The right system: Infotainment specialist Harrman/Becker tunes global operations with MES

-- Manufacturing Business Technology, 2/29/2008 10:39:00 AM

The ability to conduct real-time statistical process control across multiple facilities—and easy integration with the SAP ERP suite—led Harman/Becker Automotive Systems to make Visiprise Manufacturing its corporate-wide standard manufacturing execution system (MES).

After deploying the solution in several Asian plants—as well as a new product introduction facility in Farmington Hills, Mich.—Harman/Becker reports it made the right decision. Future plans include rollouts in North American electronic facilities, including Harman/Becker's "infotainment" plant in Washington, Mo. (In-Car Entertainment product line); and at its premium sound systems plant in Franklin, Ky. 

“Visiprise Manufacturing allows us to maintain a single system that collects critical manufacturing data, streamlines our quality initiatives, and enhances our visibility into manufacturing operations," says Will Bollinger, director of advanced electronics manufacturing at Harman/Becker.

But Harman/Becker, a division of Harman International, didn’t just stumble into the right solution. It compiled a list of 88 key characteristics it wanted in an MES. It then referred to Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) reports for an independent assessment of which system best met those criteria.

"Visiprise has built a very strong relationship with Harman/Becker by working closely with them to understand their strategic objectives and to provide a solution that helps meet these objectives," says Sean McCloskey, CEO, Visiprise. "The international adoption of Visiprise Manufacturing is a true testimonial to how, as partners, we can address manufacturing operations and ultimately drive a solid ROI for Harman/Becker." 

Visiprise and SAP have long been strategic partners, but last year the companies took steps to make that relationship even closer. In June, SAP said it would begin reselling the Visiprise Manufacturing product under the name “SAP Manufacturing Execution by Visiprise.”

This solution provides powerful route enforcement, traceability, and shop-floor execution capabilities. It integrates with the SAP ERP suite through the SAP Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence (SAP MII) composite application.

In January of this year, Visiprise and SAP announced an agreement that calls for Tata Consultancy to work with manufacturers to install and maintain SAP Manufacturing Execution by Visiprise.

The companies said their collaborative efforts will be part of a “perfect plant” initiative. This program is to be built around a Perfect Plant center of excellence—a virtual manufacturing scenario lab to be operated by a global "virtual team" from TCS and SAP. The center of excellence was conceived to help manufacturers achieve the perfect plant by combining global manufacturing coordination with local execution to improve end-to-end manufacturing operations and financial performance, according to SAP and TCS executives.