Avon Machining

About Avon Machining

Headquartered in Shelby Township, Michigan, Avon Machining manufactures precision-machined components and subassemblies for heavy industrial equipment manufacturers. Since its beginnings in 1974, the company has experienced steady growth. In the last 10 years, the company saw an average annual growth rate of 20 percent, particularly impressive given the economic downturn in the manufacturing industry.

In an ongoing effort to make processes and operations more efficient, Avon Machining decided to implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, called MONITOR ERP System, to integrate data from several disparate sources.

Before deploying the ERP system, all of Avon Machining’s departments, including engineering, production, quality and accounting, had their own Access databases and Excel spreadsheets. The databases were not integrated with each other, which made tracking, retrieving and communicating critical data very difficult and time-consuming.

Avon Machining Company’s initial ERP solution did not effectively integrate information or make it easily accessible. Only a handful of people in the company could make changes and look up real-time inventory information. This contributed to errors in data entry, tracking and status reporting.

The company needed a solution that could seamlessly integrate across the enterprise and provide easier access to real-time information. After reviewing and testing several options, they decided to implement ERP from the Plex Manufacturing Cloud. Avon Machining made this choice based on the solution’s ability to meet its requirements, its reputation in the industry and its ability to connect and manage all areas of the manufacturing operations.

“Plex is the most versatile solution to use in a manufacturing environment.”

“Plex is the most versatile solution to use in a manufacturing environment,” said Matt Korth, engineering manager at Avon Machining. “It helps us stay organized and suits our growing needs.”

Better Visibility Enables Efficient Cost Management

Comprehensive, accurate and timely information is needed for efficient management of costs and resources. At Avon Machining, the previous ERP solution couldn’t generate detailed data such as the cost, production time and quantity of parts produced in each of the various workcenters on the shop floor.

Plex Cloud ERP tracks and records all physical events such as production, inventory status changes, receiving, subcontracting, shipping, and other data on the shop floor. This ability to generate in-depth information in real time has made tracking activities and costs easy.

“We run the costing function to get the cost associated with each part and each activity. We know where and how to utilize our resources efficiently and are able to make better business decisions.”