Power Electronics Industry.  Standard products (yet configurable as per specific customer’s requirements).

ERP Case study of UPS and Inverter manufacturing company with “After sales service division”.

BACKGROUND:

The company is ISO 9001 certified for its quality standards and is an exporter to many countries, including Southeast Asia, Africa, Mid East, Eastern Asia, etc.  Major Products Includes:  Online UPS Inverters up to 400 KVA.  Solar/Wind Hybrid Solutions.  Customized Power Backup Solution.  Emergency Lift Operating Systems.

This enterprise is a leader in making UPS "UPS"  and Inverters.  The owner is a very dynamic and a true entrepreneur had the vision of becoming a global player.  The management decided to deploy ERP software for business management. 

The special module that was thought of was the ‘Service module’.  This takes care of the after sales service, warranty management "warranty management" , service call management, service reports, spares used in the field for repairs, and so on.  Their major customers are individual companies, banking sector, builders, etc.

Supply chain Management

Item master:

Cable, Fuse

Capacitor

PCB Assembly

LED, IC, Diode

Relay, Resistor

Thyristor, Transistor

Batteries

 – Tubular/Stationary

Packing Material

ISSUES & CHALLENGES:

• Variety of application load of the product, as well as the changes in end user requirements is a big challenge that management was facing. 

• With the legacy system, the Bills of Material (BOM) could not be drilled down to the level of the material required for manufacturing a certain quantity. This led to higher inventory levels.  The head of production department was planning mostly based on assumption, resulting in dead inventory.

• The product is sold under warranty.  Now, the service division will take care of after sales service.  The challenge is to give the service in quickest possible time and keep track of the customer’s complains.  Spares used under warranty or under AMC.   Spares to be billed and so on.

• Some production is carried out based on advance planning and then configured as per the specification.  Here number of batteries and battery make, technical specs are captured and stored for proper inventory management.

• Serial number capturing and storing them in the ERP database is important for future reference during the after sales service.

 History card is linked with work order, name of customer, and gives vital information such as serial number.

HOW ERP CAN ADDRESS THESE ISSUES:

 ·    ERP has given a comprehensive and integrated solution, with modules for, Purchase processing, sales Order Receipt Information processing - ORI link with sales invoice, production, inventory management.  User friendly GUI was given to prepare the Bill of Materials (BOM) master.  UPS company’s internal team was drawn from the ‘task force’, experience users and end users. This played a crucial role in implementation of the new system, as faster decisions making was possible.  Serial number is stored.

·         With a knowledgeable and motivated ERP coordinator, internal team and ERP implementer and programmers, the implementation was completed successfully. 

·         By implementing following ERP Modules:

KEY BENEFITS:

• Better material management, by tightly linking the purchase order, material inward, and material issue to production has resulted in efficient work flow.

• In service division the tracking of spares and parts usage has empowered the users in this power electronics manufacturing company.