Dual ERP and AIDC Implementation Offers Lessons and Results For Sunnen's Supply Chain Efficiencies
Installing an automated identification and data collection (AIDC) system while implementing an Oracle Applications™ enterprise resource planning (ERP) system may seem a daunting task, but can be done smoothly, as Sunnen Products Company (St. Louis) learned in mid-1999. Sunnen is a $100 million business and one of the world's leading manufacturers of precision honing equipment and related accessories for bore sizing and finishing for the industrial and automotive engine rebuilding markets. The company operates facilities worldwide, and its 800-plus employees serve more than 31,000 customers.
The company sought to upgrade its information management capabilities to better address both domestic and international business goals, and also address Y2K concerns with its existing legacy system. "We wanted a comprehensive, flexible software package capable of meeting our diverse needs in manufacturing, sales and marketing, and finance," according to Bob Blank, Sunnen project leader. "We also wanted supply chain integration capabilities so that Sunnen could easily exchange data with suppliers and customers." Sunnen selected the Oracle Applications 10.7 ERP system to meet these criteria. "This system gave us a tightly integrated set of modules that resolved the Y2K issue, and Oracle's leadership in e-business technologies made us comfortable with the system's flexibility long-term," says Blank.
Assuring users their ERP system investment is protected for many years is a priority for Oracle, according to Luc Tremblay, technical account manager for Oracle Corporation Canada in Montreal, QC. "Technology is changing rapidly. Oracle and its partners keeps an eye on the future to ensure the solution keeps working."
Supply Chain Imperative
To realize the full benefits of the new Oracle 10.7 ERP system — such as its cost accounting capabilities — it was important that Sunnen went live with data collection at the same time and that the AIDC solution work seamlessly with Oracle Applications. Cost and functionally were also factors. Among the 16 Oracle applications installed as part of the ERP system, work-in-process and inventory modules were implemented to assist tracking of 10,000 finished goods and to speed same-day order shipments. Sunnen had already been working with numerous suppliers to automate its supply chain, primarily in product inspection and inventory processes, and wanted to increase efficiencies even further. "There is a definite connection between supply chain integration and revenues," says Al Downs, Sunnen's materials manager. "Speed provides a payback. If orders through our phone lines fill up, customers can go elsewhere. If we can't fill the orders quickly enough, we're losing business. There is a tangible cost that starts at the supply end."
Sunnen first sought an AIDC supplier approved by Oracle through its Certified Applications Initiative and Oracle Partner Program. "Only a few suppliers met this initial criteria," Blank notes. "Oracle works with select partners to extend the usefulness of Oracle Applications at the level of detail needed for various applications, such as manufacturing and distribution," said Richard Cloutier, alliances partner manager, Oracle Corporation Canada. After reviewing products and services and visiting several user sites, Sunnen selected Epic Data - Connectware Products Group (Montreal, QC) for the complete AIDC hardware and software solution, from full system design and project management through AIDC software, bar code readers, printers and media. In detail, Sunnen's AIDC System consisted of a Sun Solaris 2.5.1 host system, Oracle 10.7 for ERP, Connectware for Oracle 10.7 as the AIDC software, Intermec Antares Trakers, Intermec 3400 printers, PCs, and scanners.
Epic Data, headquartered in Vancouver, BC, frequently serves manufacturers and other industry sectors as a one-source service solution, providing special expertise and counsel about integrating supply chain information with ERP systems. In the early 1990s, the company's Connectware Products Group pioneered the first software program to integrate bar coded data captured electronically with ERP system applications. By enabling data capture devices to communicate directly with ERP systems, the new software allowed dozens of manufacturing and distribution processes to be streamlined as never before. Moreover, companies could now maximize their ERP system investment. This proved true for Sunnen. "Epic Data's Connectware Products Group software enhances the ERP system by minimizing transmission time and data entry time," says Downs. "With one Connectware for Oracle™ transaction, we can quickly complete five Oracle transactions. We don't have to worry about paperwork, just completing our tasks."
Epic Data's software and the related hardware products that complete the AIDC solution are based on industry best-practices gleaned from its experience with more than 2,000 installations worldwide. Companies using Epic Data's services report more than 75% reductions in transaction processing time and manual data entry, and a virtual elimination of all data entry errors, among other improvements. "The software offered the functionality and flexibility we needed, and the company's close technical ties with Oracle demonstrated its commitment to grow and change with Oracle Applications," notes Sunnen's Downs. The Connectware Products Group has, for example, been first to develop and commercialize several software solutions for the latest Oracle systems.
Sunnen chose off-the-shelf Connectware for Oracle software for its warehouse operations, and, required a custom package for its shop floor. "We were able to take elements of the off-the-shelf package and easily modify it at a nominal cost," says Downs, noting the ability of its supplier to customize the application was important to Sunnen. He also notes the warehousing software functioned well, right out of the box. "After one day, the system ran smoothly. The warehouse people are quite adept, and the system has spurred them to develop even more new solutions."
Process Improvements
Manufacturing workflow at Sunnen was simplified with the new bar coding and mobile data capture hardware and software, with assistance from Epic Data engineers working both on- and off-site. Among the improvements are an automated labor tracking system that has eliminated work tickets. Instead, data is uploaded to Oracle's Open Move Transaction Interface table. Using this information, Oracle generates reports that provide a timely and accurate account of labor costs. The new AIDC system resolved problems with the size and complexity of multiple picking slips by automating these tasks. For example, employees now use an improved wave-picking method from a vehicle-mounted user interface installed on a "man aboard" system. The lifts are secured to tracks and employees pick and scan up and down, left and right, through aisles of product locations.
Tasks for warehouse personnel have also been combined. Parts are now picked and stock is issued simultaneously. "Before, picks were posted in batches, with a time delay of three to four hours. Now, it takes five minutes," explains Downs, adding that pickers can concurrently analyze stock inaccuracies. The speed and accuracy of the new system puts stock level and other inventory information into the hands of those that need it. And at Sunnen, "inventory timing is mandatory."
"The AIDC system has definitely changed our processes and proficiency with the technology is high," Downs says. With no need for a separate posting staff, Sunnen has reduced, through transfers and normal attrition, five positions from the manufacturing and inventory staff. According to Downs, in one year this staff reduction more than amortized the AIDC system's cost.
For Sunnen, having one source for AIDC software, hardware and support services was another choice in favor of a simpler, more efficient way to manage its AIDC system. "I did not want to have to call three suppliers to solve a problem. Epic Data's Connectware Products Group understands all the components and sees to it that any difficulty is resolved," says Downs.
Strong rapport and ease of working with its suppliers were important considerations for Sunnen's choice of ERP and AIDC providers, as well. "We were extremely pleased with the level of expertise, training and professionalism the Oracle and Epic Data personnel brought to the project," says Downs. Now that its ERP system is up-to-date and its AIDC system has increased supply chain efficiencies, Sunnen is looking ahead. "Web-enabled supply chain integration is in our future," notes Downs. "We not only want to speed our internal processes - eliminating receiving redundancies and the like - but long-term, we want to keep finding ways to improve our ability to share information to advantage with both suppliers and customers."
For now, Downs offers this advice to companies implementing such major changes: "Analyze your processes very carefully, before you buy. Step back and map the project against your goal, or you could be spending money needlessly."
Oracle Applications™ is a trademark of Oracle Corporation (Redwood Shores, CA)
Connectware for Oracle™ is a trademark of Connectware Solutions, Inc., Montreal, QC, Canada.
The company sought to upgrade its information management capabilities to better address both domestic and international business goals, and also address Y2K concerns with its existing legacy system. "We wanted a comprehensive, flexible software package capable of meeting our diverse needs in manufacturing, sales and marketing, and finance," according to Bob Blank, Sunnen project leader. "We also wanted supply chain integration capabilities so that Sunnen could easily exchange data with suppliers and customers." Sunnen selected the Oracle Applications 10.7 ERP system to meet these criteria. "This system gave us a tightly integrated set of modules that resolved the Y2K issue, and Oracle's leadership in e-business technologies made us comfortable with the system's flexibility long-term," says Blank.
Assuring users their ERP system investment is protected for many years is a priority for Oracle, according to Luc Tremblay, technical account manager for Oracle Corporation Canada in Montreal, QC. "Technology is changing rapidly. Oracle and its partners keeps an eye on the future to ensure the solution keeps working."
Supply Chain Imperative
To realize the full benefits of the new Oracle 10.7 ERP system — such as its cost accounting capabilities — it was important that Sunnen went live with data collection at the same time and that the AIDC solution work seamlessly with Oracle Applications. Cost and functionally were also factors. Among the 16 Oracle applications installed as part of the ERP system, work-in-process and inventory modules were implemented to assist tracking of 10,000 finished goods and to speed same-day order shipments. Sunnen had already been working with numerous suppliers to automate its supply chain, primarily in product inspection and inventory processes, and wanted to increase efficiencies even further. "There is a definite connection between supply chain integration and revenues," says Al Downs, Sunnen's materials manager. "Speed provides a payback. If orders through our phone lines fill up, customers can go elsewhere. If we can't fill the orders quickly enough, we're losing business. There is a tangible cost that starts at the supply end."
Sunnen first sought an AIDC supplier approved by Oracle through its Certified Applications Initiative and Oracle Partner Program. "Only a few suppliers met this initial criteria," Blank notes. "Oracle works with select partners to extend the usefulness of Oracle Applications at the level of detail needed for various applications, such as manufacturing and distribution," said Richard Cloutier, alliances partner manager, Oracle Corporation Canada. After reviewing products and services and visiting several user sites, Sunnen selected Epic Data - Connectware Products Group (Montreal, QC) for the complete AIDC hardware and software solution, from full system design and project management through AIDC software, bar code readers, printers and media. In detail, Sunnen's AIDC System consisted of a Sun Solaris 2.5.1 host system, Oracle 10.7 for ERP, Connectware for Oracle 10.7 as the AIDC software, Intermec Antares Trakers, Intermec 3400 printers, PCs, and scanners.
Epic Data, headquartered in Vancouver, BC, frequently serves manufacturers and other industry sectors as a one-source service solution, providing special expertise and counsel about integrating supply chain information with ERP systems. In the early 1990s, the company's Connectware Products Group pioneered the first software program to integrate bar coded data captured electronically with ERP system applications. By enabling data capture devices to communicate directly with ERP systems, the new software allowed dozens of manufacturing and distribution processes to be streamlined as never before. Moreover, companies could now maximize their ERP system investment. This proved true for Sunnen. "Epic Data's Connectware Products Group software enhances the ERP system by minimizing transmission time and data entry time," says Downs. "With one Connectware for Oracle™ transaction, we can quickly complete five Oracle transactions. We don't have to worry about paperwork, just completing our tasks."
Epic Data's software and the related hardware products that complete the AIDC solution are based on industry best-practices gleaned from its experience with more than 2,000 installations worldwide. Companies using Epic Data's services report more than 75% reductions in transaction processing time and manual data entry, and a virtual elimination of all data entry errors, among other improvements. "The software offered the functionality and flexibility we needed, and the company's close technical ties with Oracle demonstrated its commitment to grow and change with Oracle Applications," notes Sunnen's Downs. The Connectware Products Group has, for example, been first to develop and commercialize several software solutions for the latest Oracle systems.
Sunnen chose off-the-shelf Connectware for Oracle software for its warehouse operations, and, required a custom package for its shop floor. "We were able to take elements of the off-the-shelf package and easily modify it at a nominal cost," says Downs, noting the ability of its supplier to customize the application was important to Sunnen. He also notes the warehousing software functioned well, right out of the box. "After one day, the system ran smoothly. The warehouse people are quite adept, and the system has spurred them to develop even more new solutions."
Process Improvements
Manufacturing workflow at Sunnen was simplified with the new bar coding and mobile data capture hardware and software, with assistance from Epic Data engineers working both on- and off-site. Among the improvements are an automated labor tracking system that has eliminated work tickets. Instead, data is uploaded to Oracle's Open Move Transaction Interface table. Using this information, Oracle generates reports that provide a timely and accurate account of labor costs. The new AIDC system resolved problems with the size and complexity of multiple picking slips by automating these tasks. For example, employees now use an improved wave-picking method from a vehicle-mounted user interface installed on a "man aboard" system. The lifts are secured to tracks and employees pick and scan up and down, left and right, through aisles of product locations.
Tasks for warehouse personnel have also been combined. Parts are now picked and stock is issued simultaneously. "Before, picks were posted in batches, with a time delay of three to four hours. Now, it takes five minutes," explains Downs, adding that pickers can concurrently analyze stock inaccuracies. The speed and accuracy of the new system puts stock level and other inventory information into the hands of those that need it. And at Sunnen, "inventory timing is mandatory."
"The AIDC system has definitely changed our processes and proficiency with the technology is high," Downs says. With no need for a separate posting staff, Sunnen has reduced, through transfers and normal attrition, five positions from the manufacturing and inventory staff. According to Downs, in one year this staff reduction more than amortized the AIDC system's cost.
For Sunnen, having one source for AIDC software, hardware and support services was another choice in favor of a simpler, more efficient way to manage its AIDC system. "I did not want to have to call three suppliers to solve a problem. Epic Data's Connectware Products Group understands all the components and sees to it that any difficulty is resolved," says Downs.
Strong rapport and ease of working with its suppliers were important considerations for Sunnen's choice of ERP and AIDC providers, as well. "We were extremely pleased with the level of expertise, training and professionalism the Oracle and Epic Data personnel brought to the project," says Downs. Now that its ERP system is up-to-date and its AIDC system has increased supply chain efficiencies, Sunnen is looking ahead. "Web-enabled supply chain integration is in our future," notes Downs. "We not only want to speed our internal processes - eliminating receiving redundancies and the like - but long-term, we want to keep finding ways to improve our ability to share information to advantage with both suppliers and customers."
For now, Downs offers this advice to companies implementing such major changes: "Analyze your processes very carefully, before you buy. Step back and map the project against your goal, or you could be spending money needlessly."
Oracle Applications™ is a trademark of Oracle Corporation (Redwood Shores, CA)
Connectware for Oracle™ is a trademark of Connectware Solutions, Inc., Montreal, QC, Canada.