With Help from IQMS, Plastics Manufacturer Delivers As Promised
At Kaysun Corporation, the promise to customers is to provide products that are the highest quality at the lowest possible cost. As for many repetitive manufacturers, Kaysun's pursuit of a well-oiled supply chain is fueled by the demands of their industry. "In a lean, customer-centric industry like plastics, you can't afford to have unhappy customers," says Bruce Wendt, Kaysun president and COO. "Our growth within the plastics industry and into other value-added operations has been a direct product of our superior customer service."
That growth has transformed Kaysun from a small plastics injection molder, one of the first in the upper Midwest, to a large manufacturing, tooling and engineering firm with three divisions and plants in Kentucky and Wisconsin. EnterpriseIQ, the ERP II software system designed for plastics manufacturers, has been an integral part in Kaysun's drive to increase efficiency while exceeding customer expectations.
Better Service Starts with Better Manufacturing
Kaysun learned early on that the keys to winning and keeping customers are to manufacture efficiently and deliver products and services on time. Early in its growth phase, Kaysun invested heavily in supporting the smooth flow of material, product and tooling throughout its supply chain. They equipped their state-of the-art facilities in Wisconsin and Kentucky with strategically designed production lines, flow-through warehouses and the most efficient machinery available.
They had all the individual pieces in place, but the key or "glue" to keeping it all together was still missing: an enterprise and supply chain management software system that was easy-to-use but powerful and scalable enough to manage the operations of multiple plants. They needed a system that supports the smooth flow of information to and from the plant floor, warehouse, front office, customers and suppliers.
EnterpriseIQ: The Missing Link
After months of evaluating manufacturing software packages, Kaysun chose EnterpriseIQ, an integrated ERP II software system from IQMS. Key factors in the decision were IQMS' position as the market leader for plastics-specific software, the tight integration of the EnterpriseIQ modules and the ease of use and implementation of the system. "EnterpriseIQ meets all the requirements for all our plants, from the quote, through inventory, through production reporting, the ability to ship right out the door and track delivery to customers," says Wendt.
With EnterpriseIQ, production efficiency is maintained at Kaysun's plants by empowering employees to make intelligent decisions based on real-time information. EnterpriseIQ gives Kaysun executives, management and staff the tools they need to keep all operations running at peak efficiency:
Kaysun utilizes the integrated EnterpriseIQ modules that handle the following functions:
- Sales and Distribution, including quotes, orders, shipping management and customer management;
- Finance and Accounting, including invoicing, purchasing, G/L, AR, AP and the FRx financial reporting package;
- Manufacturing, including bill of materials (routings), inventory, work orders, scheduling, real-time production reporting and monitoring, RF bar-code scanning warehouse management, and preventative maintenance; and
- JobShopIQ, the integrated tooling and project management module with graphic scheduling and visual routing.
With EnterpriseIQ, Kaysun is using their labor force and other resources more efficiently, producing more and better parts for less money. Whether in the front office, in the field or on the plant floor, employees are making better business decisions with real-time access to information throughout the organization. As a result, Wendt says, "We've increased profits in all of our three integrated business units and labor as a percentage of sales has been on a constant decline since the implementation of EnterpriseIQ."
Wendt concludes: "With EnterpriseIQ, we make intelligent decisions regarding deployment of personnel and resource. The power of knowing exactly how our entire operations are running, in real-time, has made us a more nimble, responsive manufacturer."