Integrex
ERP creates dynamic environment for electronics contract manufacturer
Overview
Integrex, an electronics contract manufacturer specializing in high
mix, low volume circuit board assemblies, faced a daunting challenge. In
only a few short months, the company needed to launch a brand new
production facility and implement a business infrastructure that would
support a rapidly growing customer base and provide them with a
competitive advantage.
The Challenge
Integrex provides an outsourcing solution to other manufacturing
companies that do not want to tie up assets and overhead in electronics
manufacturing, but still need high quality, complex assemblies. To meet
the demands of manufacturers in the industrial systems, medical
instruments, networking systems and telecommunications industries,
Integrex built a state-of-the-art Surface Mount Technology (SMT)
production facility in Bothell, Washington. And, to pull it all together,
to manage accounting and manufacturing activities, keep their own costs
down and provide flexibility in meeting customer demands, they needed an
infrastructure.
The Solution
Integrex selected Intuitive ERP by Intuitive Manufacturing Systems for
material planning, procurement, inventory and production management, shop
floor scheduling and general accounting functions. A team consisting of
members of executive management and key personnel from materials and IT
selected Intuitive ERP after reviewing several other ERP systems. They
based the decision on five major criteria: production and inventory
control functionality, ease of use, integration of accounting and
manufacturing functions, system scalability and technical support
services.
“Because we provide turnkey operations to our customers, we needed a
business system that would give us control over our operations and support
our competitive advantage in the area of flexibility,” Volberding said.
“We have a very dynamic production environment so bringing in the right
material, managing the shop floor and controlling inventory are very
important elements of our business. We selected Intuitive ERP because it
had the functionality we needed, a high level of ease-of-use, and it met
our budgetary objectives.”
Integrex’s Results
Many of the products Integrex builds have very complex bills of
material and can contain thousands of components. According to Keith
Gitchel, Vice President of Materials, it is critical that they manage
their inventory in order to maintain a cost advantage over competitors.
“The inventory and planning functions of Intuitive ERP, including
integration of forecasts, detailed MRP analysis, vendor management
reporting and inventory control, provide the information we need to make
the right business decisions quickly and accurately,” Gitchel said. “That
gives us flexibility and control.”
Integrating accounting and manufacturing was also a high priority for
the company. General ledger, product costing capabilities and management
reporting were all major requirements.
“Intuitive ERP certainly met most of our needs right out of the box,”
said Rich Whitten, Vice President of Finance. “We only had to make some
small modifications, but they were relatively quick and easy to make. The
system gives me the tools to manage standard accounting processes but also
gives the management team a high level view of key business indicators.”
From an IT perspective, Intuitive ERP also aligns well with Integrex’s
business strategy. Integrex made the decision early on to pursue an ERP
solution with Microsoft technology. The decision was based on expectations
of cost, scalability, performance and ease of administration. Built from
the ground up with Microsoft technology, Intuitive ERP is easy to
implement and maintain, and requires little training. Even though Integrex
was in the process of setting up its network infrastructure and plant
facilities, implementation took less than 60 days, thanks to Intuitive ERP
Import Wizards and the product’s ease of use.
“We were very pleased with the implementation process,” stated Richard
Kellerer, Manager of IT Services. “In fact, Intuitive ERP implementation
only took about 60 days. It would have taken even less time if we would
have had all of the network infrastructure in place.”
Integrex’s Reaction
As a dynamic young company, Integrex needed a system that would help
them hit the ground running and keep up with their aggressive growth
plans.
“We are competing—and winning—against very large and well established
competitors,” said Integrex CEO and President Ted Volberding. “We win
because of a focus on quality and excellence in our operations. Those two
elements allow us to be extremely efficient, and provide the ability to
respond quickly to customer needs.
“We were looking for a system that satisfied our immediate needs and
could grow with us as we expand our customer base,” Volberding said. “We
looked at a lot of systems and Intuitive ERP provided the broadest
functionality and the greatest ease of use. There is a lot of competition
in the electronics industry and Intuitive ERP supports our strategic
initiatives and helps us get the most out of our resources.” |
Challenges