In fact, MWM has (more…)

Miller Welding and Machine Manages Growth with Less Manpower

The year was 1963. The Dodgers, behind the arm of Sandy Koufax, beat the defending champion Yankees for the World Series, while the first Super Bowl wouldn’t be played for another four years. The astronaut, Gordon Cooper, became the first human to spend more than a day in space, and the last American to fly there alone. And, there wasn’t a single Toyota to be found anywhere in the United States. A new America was in transition, maturing in the age of postwar prosperity. It was also the year David Miller opened the doors to the Miller Welding and Machine Company (MWM).

Today, over four decades later, David still opens the doors to the shop, usually showing up before his wife, his five children and five grandchildren who also work there alongside him. With three generations of Millers involved in the day-to-day functions of the company, the family maintains a solid foundation of American working tradition, while also (more…)

Wilshire Precision Proves the Long Term Advantage of Using Global Shop Solutions ERP Software

Read Part 1 here.

Fast and Flexible Customer Resource

To compete in an ever-widening global economy, manufacturers today must be proactive. Shortened lead times and reduced margins mean that, more and more, customers are looking for shops that respond to their changing needs—and quickly. Global Shop has helped Wilshire become a fast and flexible resource for their customers. With Global Shop’s real-time data displays, Wilshire can make changes to orders on the fly and without delay, relaying those changes throughout the shop with the touch of a button.

Tom points out that this is one of the main reasons for Wilshire’s competitive edge in the marketplace. “One thing we really like about Global Shop is that when we are quoting a job, we’re able to take the estimate and the work that’s created on the order entry and merge the two together as a work order—it happens within milliseconds. And, if there’s any modifications in the work order while the job is running, we can go back into the original estimate and be able to make changes there—dimensional changes, add-on inspection points, and so forth—it’s all there for the next time we run the job.”

The flexibility that Global Shop brings to Wilshire is a plus for their IT staff. Having the capability to not only process orders, but to provide on-going controls for both the database and the department functions means that IT has much more time for proactive technology innovations that lead to efficiencies. Dana Ullerich, who handles IT at Wilshire, praises the synergy provided throughout the plant by the Global Shop system. “Global Shop is great because it interconnects the whole shop as the central communication point for all of us here. Everything’s related, everything’s connected. While some shops are using completely different systems for (more…)

Wilshire Precision Proves the Long Term Advantage of Using Global Shop Solutions ERP Software

When Wilshire Precision opened their doors for business in 1954, they could not have imagined the manufacturing software tools that they use today. For Wilshire President Tom Lewis, this is the bottom line: “The two main things that our customers care most about are the quality of the part and the fact that it’s there on time. Since implementing Global Shop Solutions, Wilshire’s grown 1,200% with 99.4% on-time delivery and a quality rating that is close to near-perfect.”

Through decades of machine shop demands in times of war and peace, as improvements in shop floor management occurred, Wilshire was quick to adapt to the changes necessary to always keep a step ahead of their competition. Today, Wilshire is a prime government and private industry contractor for high quality aviation and automotive parts, as well as critical research and development projects. They have proven their mettle as a machine shop that continually exceeds customer expectations.

Of course, in manufacturing “exceeding customer expectations” is much easier said than done—especially when your operation has grown as extensively as Wilshire’s. From what was once a small general machine shop in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the company is now a (more…)