TRW, others evolve with vendors
Paul Mann, contributing editor -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 1/1/2004 12:00:00 AM
The past decade was marked by the rapid adoption of ERP as a manufacturer's core transactional system. This decade, however, is shaping up as an era of slower evolution, around the ERP backbone. That may involve companies moving to newer platforms, but sticking with the same vendor.
Just ask Joe Drouin, VP and CIO at TRW Automotive, Livonia, Mich.; or Troy Grove, director of business technology at Berner Foods, Dakota, Ill. These two executives are busily embracing Web-based solutions from their respective vendors.
In 1993, TRW Automotive decided to scrap its mainframe-based system and move to MFG/PRO, an ERP package from QAD running on a Hewlett-Packard UNIX platform.
The UNIX platform was "absolutely bulletproof," says Drouin, but eventually the time was right for change. In 2003, TRW skipped a couple of technology generations with a move to QAD's eB2, a new Web-based version of MFG/PRO, running under Linux on Intel-based servers. "This is the most daring we've ever been in an upgrade situation," says Drouin. "We're not used to being in uncharted territory, but the savings from the new platform are too compelling, and the new e-commerce and supply chain integration capabilities from QAD were another driver."
Berner Foods, a manufacturer of dairy products, decided to upgrade from an AS/400-based dairy industry solution to Windows-based ERP several years ago. That decision, made prior to Grove's arrival, was not a good one. "We agreed to be a beta site for their new application, fully expecting to reap the benefits of this new technology. It turned out to be a living nightmare," says Grove. "After three months, we decided to pull the plug."
The second time around, Berner Foods sought out established ERP vendors and referenceable customers. "We ended up selecting iRenaissance from Ross Systems," Grove says. "Their client/server system came out strong on the gap analysis, the platform was a good match, and they made system modification much easier for us."
The new system went live in 2000, and performed well, but the story doesn't end there. Despite its earlier experience with new technology, Berner Foods volunteered to serve as a beta site for the new iRenaissance Internet Application Framework.
This time around, the experience was positive. "With server-based maintenance, our upgrades are now measured in hours instead of days," Grove says. "Users now have personalized, browser-based interfaces that provide secure access from any PC with an Internet connection."
