Managing Automation - September 2007 - (Page 49)

and Honda’s 100% traceability requirement. The company realized a retur n on its $750,000 investment in software and services within 14 months of completing the project. As TOMASCO likes to say, the project has transformed a reactive company into a proactive one. The judges on Managing Automation’s Progressive Manufacturing awards panel were impressed by this overhaul and rapid return on investment. What stood out for one of the judges, Eric Mittelstadt, CEO of the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM), was TOMASCO’s “total focus on customer needs and requirements, and [ability to translate] them into significant and farreaching internal operational improvements.” It was the comprehensive nature of the project that drove TOMASCO into the High Achiever’s circle for Operational Excellence Mastery. “The Japanese have a saying that the company that succeeds is the one that does ever ything ver y well, not just one or two things,” Mittelstadt says. NO GAIN WITHOUT PAIN A look back at any successful project tends to gloss over the pain points. Staats recalls: “When we began actual implementation, our management team was so constrained by time and jaded by their prior system experiences that they were wary about investing too much into the implementation.” This meant that the project began with a small group of “super users,” leaving “a knowledge void in our middle management.” Buy-in did come, however, after users began to gain real-time visibility into the shop floor. “Our biggest headaches were changing those processes and procedures that had been shaped around the limitations of our prior systems,” Staats says. As the Plexus system kicked into gear, those time constraints eased, and more and more people got on-board. “We quickly re-engineered most of our processes to take advantage of the efficiencies that Plexus afforded,” he adds. The system overhaul has also brought a greater understanding of the interactions and interdependencies of the various functional areas, Staats says. “This has led to new ideas, suggestions, and projects to improve transactional efficiencies.” To manufacturing companies contemplating system overhauls, Staats has this to say: “I think the biggest mistake made is in the selection process methodology. I have seen many instances where an organization selects the wrong solution and then continues to pump re“Chances are that if sources — both financial and human — into your current system is trying to make it work. Don’t just invite the outdated and inadeknown vendors into your facility to demo their quate, almost anything products. Chances are that if your current syswill look good at first,” tem is outdated and inadequate, almost anysays Marty Staats, thing will look good at first.” assistant vice president, Narrow down the potential vendors into a short list, and “invite them on-site for demonBusiness Division. strations and really kick the tires,” he says. Also, make sure to have cross-functional representation on the evaluation team. Today, TOMASCO is cruising along in high-performance style. Noting that Plexus continuously develops new managingautomation.com functionality and tools, Staats says, “Our biggest challenge is to conRELATED ARTICLES: tinue to keep up.” He’s well-aware A Roadmap to Lean Success www.managingautomation.com/lean6 that new automation opportunities are likely waiting around the very Onward March www.managingautomation.com/2007poll next bend in the road: “The next area of focus will be more machine Creating the One Enterprise www.managingautomation.com/integrate interface and integration of the supply chain,” he says. ■ maonline Photo: Kevin Cross/ReduxPlus September 2007 49 http://managingautomation.com http://www.managingautomation.com/lean6 http://www.managingautomation.com/2007poll http://www.managingautomation.com/integrate

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - September 2007

Contents Take 1 Europe’s Automation Chiefs Upbeat on ’08 Business Prospects Vendor Coalition Pushes Human Element of SOA Wireless: Users Still Approaching with Caution One Year Later, IBM Shows Plan for MRO’s Maximo Study: More Work Needed to Lure Next-Gen Talent Executive Q&A Notes Cover Story: 2008 Companies to Watch Special Report: The 2007 Progressive Manufacturing High Achievers Progressive Manufacturer of the Year Business Model Mastery Innovation Mastery Customer Mastery Supply Network Mastery Data & Integration Mastery Education & Training Mastery Operational Excellence Mastery Leadership Mastery Transformation: Orchestrating the Multi-Tier Supply Network Integration: The Timeless Quest for Accurate Data Industries: Maintenance No Longer on Schedule Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - September 2007

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