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The Architectural Door Industry is characterized by
a broad range of product styles that are typically categorized
into product line classifications i.e. Hot Press, Cold
Press, Stile/Rail. Depending on the product line being
manufactured, the engineering complexities can range
from simple options such as specie, size and finish
to a Stile/Rail door with multiple options that can
be dimensional in nature i.e. Stile Width, Rail Width,
Lock Height, Hinge Prep and Location, Lock Prep and
Location, Glass Type. As your 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 your ERP system
in order for you to be successful. Some of these challenges
include:
- Increased Product Complexity: Changing market conditions
dictate increased product line options, finishes, wood
species, fire ratings, 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. Single Piece Flow
and Lean Manufacturing principles
can be used to improve all areas of the
business process, as the actual production
lead times are a small part
of the overall cycle time and relatively
constant, forcing attention to other areas
of the business for reductions
and efficiencies.
- Sales
Automation: The acceptance of graphical
layout and third party quoting tools
such as Comsense within the Dealer
base and Sales Force requires back
office integration to streamline the order
fulfillment process. Frontier Door manufacturers
who target the
commercial Door market are faced with
the unique business requirements associated
with the estimating and detailing
of large projects consisting of many phases,
plans and openings. To address these requirements,
Friedman Corporation
has partnered with Comsense Inc., a leading
supplier of estimating software solutions
for the door and hardware
industry. This development partnership
integrates the estimating and detailing
functionality of the Comsense
Advantage application with the configuration,
pricing and sales order modules of the
Frontier® ERP
System The ability to deliver and support
this type of integration
requires specialized applications and
skill sets that may not be currently available
within your 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 vendor managed
inventory
are just a few examples where
business information integration
is required across multiple platforms and systems.
Frontier is a configuration-based
ERP application that has
been specifically designed to address these
and many additional challenges
facing the Architectural
Door Industry. Frontier is a fully integrated
suite
of application software
modules, built
upon the foundation of
a table-based, constraint-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,
Distribution Requirements
Planning (DRP), production scheduling to
material optimization,
product tracking to truck loading, performance
measurement
to after sales service
including installation. In addition to supporting the complex configuration
requirements, the base ERP foundation for Frontier enables
then system to support mixed-mode manufacturing, this
is particularly important to control the Core production
in a more discrete and/or rate-based scheduling environment,
which use such material controls as MRP, Reorder Point,
Vendor Managed Inventory and KANBAN.
Over the years, Friedman Corporation has developed
extensive Door 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 Door Industry specific functionality within the
Frontier application, along with our extensive Industry
expertise, ensures that Architectural Door 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 and Complex Door 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 Comsense.
- Improved efficiencies across all aspects
of the organization, allowing Door manufacturers
to support
substantial growth trends with limited
increases in staffing and the associated
labor and overhead costs.
- Support for a successful deployment of
Lean Manufacturing Principles.
- 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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