Plex Systems > Case Studies > Fluid Routing Solutions Transforms Operations with Plex ERP for Enhanced Efficiency and Cost Savings

Fluid Routing Solutions Transforms Operations with Plex ERP for Enhanced Efficiency and Cost Savings

Customer Company Size

Mid-size Company

Region

America

Country

United States

Product

Plex ERP
QAD

Tech Stack

Cloud Computing
ERP
Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
Quality Management
Supply Chain Management

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Productivity Improvements
Customer Satisfaction

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)

Applicable Industries

Automotive
Equipment & Machinery

Applicable Functions

Business Operation
Procurement
Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Supply Chain Visibility
Predictive Maintenance
Process Control & Optimization

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
System Integration

About The Customer

Fluid Routing Solutions (FRS) is a manufacturer of industrial hose products and fuel filler and hydraulic fluid assemblies. The company underwent significant changes when it was acquired by a private equity firm, which brought about a unique set of business challenges. These challenges included the need to establish new IT functions and purchase its own ERP solution. FRS operates in the automotive industry and is located in Southfield, MI. The company is focused on meeting customer requirements, minimizing costs, and achieving quality goals, all while dealing with the pressures of ownership changes and business status shifts. FRS needed to migrate its entire infrastructure and application environment away from a legacy AS400 system quickly, as per the conditions of its Transition Service Agreement.

The Challenge

Manufacturers must meet customer requirements, minimize costs and achieve quality goals, and do all of this with increasingly fewer resources. These pressures are intensified with changes in ownership and business status. Under such circumstances, manufacturers face unusually intense scrutiny and must meet ambitious expectations for productivity and profitability while simultaneously setting up new business processes — often within extremely short timeframes. Under the conditions of its Transition Service Agreement, FRS was required to migrate its entire infrastructure and application environment away from a legacy AS400 system very quickly. Before it could make that change, however, the manufacturer needed to select and launch its own ERP solution.

The Solution

FRS selected Plex as its new ERP solution, with the implementation led by Plex Systems’ partner Plante Moran. The system launch was completed in six months, focusing on bringing in an affordable solution that could be launched quickly with minimal disruption. Plex ERP combines the capabilities of ERP, manufacturing execution systems (MES), quality management, customer relationship management (CRM), and supply chain management. The cloud solution provides FRS access to consistent, accurate, real-time business information, enabling effective management of various business aspects, including bills of material, purchasing, receiving, inventory, manufacturing, quality, planning and scheduling, shipping, EDI, engineering change tracking, financials, document control, human resources, and supply chain management. Plex ERP also offers tools that increase visibility into supplier operations, facilitate better communications, and add discipline to quality management across the supply chain. The supplier portal notifies FRS suppliers of quality issues and allows for communication of nonconformances and associated costs through an automated issues log. Suppliers are required to respond within 24 hours using Plex ERP, and the supplier scorecard grades suppliers based on complaints, product rejections, production disruptions, and nonconformances.

Operational Impact

Plex ERP has replaced manual activities with automated functions, saving time and speeding up processes across various departments.
The system provides real-time processing of shipments among FRS’s plants, eliminating the need for duplicate data entry.
Financial reports and statuses are generated quickly and easily, enhancing operational efficiency.
The improved visibility into supplier operations facilitates speedier problem resolution and reaction to quality issues, minimizing non-conformances and improving overall quality.
Plex ERP's cloud-based nature allows FRS to avoid dedicating internal resources to system maintenance and upgrades, as enhancements are ongoing and can be opted into as needed.

Quantitative Benefit