Business need
Stanton was in need of a way to accurately account for material usage and effectively track its bills of material. In addition, each year, the company adds as many as 50 new styles to its lines, which means a significant amount of data is introduced into its business systems. Managing this data was challenging.
“Our ERP system was not designed to manage our pattern and marker data and companies who boasted such capability seemed to offer minimal-at-best solutions to our problem,” said Scott Cook, production manager for Stanton. “Ultimately, our search for an information-based solution to manage our markers was fulfilled by Gerber’s AccuMark pattern design system and its robust integration, through Microsoft SQL Server, to our SAP ERP system.”
AccuMark and ERP WorkflowUsing a series of queries established within Microsoft SQL, the company is able to extract detailed marker, model and piece data from AccuMark and use this information within their ERP system.
After integrating their design and business systems, the company realized that their pattern data in AccuMark differed from the data stored in their ERP system. In fact, approximately one-third of their existing markers were incorrectly costed. With this knowledge in hand, Stanton’s production managers reworked existing markers to correct costing inconsistencies.
With AccuMark and SQL integration, Stanton is able to accurately track and update inventory levels, create detailed cost analyses and more accurately estimate delivery times.
Since Stanton integrated its AccuMark and ERP systems, the company has evolved from a largely manual environment into a well-organized, lean-based manufacturer.
Case highlights
The Client: Stanton Sofas
Brief about client business: Stanton Sofas, a leading furniture manufacturer located in the Pacific Northwest, has been family owned and operated for more than 40 years. The brand is synonymous with quality and is well known for its “Made in the USA” craftsmanship and reliability
The Challenge: Over the years, Stanton accumulated more than 48,000 markers – a tremendous amount of data that became increasingly difficult to manage. Additionally, Stanton’s ERP system did not communicate with its pattern and marking system, which meant all pattern/piece changes were not accurately updated in related bills of material
The Solution: Stanton’s search for an information-based solution to manage its markers was fulfilled by Gerber’s AccuMark pattern design system and its relational database functionality. With minimal IT assistance, Stanton successfully connected AccuMark with its ERP system, using Microsoft SQL Server as the information bridge
The Benefits: AccuMark’s integration with the company’s ERP system provides improved visibility into production processes as well as better costing and planning capabilities
Key benefits
- Capturing changes made to markers on a daily basis enabled Stanton to accurately update inventory figures, bills of material and customer delivery dates
- Enhanced visibility into marker data allowed the company to rework markers for improved utilization and correct costing inconsistencies
- Using historical pattern and marker data, Stanton is able to create accurate pre-cost analyses for upcoming product lines
- Since Stanton is now sharing pattern data between their AccuMark and ERP systems, the company has gained a new level of confidence in the integrity of their data. High quality data leads to better informed decision making
- With SQL and AccuMark working in unison, Stanton’s production managers are able to query data to verify pattern details and reduce errors.
