Friedman Corporation – MasterCraft Cabinets, Inc.

“Friedman Corp. supported the aggressive implementation timeline with its expert resources, knowledge and experience and made it a priority to ensure MasterCraft’s success.”

MasterCraft Cabinets manufactures and distributes a variety of stock and semi-custom wood and thermofoil cabinetry. Headquartered in Aurora, CO, it has a plant in Mesa, AZ, a distribution center in Albuquerque, NM and several sales sites scattered around the West and Midwest.

The Need

MasterCraft’s aging and disparate business information platforms made it diffi cult to keep pace with the business’ growth. Consolidation of information (fi nancial, product, inventory and technical) from the various sites was a tedious and inexact process. And lack of real-time access to data slowed decision-making on everything from orders to inventory. Pain points included:
• Accounting and shipping functions lived on different platforms, so accounting had to rely on shipping to learn when an order shipped so it could be marked it the system and an invoice generated.
• Each cabinet confi guration required the creation and maintenance of a “bill” (list of materials). Any change to the product required each related bill to be changed, as well.
• Report generation reports required considerable IT expertise, and those reports not produced by IT required users to search on multiple servers to find what they needed.

MasterCraft sought to integrate its departments and functions by storing information on a common database that would communicate manufacturing and other business transactions in real time and allow users to view information and generate reports online. Most importantly, it wanted a scalable system that could support its business now and as it grew.

Despite the significant business need, MasterCraft did not treat its decision to switch systems lightly. Management understood that to replace the business system for an entire company would be an intense and potentially uncomfortable process of change for every employee, regardless of function or department. Everyone would have to get used to doing things a little – in some cases a lot – differently.

The Solution

After thorough research, MasterCraft invited 22 ERP vendors to submit specifi c additional information about their systems. Two rounds of rigorous analysis reduced the contenders to just three, who were then asked to perform identical scripted customized product demonstrations.

Friedman’s Frontier ERP system emerged as MasterCraft’s top choice for various reasons: The cabinet, window and door industries comprised the backbone of Friedman’s business, giving it a deep understanding of the cabinetry industry. Friedman’s consultants knew how things were done, without having to learn the difference between a base and a wall cabinet.

Another major selling point was the Frontier system’s product confi gurator, which allows the user to confi gure all the various product attributes during the order entry stage. It allows for the dynamic creation of manufacturing work orders based on the individual attributes of the cabinets ordered, and also automatically attaches the correct inventory components to those work orders. Furthermore, changing a cabinet confi guration was a simple matter of changing the rules regarding that cabinet model in the confi gurator to tell it to use the different materials. MasterCraft considered this a critical feature that would allow the manufacturer to be more competitive and responsive to customer’s needs.

The Implementation

Choosing the new system took roughly a year. To reap the benefi ts meant tackling another major challenge – implementation. MasterCraft established an extremely aggressive timeline, and had the Frontier system operational at its Mesa facility within a year. This required developing and defi ning its entire product universe in the confi gurator, and training 60 to 70 users at three locations to do their jobs in the new system. After Mesa, the Aurora facility went live within four months, despite the concurrent introduction of new product lines, and some substantial discoveries and changes.

Most companies do the implementation over an 18- to 24-month period. To meet its aggressive schedule, MasterCraft’s team worked long hours and weekends alongside Friedman consultants to set up business simulations, testing, issue resolutions, and to do training and more training. Friedman Corp. supported the aggressive implementation timeline with its expert resources, knowledge and experience and made it a priority to ensure MasterCraft’s success.

The Outcomes

Friedman’s Frontier ERP system already has made a signifi cant difference in the quality of MasterCraft’s business. Among the benefi ts MasterCraft can cite: • Streamlined and more accurate order entry process.
• More fl exibility and easier management of product line defi nitions, models and options.
• Better production and inventory management information and better ability to manage and maintain inventory levels.
• Better visibility and increased ability to manage current and future demand for orders.
• Easily accessible and integrated reports, including financials.
• The ability of users to perform some of their own data analysis using query tools that integrate with common PC applications, such as Microsoft Excel.

But the most unexpected benefi t is that the organization as a whole has an enhanced understanding of the business’ operations and the contribution every member of the team makes.