HK Metalcraft Transforms Operations with Plex Manufacturing Cloud for Enhanced Precision Metalforming
Customer Company Size
Mid-size Company
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- Plex Manufacturing Cloud
- Google Business
Tech Stack
- Cloud ERP
- Serialized Inventory Management
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Productivity Improvements
- Customer Satisfaction
- Digital Expertise
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
- Networks & Connectivity - WiFi
Applicable Industries
- Metals
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Inventory Management
- Process Control & Optimization
- Remote Asset Management
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
HK Metalcraft is a family-owned company founded in 1926, headquartered in Lodi, New Jersey. It specializes in manufacturing high-quality precision metal stampings, spring washers, formed products, and related assemblies for various industries worldwide. The company is known for its focus on precision engineering and performance manufacturing, and it holds ISO/TS certification. As an active member of the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA), HK Metalcraft is committed to maintaining high standards in its manufacturing processes. The company has a rich history of embracing new technologies, as demonstrated by its early adoption of a company-wide ERP system in the 1980s.
The Challenge
HK Metalcraft faced several challenges with its legacy ERP system, which was no longer able to handle the increasing complexity of customer demands and expectations. The system's limitations led to inefficiencies, such as an abundance of work in process (WIP) and difficulties in tracking and traceability due to the lack of serialized inventory. Additionally, the highly-customized nature of the ERP system meant that IT personnel were spending more time maintaining it rather than focusing on other critical tasks. The company's president, Joshua Hopp, recognized the need for a more manageable and efficient system that could support the company's growth and operational needs.
The Solution
To address the challenges posed by its legacy ERP system, HK Metalcraft decided to implement the Plex Manufacturing Cloud. This new ERP solution provided the company with serialized inventory management, improving lot control and traceability. The implementation of Plex also enabled more accurate process routings and scheduling in the press room, reducing work in process (WIP) and increasing the amount of finished inventory. The system's capabilities allowed HK Metalcraft to collect and analyze data more effectively, turning raw data into actionable insights. The company also modernized its operations by equipping operators with mobile devices and portable workcenters, enhancing flexibility and efficiency on the plant floor.
Operational Impact
Case Study missing?
Start adding your own!
Register with your work email and create a new case study profile for your business.
Related Case Studies.
Case Study
Goldcorp: Internet of Things Enables the Mine of the Future
Goldcorp is committed to responsible mining practices and maintaining maximum safety for its workers. At the same time, the firm is constantly exploring ways to improve the efficiency of its operations, extend the life of its assets, and control costs. Goldcorp needed technology that can maximize production efficiency by tracking all mining operations, keep employees safe with remote operations and monitoring of hazardous work areas and control production costs through better asset and site management.
Case Study
KSP Steel Decentralized Control Room
While on-site in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan, the DAQRI team of Business Development and Solutions Architecture personnel worked closely with KSP Steel’s production leadership to understand the steel production process, operational challenges, and worker pain points.
Case Study
Bluescope Steel on Path to Digitally Transform Operations and IT
Increasing competition and fluctuations in the construction market prompted BlueScope Steel to look toward digital transformation of its four businesses, including modern core applications and IT infrastructure. BlueScope needed to modernize its infrastructure and adopt new technologies to improve operations and supply chain efficiency while maintaining and updating an aging application portfolio.
Case Study
RobotStudio Case Study: Benteler Automobiltechnik
Benteler has a small pipe business area for which they produce fuel lines and coolant lines made of aluminum for Porsche and other car manufacturers. One of the problems in production was that when Benteler added new products, production had too much downtime.
Case Study
Continuous Casting Machines in a Steel Factory
With a very broad range of applications, steel is an important material and has been developed into the most extensive alloy in the engineering world. Since delivering high quality is absolutely crucial for steel plants, ensuring maximum productivity and the best quality production are the keys to competitiveness in the steel industry. Additionally, working conditions in steel factories are not suitable for workers to stay in for long periods of time, so manufactures usually adopt various machines to complete the steel production processes. However, the precision of these machines is often overestimated and the lack of flexibility also makes supervisors unable to adjust operating procedures. A renowned steel factory in Asia planned to improve its Distributed Control System (DCS) of furnaces as well as addressing the problem of insufficient accuracy. However, most well-known international equipment suppliers can not provide a satisfactory solution and local maintenance because the project needed new technologies to more accurately control equipment operations. By implementing Advantech’s automated monitoring and control solution, steel factories can not only improve the manufacturing processes but can also allow users to add additional functions to the existing system so as to make sure the operation runs at high efficiency.
Case Study
Automated Predicitive Analytics For Steel/Metals Industry
Asset to be monitored: Wire Compactor that produces Steel RebarCustomer Faced The Following Challenges:Dependent upon machine uptime.Pressure cylinders within the compactor fail to control compression and speed causing problems in binding the coil.Equipment failure occurs in the final stage of production causing the entire line to stop, can you say bottleneck?Critical asset unequipped with sensors to produce data.
