Manufacturing Engineering Module (MEM)
Community Products MEM
Maximizing Visibility With a Highly Modular Customized ERP
How Orases helped Community Products Save Time and Decreased Learning Curves
Community Playthings manufactures quality maple furniture, toys, and equipment for early childhood settings. Rifton Equipment is a leading producer of adaptive equipment for people with disabilities, manufacturing equipment for special needs children and adults. All equipment is manufactured and configured to order.
Each factory (shop) has a shop foreman and an assistant foreman who is responsible to see that the daily work gets completed. Each factory also has at least one Design Engineer, Process Engineer, and QA. These engineers complete the work in the PMAN system which regulates the MES system and describes how the goods are manufactured.
Client
Community Products
Project Name
Manufacturing Engineering Module
The Challenge
System Inefficiencies Hindering Progress
CP had been relying on a robust legacy software system, developed in Windows programming languages, which had served its purpose well over the years. However, as Community Products expanded, it became clear that they needed a modern and maintainable system to enhance data visibility and streamline increasingly time-consuming part workflows.
The process engineers (PEs) were highly familiar with the intricacies of the current system but were facing challenges due to the absence of more modern tools to improve efficiency. While they adeptly managed data through manual spreadsheets and other traditional methods, the system largely depended on the deep, specialized knowledge of the process engineers (PEs). This presented challenges in scaling the team and reducing the learning curve for new hires.
CP recognized the necessity for an upgraded system that could support their evolving business needs, facilitate easier use of their system to manage processes, and provide more visibility into the data.
Solution
A distributed, modular system for scalable growth
The solution involved enhancing data visibility significantly, moving away from a static spreadsheet-like format to a more interconnected and accessible system hosted on Azure. This improvement aimed to connect the dots between the thousands of workflows and understand where an individual part is during any part of the building process. The process engineers and new hires had more clarity and a view of how workflows were interconnected in a more bite-sized form. Thus decreasing the learning curve with the new MEM module.
The MEM integration allowed for interoperability between old and new systems, using the existing data to build this new module. If an update is made to the legacy system, it will be replicated on the new MEM module. Orases facilitated the alignment of processes and data flows, utilizing existing data to reconstruct and enhance the system effectively. Now any team member can go in and edit, create, and navigate workflows with ease.
Solution Features:
- Deliver comprehensive data insights by creating visualized workflows, which illustrate each part’s manufacturing journey, detailing the manufacturing process and the transitions through and between facilities.
- Update the legacy system to be user-friendly, allowing a larger talent pool.
- Management of work centers and processes to be more efficient and easier to access and update.
- Improve user experience that provides the process engineers (PEs) with the tools to do their job efficiently.
Maximizing workcenters and process efficiency with a highly modernized ERP.
By the Numbers:
Zero developer turnover over the past three years on this project.
The new MEM module manages over 20,000 workflows and 42,000 parts.
Modernized the legacy system from the 1990s to reduce PE dependence, enabling any team member to use the new MEM module.
Results
The finished, highly modernized modular ERP system enabled the organization to maximize its productivity at each part of the workflow. Orases has worked hard to continually manage the new MEM to allow for ease of use and visibility of data. Overall, this will allow Community Products to increase productivity and allow any team member the ability to use the new system.
Due to the continuous improvements and communication between Orases and Community Products, there are over 20,000 workflows and 42,000 parts managed in the MEM module.
This module eliminates the need for specific team members to find the data needed. Now, there are new features to organize and manage each flow, search for parts, and manage manufacturing processes. Because this module is easily scalable to their needs, it will continue to grow with them as Community Products add more workflows and processes.
