How Real-Time ERP Data Boosts G&W Products' Profitability

Video Transcription

Ty: We had an issue arise where there was a defect in some material we were welding on. And we were able to use the traceability tree and the advanced trace functions in Plex to set aside and quarantine all this material and make sure none of it escaped to the customer. We couldn't have done that without Plex.
 
Jeff: G&W Products is a metal stamping and fabrication facility. We produce parts, everything from very small stamping items to large fabrications.
 
Beth: The industries that we service are military, we do electrical busway, heavy equipment, concrete forms, water gate, just about anything that would involve metal.
 
Jeff: The culture at G&W Products is a "do what it takes" mentality. It doesn't matter how big or small the job is, we'll do what it takes to get it done. When our CEO, Gary Johns, purchased the company a little over 10 years ago, he wanted to grow the company to be the largest facility of its type. And one of the drawbacks was our ERP system, it didn't give us the capability to grow the way we wanted to.
 
Beth: What we had used before was not live, it was out of date, it really was not meant for a manufacturing environment.
 
Jeff: So we set out on a task of finding a new ERP system. It started out with a consultant came in. He actually believed that Plex was the best system for us, but he wanted to have the employees end up making the decision.
 
Beth: And, you know, with our CEO's buy-in and understanding that that was what we needed, he gave us the time to, you know, really investigate to make sure Plex was a good fit for G&W, and it's the best thing we've ever done.
 
Jeff: Plex fits into the "get it done" culture because it gives you flexibility. In our type of culture, you have to be flexible in both how quickly you react to things, how you're able to access things, what it takes to get the customers' requirements covered and completed.
 
Beth: I think one of the biggest things for Plex is the diversity and being able to know where everything is at, you know, being live. And when a customer calls, we would have to call them back, run out in the shop, find out where their parts were, were they in process yet. And with Plex, we're able to do that from our desk. A lot of times we don't have to interrupt production or scheduling to ask questions, we're able to go into our system and look and be able to get that answer to our customer while on the same phone call.
 
With Plex, we can tell any time of the day, you know, our capacity or if we're efficient on a part, even as far as making delivery dates. And to be able to go and acquire other companies and other locations, you need to have that information readily available.
 
Anybody can buy a press, anybody can code a part, anybody can ship a part. To be able to have that data, I think is priceless and there's not really much more for a company of our size or our capabilities that you can offer besides customer service, and Plex gives us that option.