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by Beth Stackpole, Contributing Editor Posted on Wednesday, November 15, 2006 12:53:00 PM   | Abstract: | Manufacturer of metal products have long been averse to packaged enterprise software, convinced that no off-the-shelf application could meet the industry's unique need for elements of both discrete and process manufacturing. Driven by customer demands and a desire to get out from under heavy support burdens, however, metals manufacturers are finally beginning to embrace package applications. And vendors are tailoring their products to meet the needs of metals manufacturers. |
For years, Gibraltar Industries walked the tightrope that many manufacturers in the metals industry face: The $1.4 billion company wanted to invest in packaged enterprise applications that could help it improve operational efficiencies, scale more effectively, and deliver better customer service, but it couldn't find software that fit the way it did business. Like most companies in the metals supply chain, Buffalo, NY-based Gibraltar makes products that are transformed through a variety of fabrication processes, turning basic forms like coiled steel or slabs into different shapes, parts, or products. It's essentially a hybrid operation, combining features of discrete and process manufacturing. Traditional enterprise applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and even manufacturing resource planning (MRP) are not designed to handle that kind of manufacturing. Instead, most ERP systems are oriented around an inventory management system based on discrete, functional parts. "We stayed with proprietary solutions because our shop floor and manufacturing processes had a lot of very specific requirements that didn't lend themselves to basic MRP functionality," explains Dave McCartney, Gibraltar's corporate vice president of information services. "A proprietary system was the best way to get specific to the metals manufacturing process." At the time, that may very well have been the case. Yet, Gibraltar's decision to go custom spawned its own set of problems. Like many companies in its sector, Gibraltar found itself faced with a mixed bag of systems -- at one point, 19 homegrown and highly customized ERP systems running throughout its different divisions. Maintaining an IT development staff to support and adapt them was a growing burden. Moreover, the applications didn't support the kind of sophisticated capabilities and real-time information delivery that Gibraltar and its customers were demanding. Eventually, Gibraltar was able to find a packaged ERP system that was a match. The company's Processed Metals Group in May 2005 began rolling out Axiom, an ERP suite designed specifically for the metals and wire and cable industries and available from Axis Computer Systems Inc., which was acquired by Made2Manage Systems Inc. this past February. Other Gibraltar divisions are following suit, and the company is now embracing a variety of other packaged enterprise applications, including a cash flow performance management application from Aceva Technologies. "To the extent we could standardize on packaged applications, we could leverage a relationship with the software vendor and avoid having pyramids of programmers doing development," McCartney says. "Now, we can leverage IT resources on value-added applications, like customer-facing systems or those for the supply chain." After years of wrestling with mismatched, off-the-shelf software and plunging millions of dollars into failed ERP deployments, Gibraltar and its metals industry peers are starting to take another look at packaged enterprise applications. A fresh wave of specially tuned software for this sector is now available from mid-size players like Axis and Ross Systems Inc., as well as from giants like SAP AG. Vendors such as Steelman Software Solutions Inc. have also surfaced, delivering specialized enterprise applications and business services specifically for this group. Coinciding with the emergence of these new, vertical, off-the-shelf applications is a change in the mindset of metals manufacturers, who are now more inclined to invest in business information systems. The emergence of the global economy -- particularly with China as a consumer of raw materials -- has boosted metals prices dramatically, giving manufacturers in this space the capital to expand beyond their traditional investments in production and shop-floor technology. Page : 1 2 3 ... NEXT |