Brazilian automotive supplier Grupo Aunde says it has optimised planning and control, reduced inventory and waste, and increased productivity since going live with Infor’s Automotive Essentials ERP last year.
Jose Carlos de Souza, Aunde finance manager, says that the company, which manufactures fabrics for vehicle interiors, replaced a mix of legacy systems, effectively integrating all manufacturing operations into one automotive-specific business system.
“We were using several tools across our plants for the same purpose, which was not reliable and did not give us visibility into all of our production procedures,” he says.
Aunde’s production processes are complex, handling more than 400 products and generating 3,000 items, from raw fabric to the final product – including design, dying, cutting and sewing, as well as foam production.
“We needed a solution that would integrate the business processes across our three manufacturing facilities in Brazil. Thanks to Infor, we can now seamlessly manage operations, improve communication among our sites, and gain greater visibility across our branches.”
The implementation covers material tracking, logistics, production control, PLM (product lifecycle management), inventory control, procurement, preventive maintenance and financials. De Souza says it provides real-time identification and tracking of all products – from procurement to delivery to OEMs such as Fiat, Ford and General Motors.
He also says that the benefits stem partly from faster and more accurate data collection and analysis, enabling the company to make better business decisions “so we have less overtime expenses and fewer accounting errors”.
De Souza credits the new system’s enhanced production control with being in part responsible for Arunde’s revenue growth last year of 15% to $148 million.
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