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Plexus Online - Okay Industries Case Study

Okay Industries, Inc. Realizes Higher Plant Efficiencies Using Real Time Information Through Plexus Online

Okay Industries, Inc. (OKAY) is a stamping, machining and prototyping company which specializes in complex metal stampings with extremely tight tolerances. It produces precision parts for medical and surgical devices as well as components for defense and the firearms industry. It also produces other highly sophisticated parts for specialty, industrial and automotive markets. OKAY's customers require precision and expect perfection-there is no room for error in their applications.

Over the decades, OKAY developed and nurtured a culture of continuous improvement. It earned its ISO certification in 1996 and each year since has complied with new ISO standards and requirements. Many of these changes required specialized computer databases, and by 2005 OKAY's management found itself with 18 different databases which integrated with each other but not with their UNIX server. It was difficult to quickly compile the detailed information management required to continually improve the operations' efficiency.

"We needed real-time information that was accessible to everyone on the production floor," stresses Jason Howey, VP of Operations at the 100,000-square-foot-facility in New Britain, Connecticut. "We wanted one system on one platform that would give us real-time work-in-process information and allow us to analyze production costs down to the minute. The UNIX system was accessed by administrators with terminals, but no one out on the floor could access information."

Howey learned about Plexus Online in 2004 at the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) show in Chicago. Intrigued, he began researching Plexus Online and other systems.

"It got to the point where we knew within five or six questions whether a system could do what we wanted," Howey says. "No other system could integrate the entire operation the way Plexus Online could."

OKAY had a few key items that required customization.

"We started implementing Plexus Online with the Quality module because OKAY's parts have to be perfect," says Mig O'Brien, Plexus Project Manager. "We made some changes to the system so it would keep track of weights up to seven decimal places. OKAY also has a complex costing system that analyzes the cost of producing each part down to the penny. They had a special costing analysis sheet they wanted built into the system. This sheet is used to compile very specific detailed information about material costs, assembly costs, every minute of manpower devoted to producing that part, etc. Some of their part numbers run over different periods of time, and they wanted to capture every aspect of cost related to each part number.

"Prior to Plexus Online, most of the compilations and analysis were done manually and were time-consuming. OKAY wanted the Plexus Online system to pull all this data together from various modules and produce the report electronically. That took some pretty sophisticated customization, but we did it. We now have flexible tools to get people what they want."

The specialized costing analysis which used to take hours to produce is now compiled in seconds. The job number is keyed into the screen, and the Plexus system pulls all the info together into the format OKAY has used for years. In addition, managers can drill down through various levels of detailed information to see exactly how the numbers were derived.

OKAY began its initial implementation with the Plexus Online Quality Modules because they had the largest number of databases devoted to quality.

"Our customers, suppliers, part numbers-we had a whole slew of databases within our quality system," Howey explains. "It took student interns about 10 weeks to input part numbers, routings, etc. Once all the data was in the new system, we started using the Plexus Online system strictly for quality monitoring. Everything went smoothly--it was a great way to start. We then bit the bullet and set a date for a live implementation."

Howey had learned during his ERP research that fifty percent of ERP implementations failed for two primary reasons: the lack of internal buy-in and the lack of a firm "go-live" date. He established an implementation team comprised of different champions from various parts of the business and set an early December 2005 go-live date to ensure OKAY didn't fall prey to these issues. The team was responsible for the system implementation and the training of 100 production employees, many of whom had never before worked with a computer.

The go-live implementation was successful, and OKAY's entire operation functions smoothly and reliably with 100 percent real-time data.

Production Control's Krystyna Occhi is intent on reaching OKAY's goal of 100 percent operating efficiency, and she considers the Plexus system key to achieving this goal.

"In 2006 we were at 98% for on-time shipping, and in 2007 we were at 99.4 percent," she says. "Information from all parts of our business is real time and integrates, so we know exactly what we need, what we have and where it is. We don't get caught short on parts any more."

Individual press efficiency has also been rising steadily and jumped two percent each quarter in 2007.

"The key is getting and analyzing the right information so we can identify anything that hinders our progress," Howey says. "The Plexus Online system is designed to help managers manage. It is more powerful and user-friendly than any program I've ever seen, and it gives us the ability to identify and fix problems we didn't have the resources to quickly identify before."

Production uses various "downtime codes" to identify and keep track of every problem that shuts down a press. This data is compiled and assessed to look for trends in press and operator performance.

"When a press is down, QA writes up why the stoppage occurred," Howey explains. "We're able to go in and look to see why a press goes down. We had one job that had a lot of stoppages with a broken emboss. After analyzing the downtime reports, we were able to see a trend. A piece of tooling was breaking off. Once we saw the pattern, we changed the shape of the tooling for the emboss. We can identify the repeat offenders and get to the root cause of a problem. We did this before Plexus, but it took a lot longer. Now, we can quickly analyze and correct press problems. We've always emphasized continuous improvement, and now we have the means to bring ourselves up to that 100 percent efficiency mark. We have less waste and our inventory is leaner, so our costs are lower."

Howey remembers senior management's desire to push a button at any time to see what had been produced and what was WIP.

"They can do that now," Howey acknowledges. "Any information, real time, is at their fingertips. All the Plexus modules fit together, so we get powerful information in real time. We have the Cadillac of presses, and we needed the Cadillac of ERP systems. It wasn't cheap, but we figured you'll get what you pay for. We already have our payback.

"Our business has been growing 17-23 percent per year, and thanks to the efficiencies we now have through Plexus, we haven't had to hire anyone outside of production personnel to keep up."

Prospective customers making plant visits are highly impressed by OKAY's production systems and the accessibility of information through Plexus Online. Tours are now given by production employees who are proud to demonstrate the capabilities of the user-friendly system at their work stations.

"Customers want to spend time evaluating our quality systems," says Howey. "They see our system and say, 'I work for a Fortune 500 company and we don't have anything like this.' Plexus Online is right in line with our strategy-high tech and cutting edge. It's a good fit."