From Manual to Automated: How Sands Agricultural Machinery Streamlined Their Manufacturing Process
CHALLENGE
Sands Agricultural Machinery, a British-based manufacturer of self-propelled crop sprayers and heavy agricultural equipment, faced significant challenges in their manufacturing process management. The company, which handles everything from design to assembly in-house, needed to establish a seamless connection between their Autodesk Inventor CAD system and Infor CloudSuite Industrial ERP platform.
Why was the connection so important? Sands Agricultural was seeing a lot of inefficiencies and errors resulting from a disconnected CAD and ERP. Those errors included:
- Inaccurate bills of materials in their systems
- Disconnected design and manufacturing processes
- Heavy administrative workload
- Delays in order fulfillment
PAIN POINTS
Ben Johnson of Sands Agricultural explained that the flow of information required far more time and energy that the company wanted to spend.
"We were quite disjointed in that our design department would design something and that item may or may not get put on the system if it is or isn't purchased," Johnson explained.
"If it's purchased, it would have been put on the system. If it was manufactured, it probably would not have been."
Johnson found he and his team were simply spending far too much time doing manual work and data entry. And that resulted in a lot of "firefighting." He summarized the issues as the following:
- Design department work in Autodesk Inventor wasn't consistently transferred to the Infor CloudSuite Industrial system.
- Purchased items were tracked, but manufactured items often weren't.
- Manual work was required to maintain system accuracy.
- Staff spent significant time "firefighting" instead of focusing on their primary responsibilities.
We were quite disjointed in that our design department would design something and that item may or may not get put on the system if it is or isn't purchased. If it's purchased, it would have been put on the system. If it was manufactured, it probably would not have been.
BEN JOHNSON
SANDS AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY
THE SEARCH PROCESS
Sands Agricultural previously tried to bridge the gap between its CAD and ERP systems with another recommended product instead of CADTALK. However, significant challenges arose during implementation:
- The initial solution lacked crucial automation features
- Configuration options were limited
- Installation proved more complex than anticipated
This experience led them to search for a more comprehensive solution, ultimately leading them to CADTALK to integrate their Autodesk Inventor designs with Infor CloudSuite Industrial.
The initial reaction was how easy [CADTALK] was to use. How easy it was just to load in a drawing... Very few settings when you're uploading something because you can configure it so that it works out what it needs to be and does all the correct combinations.
BEN JOHNSON
SANDS AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY
THE SOLUTION
CADTALK now offers Sands Agricultural Machinery an intelligent integration solution to create a seamless connection between Autodesk Inventor and Infor CloudSuite Industrial.
What does the engineering to manufacturing handoff look like for Sands now? The following:
- Simple drawing upload process from Autodesk Inventor
- Extensive configuration options for both CAD and ERP integration
- Automated item settings
- Minimal manual intervention required
- Quick transition from incorrect to accurate bills of materials
"We are accurately tracking the items and components that are used on each machine," reports Johnson. "It means that we're ordering things at the right time in the right quantities, so it's freeing people up and freeing their time up to do less firefighting."
"People aren't paid to be firefighters here."
What does that freed time mean for your business financially? Visit CADTALK's ROI Calculator tool to find out! You can input your businesses' own numbers to see the benefits of an engineering to manufacturing handoff that is five times faster.
Watch the video above to see a demo of CADTALK"s integration between Inventor and CloudSuite Industrial!
It means that we're ordering things at the right time in the right quantities, so it's freeing people up and freeing their time up to do less firefighting... people aren't paid to be firefighters here.
BEN JOHNSON
SANDS AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY
WHAT MADE CADTALK DIFFERENT
Johnson highlighted several distinguishing factors that set CADTALK apart:
- Quick Implementation: Installation went simply and Johnson reported no issues during implementation.
- Responsive Support: The CADTALK team provided prompt assistance when needed.
- User Configurability: "I've been able to learn what I needed to learn to really mold it around our business," Johnson said.
- Automation Capabilities: The system's ability to configure and automate processes between Autodesk Inventor and Infor CloudSuite Industrial exceeded their previous solution.
WHO BENEFITS MOST
According to Johnson, CADTALK is particularly valuable for:
- Manufacturing companies with tight time constraints
- Small teams needing to bridge communication gaps between CAD and ERP systems
- Organizations looking to automate system connections
- Companies seeking to reduce manual data entry and improve accuracy
"I definitely recommend CADTALK for any manufacturing company where time is tight - which is probably everyone, to be perfectly honest," concludes Johnson.
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