J & H Machine Tools Inc

Component-based service management solution frees US machine tools supplier to develop and grow.

Based in Charlotte, N.C., USA, J & H Machine Tools, Inc. is a value-added distributor of machine tools. The company, founded in 1979, sells to customers ranging in size from small job shops to major corporations such as Saturn, Porter Cable, and hydroelectric plants. With a staff of 75 generating annual sales of up to US$ 50 million, J & H Machine Tools, Inc. also offers its customers engineering, installation and turnkey service. The implementation of IFS solutions for service management and project delivery has given the company an entirely new perspective on its organization, providing its service organization with accurate real time information for the first time and enabling projects to be managed with greater efficiency. With component-based IFS Applications, J & H Machine Tools, Inc. also knows that as it expands and new needs arise, it simply adds on the modules it requires to support this growth without disrupting operations.

Configurator key

According to J&H Information Systems Supervisor Robby Johnson, the ability to easily configure complex production lines for customers to achieve specific end-product results—and use that configuration to drive orders of the correct machine tools—drives efficiencies from the sales process into accounting and beyond. 

“It was becoming more competitive in this industry,” Johnson said. “When you are buying machines that are manufactured in Japan, the lead times can be long and hard to predict. So the more exact your order and the fewer changes you need to make on that order, the quicker our customer  can get up and running once they get that machine.” 

Rules-based configurators automatically check products being ordered for use together for compatibility and the ability to meet certain specifications. 

“The configurator was a big advantage,” Johnson said. “The rulesbased configurator makes it easier for many of our sales consultants to complete relatively complex tasks. They can build a quote document using the configurator and hand that to a customer. When the quote is accepted, that same document is entered into the accounting package as an order. 

“Previously, we had a text-based accounting system, and we would have to create an order in that system and then spit that out as a text file. We had a macro in Microsoft® Word that would import that text document and create the document that we would hand off to the customer.” 

When J&H implemented IFS Applications, configurator functionality was relatively new. It came through an application that IFS had purchased and later sold while hanging on to the functionality as a component in IFS Applications.

“We are actually using the old Exactium offline configurator to build the machine that is quoted to a customer with any accessories and options,” Johnson said. “Once that becomes an order, it generates a text document that gets sent into IFS. The sales request starts off in IFS/Sales & Marketing™ and then goes into Exactium, and from Exactium gets send back into IFS Financials™ when it becomes an order. The integration between the two is really very tight.” 

In April 2000, IFS sold Exactium to Atlanta-based Pivital Corp., licensing back the configurator functionality, which appeared as part of the core IFS Applications package in IFS Applications 2004 and later versions.

Serious service management

Apart from a consultative selling approach bolstered by the rules-based configurator, J&H distinguishes itself through proactive service management, using IFS Applications to deliver enterprise asset management (EAM) thinking to its customers. 

“The service management piece was a big reason we went with IFS,” Johnson said. “It was not a third-party product but rather a core part of IFS Applications.” 

Immediately after machinery is delivered to a customer, J&H personnel use IFS Applications to track activity associated with that machine and leverage the information to improve service and uptime. 

“When a machine is ordered and it is delivered, that machine is entered into IFS for that customer as a functional object,” Johnson said. “When the machine is installed, a work order is created and tied into that functional object. We have people who man a phone line and when they start a work order, that is entered in. Then if necessary a service tech is sent out and his or her time is tied into that work order.” 

Johnson added that J&H uses IFS Applications to track the parts inventory in each service van. Each van is treated as its own warehouse. Data in the service management tool delivers value long after service is performed. “

It gives us a way to track what is going on with that machine,” Johnson said. “Our phone techs can see closed work orders on a machine. They can also see what has gone on with similar machines—what has been done to solve that problem. Prior to this knowledge base, we did not have a way to see how much a customer had spent on a certain machine.” 

Service management data also is handy during the sales process. 

“When we are going back into a customer that has bought machines before, we can run a report of all the service work they have done in the past,” Johnson said. “We can show them that our machine might be a little more expensive than a competitor’s, but we can give them a good idea of how little they might spend on service versus what they would spend with a lesser-quality machine.” 

About J&H Machine Tools, Inc.

Founded in 1979, J&H Machine Tools is the preeminent distributor in the southeastern United States of products specifically for precision machining and precision inspection. J&H specializes in turnkey solutions. The company has locations in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Brentwood, Tennessee.

Benefits

• Improved service management and customer service
• Easy configuration of complex products
• Co-existence with third-party software
• Improved uptime 
• Faster quote-to-order
• Better tracking of parts inventory

Software

IFS Service Management
IFS Distribution 
IFS Financials
IFS/Project
IFS/Sales Configurator