Completed ERP projects

Epicor Software Deutschland GmbH

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Customers

Eka Group

Completion

27.09.2011

Country

Poland

Branch

• Furniture industry

Description

Task description

Eka-production stocks some of the most versatile and state-ofthe-art machinery in Poland, including 23 modern injection molding machines with clamping forces of 100 to 1800 tons and injection capacities of up to 10 kilograms. Additionally, with two independent gas systems, a central hopper for plastic, and two independent oil and water cooling systems, the plant is capable of producing even the most complex plastic parts, such as LCD TV chassis (17" to 42"), household appliances, and bathroom fixtures. In 2006, in an effort to provide a comprehensive range of services to its trading partners, the company launched a state of-the-art paint shop. Additionally, two smaller bicolor painting lines were commissioned in 2007. Currently, a team of nearly 200 manufacturing, accounting and management employees work to ensure the right quality and quantity of the company’s products.

Eka-production has a long track record of collaborating with such well-known customers as LG Electronics, Toshiba, Humax, and Daewoo Electronics. In Poland, EKAplast works with more than 1,300 Polish companies and with foreign retailers, such as MAKRO CASH & CARRY, NOMI, OBI, PRAKTIKER, LEROY MERLIN, CASTORAMA, and BRICO. In 1999, the company received an ISO 9001 quality management system certificate and an ISO 14001 environmental management system certificate from TÜV Saarland e.V. For many years, EKAplast and Eka-production have been supported by an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution from Epicor Software, which (due to its flexible and versatile design) has been growing together with the company. This year’s plans include expanding the system to Ramatti.

System implementation

EKAplast’s decision to implement the Epicor ERP solution was a result of the Group’s dynamic growth. Previously, the company had used a simple DOS application, which (over the course of time) could no longer meet the requirements related to the launch of the manufacturing plant and the growing scale of operations. The system reached its capacity when EKA’s turnover increased several times, leading to a significant increase in employment. Another barrier inherent in the legacy solution was its closed architecture.

Consequently, a decision was made to implement an end-to-end ERP system. Following the evaluation of solutions available on the market in terms of functionality and expected return on investment, Epicor’s product was selected.

Currently, EKA Group utilizes the full functionality of Epicor’s ERP solution, with modules that span various processes: from finance, through manufacturing (Eka-production), to logistics and distribution. Furthermore, the system optimizes manufacturing processes handled by more than thirty state-of-the-art machines. Following the implementation of the Epicor ERP solution, EKA Group noticed significant improvements, primarily in the materials management area.

Another highlight is the system’s advanced analysis and reporting functionality. Before the deployment, EKA relied on reporting data entered manually in Excel spreadsheets, whereas the new Business Intelligence report generation tools enable onthe- fly, multidimensional analysis of the Group’s operations. For example, reporting services (MS SQL/OLAP) instantly eliminated human error in reporting activities, making it possible to identify potential manufacturing issues and take quick preventive and corrective action.

Gradually, EKA’s reporting capabilities were extended to new areas, and now cover approximately 200 analyses and reports: from ad hoc daily summaries to comprehensive ratio analyses. As it turned out, data obtained from the system often indicated that the actual situation differed from the employees’ subjective perceptions, making it possible to identify the real source of a particular problem which might require, for example, optimizing the manufacturing performance of a specific component. The advanced reporting and analytic tools also opened new opportunities to ensure accurate production accounting, monitor performance, evaluate efficiency, eliminate errors and take immediate action whenever problems occur.

Business benefits

By implementing Epicor’s ERP solution, EKA Group reaped a variety of business benefits. Detailed shift performance reports (available less than twenty minutes after the end of each shift) provide an in-depth insight into the efficiency of operations during a particular period of time. Daily and periodic analyses generated by the system provide the staff with up-to-date information regarding potential downtimes or shortages, allowing them to take corrective action immediately.

Furthermore, to support EKA’s focus on manufacturing quality, reports generated by the system allow the company to compare daily quality performance against historical data (collected over time), and then draw appropriate conclusions and take instant action. The ERP solution is also integrated at the reporting level with the SCADA machine monitoring system that counts physical machine runs, which allows a quick and accurate comparison of quantities entered in the ERP system against quantities reported by the monitoring system. In the finance area, the Epicor ERP system provides instant access to the profit and loss account and balance sheet, available virtually as soon as the last posting is made for a month.

Moreover, Epicor’s ERP solution enables budget performance to be calculated directly after the document is entered into the system. With respect to EKA’s multifaceted and advanced operations, the system supports end-to-end financial ratio analysis, including the Hołda and Stos assessment models used to evaluate and forecast the company’s financial position. Additionally, OLAP financial cubes (multidimensional databases) allow data to be analyzed from a variety of perspectives. Financial budgeting starts with a sales forecast, enabling the company to identify demand for staff time/machine time and materials (key variable cost components). This, in turn, simplifies planning and generates savings.Currently, the Epicor system is operated by 35 users, including remote users at EKA Group’s field locations who access it using terminal services.