Case Study
Electroimpact

Electroimpact (EI) faced challenges with product and project visibility and disjointed systems. To-Increase’s PLM Integration and Project Lifecyle Suite solutions help EI maintain coordination between design and manufacturing teams, track inventory, and organize product information, resulting in effective project planning, inventory change management, and supply-demand tracking.

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In Search of Cloud ERP and Unified Workflows for Manufacturing Efficiency

Electroimpact Inc. (EI) is a world leader in designing and manufacturing aerospace tooling and automation. EI wanted to move from their old ERP system to cloud-based Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management. Along with the ERP, EI was also looking for manufacturing solutions to unite workflows, enhance collaboration across teams, and provide insights into product structures and projects.

Software and Service

To-Increase PLM-ERP Integration
Project Lifecycle Suite
Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&SCM

Country/Region

North America, Europe

Industry

Aerospace Tooling

Company size

600+ employees

Business Situation

Electroimpact has two Product Lifecycle Management systems, Keytech and 3DEXPERIENCE, for managing their products and associated data. Their legacy ERP system was customized to transfer only one product information at a time from the PLM systems into the ERP.

The data transfer from PLM to ERP didn’t include important information about the structure of products and Bill of Materials (BOM). It was difficult for EI to understand product structures, track inventory, manage supply and demand, or recognize project requirements.

In addition, the absence of an automated system meant that EI had to manually scan information from the PLM system to plan their order. There was no way to transfer data from PLM to ERP directly.

As a project-driven business, EI manages multiple interdependent systems and applications that require effective integration. They wanted to address the following key challenges:

Limited visibility into project progress
Inability to understand product structures, track inventory, and manage supply and demand
Manual processes
Disconnected PLM and ERP systems

How To-Increase’s PLM Integration and Project Lifecycle Suite helped EI

With To-Increase solutions, EI was able to:

Sync the most up-to-date BOM, product structures, and other product data with ERP so that any change made to the products would automatically reflect in the ERP.
Ensure the PLM systems send a detailed and accurate snapshot of the product structure to the ERP system.
Eliminate data ownership conflicts and avoid data duplication.
Unify workflows to promote collaboration across cross-functional teams, improve visibility, and provide insights.
Effectively plan and manage inventory and track supply and demand based on project requirements.

Results

Improved collaboration and project management efficiency: Real-time updates on the status of orders and products have helped EI improve project management efficiency by providing visibility into how much more products and parts need to be ordered.
Project Planning Efficiency: EI can get the latest product and BOM information into Dynamics 365 ERP within minutes of creating or changing them in the PLM. They can keep all product information updated and organized, which helps them plan and execute projects more effectively.
Data Accuracy: The old system didn't track requirements or provide visibility into whether the items were with procurement or delivery. With the integration of Dynamics and PLM, EI can now access data for defining part numbers, revisions, and quantities. Even planning demand and influencing check orders is possible.
Reliable and efficient ordering process: In the old system, the ordering process involved checking part numbers, quantities, and so on before placing orders manually. Now, engineers can order products more efficiently because the information aligns with the design data from the PLM system. After confirming the accuracy of the information, engineers can place orders according to the plan. If needed, they can adjust the orders before finalizing them. This streamlined process makes ordering smoother and more reliable.
Improved Order Accuracy: They can now align a specific revision with the exact planned demand, which helps place accurate orders.
Cost Savings: Improved efficiency in forecasting and tracking order status and demand, reduced manual work, and corrections have led to less waste and more cost savings.
Time and Effort Savings: The project managers, too, benefit from the PLM-ERP integration. It synchronizes the data, providing the most up-to-date product information within minutes. Project engineers and the EI execution team have access to current plan orders. This immediate access lets them quickly confirm these orders without constantly switching between the PLM and ERP systems. This seamless workflow saves them time and effort.