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GED’s Hauppauge, New York, plant manufactures equipment for the vinyl window industry. “The New York plant is make-toorder and engineer-to-order,” said Business Integration Manager Tony Chalet. “At least 40 percent of the business there is made to order. This is because the fixturing on the equipment is very dependent on the type and size of extruded profiles that the window manufacturers use for their sash. “These vinyl extrusions are used primarily windows and doors. This means that we need to offer a base machine with attachments for the sash size and profile. These extrusions get so long that, in some cases, there are space limitations, and we may make a vertical version rather than a horizontal one.” Apart from accommodating GED’s mixed-mode business model, the company faces other complexities that led to its implementation of IFS Applications™ in early 2002. According to Chalet, the different operations at the Twinsburg and Hauppauge plants placed very different demands on an enterprise resources planning (ERP) system. “The problem in New York was supply chain visibility,” Chalet said. “Procurement was based on the surpervisors on the floor turning in requisitions and creating purchase orders. There was no MRP system. Labor hours and labor costs were also very difficult to track. We were using a manual time card system until we brought in IFS/Time Clock, which automated that reporting.” In Twinsburg, GED had long been running on a legacy ERP system, so the transition to IFS Applications was not as dramatic as was the case in Hauppauge. “With IFS, we did implement a cycle counting program and consignment inventory program,” Chalet said. “We automated our engineering release process through IFS Document Management™, and that allowed for collaboration in a potential series of operations to be done in sequence. With IFS Applications, our return material authorization (RMA) procedure was also improved. Some customers may have gotten a part from us that is under warranty, and our RMA procedures track these part disbursements.” The company continues to take advantage of IFS’ modular, step-bystep implementation approach by adding functionality as it sees fit. GED recently implemented IFS Sales and Marketing™, turning the project around quickly and on schedule. “The implementation of the sales and marketing tool was pretty well planned,” Chalet said. “We developed a project charter and named project team members with definite responsibilities, outlining the scope and project timeline for completion, and measured costs versus benefits at project completion. This was a 10 month implementation and included training from IFS, building the entire database, documenting procedures, and training internal end users. We started in July 2004 and were done in April 2005.” GED is considering the addition of more components to its IFS Applications suite. “We have our eyes on service management right now as well as on the configure-to-order module,” Chalet said. Facts about GED Integrated Solutions
GED Integrated Solutions manufactures fully integrated insulating glass and vinyl window and doorfabrication systems, including the revolutionary Intercept® i-3 IG spacer frame production system. The company’s i-3 platform works with LeanNet communications software to integrate every facet of a plant’s operation, increasing profit and getting orders out the door faster. GED’s commitment to innovation that addresses its customers’ needs is evidenced by the fact that 18 of the top 20 manufacturers use GED’s equipment and software solutions.
Benefits
- Support for mixed-mode manufacturing
- Flexible, economical step-bystep implementation
- Greater efficiency, betterinformed deicision making with real-time performance metrics
- Enhanced customer service
- Improved inventory management
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