Clips & Clamps Industries

About Clips & Clamps Industries

Its information systems are no exception. Facing the need for upgrades of several of the separate systems it used for ERP, gage controls, human resources, and other functions, CCI decided that maintaining and paying for regular upgrades to separate systems was not the most efficient use of its IT and financial resources. In addition, management recognized that the lack of integration among these various systems forced the workforce to invest time in duplicate data entry, manual reconciliation of data and reports, and other inefficiencies.

To address these challenges, CCI implemented a new, completely integrated manufacturing cloud ERP solution. The single system replaced six separate systems that CCI had used previously and brought along with it many additional functions.

Integrated System Improves Efficiency

Today, CCI has a consolidated view of the world through which all employees access the same information. They view critical information through dashboards in real time and are able to access and print real-time reports while filtering out data as needed.

Plex Cloud ERP has been the ideal all-in-one solution for CCI. It combines the capabilities of enterprise resource planning (ERP), manufacturing execution systems (MES), quality management, customer relationship management (CRM), shop floor integration, and much more. It enables the company to more effectively and efficiently manage virtually every aspect of operations including bills of material, purchasing, receiving, inventory, quality, planning and scheduling, shipping, EDI, engineering change tracking, financials, and human resources.

Today, CCI employees leverage single points of data entry without having to maintain interfaces, avoiding duplication and replication. For instance, the employee list used for time and attendance is the same one used to track who produced which part. And the same list used to complete quality checklists is the one used for strategic plan action items and related functions.

Because Plex ERP is a cloud solution, all of CCI’s data is securely housed and maintained off-site by Plex Systems, the developers of the system. The metalformer avoids costly servers, hardware, and energy costs. There’s no need for internal IT maintenance, and CCI rests assured that their data is housed in a highly secure environment with back-up servers and industry-leading disaster recovery levels. In addition, enhancements are made to the software on a real- time basis at no additional cost to users. There are never new versions to install.

“Not having to pay upgrade and maintenance costs for our old systems made Plex an immediate break-even investment.”

Immediate ROI

At the time CCI launched Plex Cloud ERP, the company had been facing imminent upgrades to several of its existing systems. The company was able to avoid these costs entirely.

“Not having to pay upgrade costs for our old systems made Plex a break-even investment,” said CCI Vice President and General Manager Jeff Aznavorian. “When balanced against our cost avoidance, the launch of Plex cost us nothing and we had an immediate ROI. Who could argue with that?”

Ease of Use

According to Aznavorian, Plex’s user interface was also a big selling point for the system. With visual menu options and simple navigation, the system is intuitive for everyone – particularly employees working on the shop floor.

“With our previous systems, employees had to use codes to access menus and various pages, and this made things very confusing,” said Aznavorian. “With Plex, everything is visual and logical, and all employees can get to the screens, reports and data they need within just a few clicks.”

“Because the system is so intuitive, on-the-floor training was quick and highly effective. The implementation didn’t disrupt our business, and employees in all departments are now able to access and use information to perform their jobs effectively.”