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The Company
Nissen Chemitec America, a
leading plastic injection
molding company, supplies
quality plastic parts to
leading automobile
manufacturers such as
Honda Motor Company of
America Inc.™, as well as to
a diverse range of other
leading manufacturers
around the world.
Founded in 1988 by Nissen
Chemitec Corporation of >
Niihama, Japan and Ohio based steel company
Worthington Industries,
Nissen Chemitec America is
now owned and operated
solely by Nissen Chemitec
Corporation.
With over 250 employees at
its London, Ohio plant,
Nissen Chemitec America is
ISO certified and provides a
full range of quality
solutions, including : research and development;
design services; mold
building; injection and insert
molding; finishing; assembly;
and just-in-time (JIT)
delivery.
Return on Investment
- Optimized operations to secure additional business from
largest customer
- Reduced shipping errors from as many as 40 per month
to zero
- Improved internal and customer communications
- Reduced maintenance costs more than 70%
- Eliminated excess data entry
Software
EnterpriseIQ™ ERP software system including: Electronic Data Interchange
(EDI), RealTime Machine Monitoring, Wireless Warehouse Management System
(WMS), Quality Management, Shop Data,
Human Resources, Payroll, Fixed Assets, Time and Attendance, and more.
Hardware
Oracle database with
Windows-based PCs.
IQMS eCommerce Partner
Lexicom by Cleo
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Leading Automotive Supplier Accelerates Lean Operations
with EnterpriseIQ ERP & Manufacturing Software
Competing in an industry where a large number of suppliers
vie for comparatively fewer customers, Nissen Chemitec America understands
the necessity of lean manufacturing. As a leading manufacturer serving
automakers like Honda Motor Company of America, Inc™, Toyota Motor
Company, and Ford Motors, Nissen Chemitec America relies on technology
to drive lean initiatives. From its inception in 1988, the company was
managing enterprise operations with an AS/400-based system, which was
eventually replaced with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software
that promoted its design for automotive manufacturers. However, while
the latter system conformed to automotive customers’ stringent requirements,
it hindered Nissen Chemitec America’s ability to advance lean manufacturing
principles. By early 2003, the company began looking for a more tailored
ERP and Manufacturing software solution – one built specifically
for contract manufacturers serving the automotive industry.
“We were working for the system rather than the system
working for us,” explains Mike Hopkins, production material control
and MIS manager at Nissen Chemitec America. “Our old system was designed
for suppliers of the Big Three automakers, so it didn’t meet many
of our needs. It was cumbersome, required heavy data entry, and though
we were striving to be lean, it blocked our efforts because of all the
things we had to do to maintain it.”
Nissen Chemitec America needed a fully automated ERP and
Manufacturing system that not only adhered to the automotive compliance
requirements like electronic data interchange (EDI), Labeling, and quality
functions, but was also robust as well as scalable.
“We wanted an ERP package that understood our particular
business. If a system didn’t understand family molds or multiple
cavitations running at the same time, it would have cost us more in terms
of efficiency and maintenance,” says Hopkins. “But as a supplier
to major automakers, we also had to comply with our automotive customers’
quality standards and business transaction requirements.”
Ultimately, Nissen Chemitec America found the best solution
to be EnterpriseIQ from IQMS. With specific functionality designed to
meet the challenges auto suppliers face day to day, EnterpriseIQ helps
manufacturers like Nissen Chemitec America stay flexible and lean within
the distinctive confines of industry compliance and ever changing customer
demands.
“We selected EnterpriseIQ because it uniquely supports
our business from every angle,” confirms Hopkins. “In the past
when we had two parts running on two machines with two operators, our
old system might calculate cost or capacity accurately, but not both.
With EnterpriseIQ both are correct, even for machines that make multiple
parts. EnterpriseIQ delivers the perfect combination of manufacturing-specific
functionality and automotive industry compliance standards. As a Tier
One automotive supplier, we see that as a definite advantage.”
EnterpriseIQ from IQMS fully supports Nissen Chemitec America’s
lean initiatives, unlike the company’s previous ERP system, which
impeded lean progress in a number of ways. For example, their previous
system was built upon multiple databases that required repetitive data
entry across various modules and functions. Additionally, the previous
package was not automated and had limited bar code scanning capabilities. Scheduling was done manually
using spreadsheets and production data had to be keyed in separately for reporting. Perhaps one of the most significant
areas of concern for Nissen Chemitec America was the fact that, though the system supported EDI, the actual transactions were
sent via modem, which was slow and delayed the company’s ability to find and correct problems before and after they
occurred.
“Our customers want quality parts, in the correct quantity,
on time, and at a competitive price,” explains Hopkins. “In
the automotive industry EDI is a major component in a supplier’s
ability to deliver that automakers want. With our old system, 80 percent
of the time we couldn’t respond fast enough to EDI errors because
the data transfer was slow. This problem was magnified with our biggest
account because that customer’s plant is only 40 minutes away, so
shipping errors were arriving at the plant before we could catch them.”
With modem-based EDI, Nissen Chemitec America was paying
between $3,200 and $3,600 monthly to transmit data and support customer
requirements. Furthermore, the company was experiencing between 30 and
40 EDI-related shipping errors per month. With EnterpriseIQ in place, Nissen Chemitec America reduced its
monthly EDI cost by roughly 90 percent to only $300
and eliminated most shipping errors altogether.
“We literally turned the IQMS system on and started
shipping error-free immediately,” says Hopkins. “And EnterpriseIQ
EDI is so much faster and easier to use it’s helped us speed communication
and better fulfill our customers’ requirements for data transfer
and labeling. Now our customers are happier, and we’re saving time
and money.”
The IQMS EDI module is seamlessly embedded within the EnterpriseIQ
system, which operates entirely within a single database, so Nissen Chemitec
America has no cumbersome third party hardware interfaces to manage. Incoming
EDI files are automatically translated into the ERP system, instantly
updating all pertinent records. Outgoing files are automatically transferred
back to customers and suppliers. And there’s never a need for manual
data entry, so Nissen Chemitec America benefits from accurate, automatic
and timely communication across its entire supply chain.
Nissen Chemitec America relies on EDI data to set daily
schedules, forecast demand, and communicate with customers and suppliers
alike. Within the EnterpriseIQ system, Nissen Chemitec America’s
EDI pushed data is elevated to new levels of accuracy because the company
also uses RealTime Machine Monitoring by IQMS. Part of the EnterpriseIQ
system, RealTime provides an easy, cost-effective means for Nissen Chemitec
America to capture and use shop floor data, truly in real time, as production
occurs.
RealTime Machine Monitoring connects each work center to
the EnterpriseIQ database and allows Nissen Chemitec America to
follow jobs as they move from the schedule through production. Because
production data feeds directly into the ERP database,
job status is automatically updated down to the minute. The system also
supports powerful, graphical, scheduling screens and
reports that can be used by anyone, from anywhere – within the company
or remotely – to assess job status, track downtime,
view quality data and more.
“We added RealTime Machine Monitoring so we could see
what was happening on the shop floor without having to walk
around,” says Hopkins. “RealTime Machine Monitoring allows us
to step up our processes where we might be having a problem.
With RealTime Machine Monitoring and Shop Data our operators can see what
a machine is doing and be proactive in catching
issues before they get out of hand.”
Prior to implementing EnterpriseIQ, Nissen Chemitec America
used an infinite schedule based only on demand. Now, RealTime uses a graphical,
finite schedule to assess not only machine capacity but labor capacity
as well. Taking it one step further, Nissen Chemitec America also utilizes
the comprehensive Quality Management suite of products to control pre-production
items and Statistical Process Control (SPC). By monitoring all aspects
within one system, data is communicated more quickly, without error, and
available for review at any time.
“Before we were operating with only half the picture,”
says Hopkins. “But now we have control over every part of the equation,
from purchasing and scheduling to on-time delivery for every part we make.
EnterpriseIQ gives us real power over our processes because it’s
user-friendly, comprehensive, and allows everyone in the company access
to the same timely data.”
As a single-source system, EnterpriseIQ is written, developed
and supported by IQMS with all modules built on one database.
This means the functionalities Nissen Chemitec America relies on, such
as the EDI Translator, Finite Scheduling, Purchasing,
RealTime Machine Monitoring, and Quality Management, work in unison within
the system to ensure tighter control and better
visibility over the company’s procedures and processes, both internally
and externally.
“We are now managing a leaner supply chain,” says
Hopkins. “That simply isn’t as possible with an ERP solution
made from component parts, or one that did not understand the inner workings
and external pressures automotive suppliers must manage to remain competitive.
Any other system would have presented higher maintenance costs and diminished
efficiency. With EnterpriseIQ we’ve reduced maintenance costs alone
over 70 percent, and achieved lean objectives like reduced cycle time,
automated workflow, and the elimination of redundant processes.”
Nissen Chemitec America’s customers have seen the difference,
too. With less delivery errors, better quality, and streamlined
communications in place, the company secured additional business from
its largest customer for the 2008 model year.
“From undergoing an extensive certification process
with our largest and most stringent customer to supporting our specific
lean manufacturing initiatives, IQMS has proven a true partner in our
business,” says Hopkins. “In an industry as dynamic as the automotive
industry, IQMS is the one constant we will continue to rely upon as we
move into the future.”
As a leading plastic injection molder serving automakers
like Honda Motor Company of America, Inc.™, Nissen Chemitec America
has traditionally relied on technology to drive lean initiatives. Since
its inception in 1988, the company has utilized several different systems
to manage enterprise operations; however, these systems were not designed
to meet the specific needs of automotive injection molding suppliers,
so they often blocked the company’s lean efforts. In early
2003, Nissen Chemitec America set out to find an ERP system that could
better support plastics manufacturers serving the automotive industry.
Ultimately, Nissen Chemitec America selected EnterpriseIQ from IQMS because
it delivers manufacturing-specific functionality and automotive industry
requirements in a single-database system. Since installing EnterpriseIQ,
Nissen Chemitec America has optimized operations to secure additional
business from its largest customer;
eliminated shipping errors; improved internal and customer communications;
reduced maintenance costs more than 70%;
and eliminated excess data entry.
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