HK Metalcraft

Business Challenges

• Customer demands and expectations became more complex than the company’s single, legacy ERP system could handle.
• Operators could “work around” issues resulting in an abundance of work in process (WIP) and inefficiency.
• Lack of serialized inventory made tracking and traceability difficult.
• Highly-customized ERP legacy system meant IT people were spending more time maintaining the system than on other critical tasks.

Solution Benefits

• Improved information sharing and internal communication across the entire company.
• Ability to more easily meet customer dimension requirements with built-in quality checks and live statistical process control (SPC).
• Reduced excess inventory and improved operations with more accurate inventory control.
• Enabled IT to focus on collecting useful information for continuous improvement versus maintaining the company’s ERP system.

HK Metalcraft

Joshua Hopp, President of HK Metalcraft, is the fourth-generation owner of a manufacturing business that specializes in precision metal stampings. His father, Raymond, installed a single, company-wide ERP in the 80s when no one else in the industry even considered it. “My dad was always embracing new technology. He was one of the first people I knew who had a mobile phone.”

Nearly three decades later and that once cutting-edge ERP now required customization after customization to keep pace with customer demands. Joshua and Raymond began searching for a system that their sole IT employee could more easily manage instead of spending most of his time programming endless customizations, but there was some level of hesitation in moving to the cloud.

Following the Industry

Then, Joshua showed his father solid data to show that cloud ERP is secure and fit the company’s business continuity plan. Raymond, who was famous for saying “Act on Fact” accepted the move to the cloud. Joshua made the first step by moving all company e-mail and files to the cloud with Google Business. But before HK could move forward with a cloud ERP service, the unthinkable happened—Raymond passed away.

After dealing with the grief of his loss, Joshua stepped into his father’s shoes to carry on the Hopp legacy. One of his first technology decisions was to choose a new ERP solution. Joshua had narrowed his decision to two different solutions and relied on input from a trusted source: The Precision Metalforming Association (PMA).

“I had been going to PMA meetings with my dad since I was two years old as he had instilled in me the value of networking and sharing knowledge,” said Joshua. “Other Plex customers really helped me make my decision because not only do I have support from Plex itself, but I also have 40 other companies who use it that I can call. I can’t think of a meeting I’ve been to in years when a side discussion about Plex didn’t come up.”

Using Plex to Improve the Business of Precision Metalforming

After making the decision to replace its legacy ERP with the Plex Manufacturing Cloud, Joshua saw opportunities to continually improve his business. Now HK Metalcraft has serialized inventory, making lot control much more accurate. The company also has more finished inventory and less work in process (WIP), accurate process routings, and can schedule its press room with much more confidence.

“The simple fact that our drawings are revision-controlled and available from the Plex control panel, and if any changes are made it's instantly updated—well, it's a beautiful thing.”JOSHUA HOPP, PRESIDENT

Plex has also helped improve traceability. In one instance, the HK Metalcraft team explained that the company received a reject from a customer. After looking into it, the reject was from an outside process—and the outside process happened in small batches, so the customer only sent back 10 percent of the total suspected lot.