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The Cabinet Industry is characterized by a broad range of product
styles that are typically categorized into product line classifications
of stock, semi-custom or custom finished goods. Depending on the
product line being manufactured, the engineering complexities can
range from simple options such as door or drawer styles to highly
complex options that are dimensional in nature. As these markets
continue to mature and expand, the complexities associated with
these types of product lines translate into operational and technological
challenges that must be addressed by Cabinet manufacturers to be
successful. Some of these challenges include:
- Increased Product Complexity: Changing market conditions dictate
increased product line options, finishes, wood species, door/drawer
styles, and hardware types. Coordination across all departments
is required to maintain the existing product lines and effectively
roll out changes and new product lines as required.
- Reduced Lead Times: Competitive pressures have forced the
overall order fulfillment lead times to be reduced. The actual
production
lead times are a small part of this overall lead time and relatively
constant, forcing attention to other areas of the business for
reductions and efficiencies.
- Sales Automation: The acceptance of graphical layout and quoting
tools such as 20-20 Design within the Dealer base requires back
office integration to streamline the order fulfillment process.
The ability to deliver and support this type of integration requires
specialized applications and skill sets that may not be currently
available within the organization.
- Technology Integration: Technology improvements throughout
the supply chain have placed an increased demand on the availability
and access to business information. Dealer business systems,
manufacturing
equipment, and material suppliers are just a few examples where
business information integration is required across multiple platforms.
Frontier for Cabinets is a configuration-based ERP application
that has been specifically designed to address these and many
additional challenges facing the Cabinet Industry. Frontier
for Cabinets is
a fully integrated suite of application software modules, built
upon the foundation of a table-based, dimensional Product Configuration
module. The functionality of the product Configurator, along
with the supporting application modules, has been designed
to streamline
all activities associated with the order fulfillment process;
from Dealer/Customer quotes to sales orders, production scheduling
to
material optimization, product tracking to truck loading, performance
measurement to after sales service.
Over the years, Friedman Corporation has developed extensive
Cabinet Industry operational and software implementation experience.
Friedman
Corporation consultants have documented this experience in the
form of an implementation methodology, COMPASS, that has been
proven to be a highly effective method of defining, executing,
and tracking
all aspects of a Friedman Corporation software implementation
project. The Cabinet Industry specific functionality within the
Frontier
for Cabinets application, along with this extensive Industry
expertise, ensures that Cabinet manufacturers will be successful
in achieving
their business objectives within an aggressive implementation
timeline. The successful implementation of a Friedman Corporation
software
solution has provided existing Friedman customers with initial
and ongoing benefits to their business, including:
- Dramatic reductions of overall order cycle time by integrating
all operational and technical aspects of a stock, semi-custom
or custom Cabinet manufacturing business.
- Advancement of strategic relationships with Dealer, Customer
and Sales channels by providing the required integration tools
to streamline the quotation to sales order process with products
such as 20-20 Design.
- Improved efficiencies across all aspects of the organization,
allowing Cabinet manufacturers to support substantial growth
trends with limited increases in staffing and the associated
labor and
overhead costs.
- The realization of extensive cost reductions (inventory, scrap,
procurement) by integrating all aspects of the supply chain,
from internal component production to outside material suppliers.
- Reduction of order errors and manual “special orders” that
are processed thru the introduction and leveraging of an integrated
product Configurator.
- Improved responsiveness to changing market conditions by providing
a centralized product specification and pricing engine for
both internal customer service and external Dealer use.
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