Holland Co.

Looking for ways to improve efficiency and profitability, Holland Co. hired a consultant to perform a top-to-bottom assessment of the business. The consultant’s findings made it clear that an integrated business solution should be a part of Holland’s strategic plans. “The report listed 14 points for improvement,” said Jim Tieri, Holland Co.’s IT Director. “And of those, nine had to do with the lack of an integrated ERP system.” Holland first considered upgrading its legacy systems but quickly realized that its existing software could not provide the integrated solution that it needed.

The Solution

After exploring the alternatives, Holland’s management chose an integrated business solution from IFS.

“The IFS solution was simply the best, most well-rounded package we could find,” Tieri said.

Because the company provides contract welding services to railroads as well as manufactures parts and equipment, Holland was especially interested in IFS’ industry-leading service management solution.

“The service management module—particularly its capabilities for dynamic scheduling of people and equipment out in the field—was the major reason we chose IFS,” Tieri said.

When the go-live date arrived, the most noteworthy aspect of the implementation was that it was virtually a nonevent.

“We went live without fanfare, and with no disruption to our business,” Tieri said.

Easier, visible, consistent

Almost immediately, Holland began realizing efficiencies from the IFS solution, such as shortening the monthly reconcilation of inventory and eliminating the use of spreadsheets to track certain data.

But the real benefits of IFS became apparent when the company signed a multiyear, multimillion-dollar welding contract that required the building of four mobile welders for a major customer. A mobile welder is a truck that can travel either by highway or by rail to provide welding services to railroads.

Although the contract was good news for Holland, it presented a tremendous challenge because, at first, it did not appear that the company had the capacity to build the mobile welders by the customer’s deadline. Each mobile welder has a complex product structure, with thousands of parts, hundreds of assemblies, and a huge bill of materials.

“We were under an extremely aggressive schedule to get the trucks out,” Tieri said. “We had to do it in four months, and we had never built one in less than six. Everyone said there was no way we could do it.”

The project was quite a test for Holland’s new enterprise system, but IFS Applications was up to the task. The new software was able to handle a variety of processes that had been performed manually, such as tracking material against the project and deciding whether to make or buy parts.

“Before IFS, we would go through a 100-page document to decide what to build or buy, which took a week or more,” Tieri said. “Purchasing was then manually entered into the system. Finally, we had to hope the parts arrived on time because we had no tool to track whether they had arrived. And when they did arrive, the receiving department had no idea what the parts were actually for.”

By implementing an MRP system that performs these tasks automatically, the company has realized enormous efficiencies. Processes that once took several weeks now take half a day, resulting in shorter lead times, more satisfied customers, and improved profits.

“We were actually ahead of schedule in delivering the mobile welders,” Tieri said. “That alone saved us enough money to pay for the IFS system. In retrospect, the general manager of our welding business unit flatly stated that we wouldn’t have stood a chance without IFS.”

Instead of being the bearer of bad news, Tieri said he actually gets an occasional pat on the back from management and board members.

“It used to be that every quarter when I went to the board of directors, I was the guy with the bullseye on his chest,” Tieri said. “More than one board member felt that we were overspending on enterprise software.”

Today, with proven payback from the IFS system, both management and board members are seeing things differently. At the last board meeting, the company’s general managers brought glowing reports of their experiences with IFS.

“One of the board members looked at me and said, ‘This is kind of a lovefest. Did you pay people to say these things?’” Tieri said. “But, of course, I didn’t—they were just telling it like it is.”

Recently, the company underwent a major audit by its external auditing firm.
“It was the first time we had gone through an audit with the new system,” Tieri said. “They were really digging under the covers.”

At the end of the audit, both the company and its new enterprise software system received a clean bill of health. In fact, the detailed information provided by the IFS system uncovered new ways for the company to save money.

Holland’s next step will be to add IFS’ web portals. Functioning like a digital dashboard, the portals will give management instant, point-and-click access to key performance measurements, making it possible to further enhance the company’s profitability.

Facts about Holland Co.

Holland Co. is a pioneer in the railway supply industry for freight car components. The Crete, Illinois-based company is also the world leader in the market for electric flash-butt welding systems and track testing using efficient road rail vehicles.

Software

IFS Manufacturing™, IFS Distribution™, IFS Financials™, IFS Engineering™, IFS Applications™ for Service Management, IFS Human Resources™, IFS eLearning™

Hardware

Dell® PowerEdge®, dual 700 MHz Intel® Xeon™ processors, 4GB RAM, 72GB hard drive, Microsoft® Windows® 2000 operating system, Oracle® database, version 8.1.7