Wisconsin Film & Bag Realizes Immediate Returns on Consona's DTR Master Scheduling Module

Leading Packaging Manufacturer Boosts Output and Efficiency Without Expanded Facilities, Equipment or Labor

Indianapolis (Vocus/PRWEB ) June 29, 2010 -- Consona Corporation, a worldwide leader in providing customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and services for companies of all sizes, today announced thatWisconsin Film & Bag (WFB) has realized significant returns on their investment in the DTR Master Scheduling Module in only six months since its implementation.News Image

 

Wisconsin Film & Bag (WFB) is a leading manufacturer of high-quality recycled-content custom film and bags for industrial and institutional packaging, and prime-grade film and bags for food processing applications, based in Shawano, Wis. WFB has relied on DTR ERP software product since 1998, and is now working with the most current version, 9.3. In December of 2003, the company made the decision to implement the scheduling module, allowing WFB to take full advantage of material requirement planning (MRP) and the reports associated with scheduling.

WFB found that the traditional scheduling product functioned well but continued to use many side systems as part of the scheduling process. The master scheduling solution was seen as an all inclusive product allowing the company to operate more efficiently.

In July of 2009, WFB sought to hire a new scheduler for their manufacturing operations. The company decided the timing was ideal to simultaneously convert their operations to master scheduling. The team was interested in the APICS scheduling methodology and the item customization features and felt confident that this upgrade would benefit their bottom line. Industry experts strongly encouraged the company to choose a candidate with strong process knowledge in order to best execute these changes.

Since implementing the master scheduling module from DTR, a new day has dawned at WFB in terms of capacity and efficiency. With the hire of a scheduler with a high level of expertise and the conversion to a software package with greater flexibility, WFB increased production output by 10 percent in the four months following conversion. Remarkably, this boost in output occurred without the purchase of equipment, expansion of the facility or the addition of labor.

The WFB manufacturing operation runs 24/7 and performs approximately 60 changeovers per day. Because the company schedules so many jobs per day, there must be a seamless transition between jobs in order to meet customer delivery requirements. With master scheduling, the support staff has better visibility to the scheduling information through the DTR ERP queries and reports, allowing for improved responsiveness to customer inquiries. WFB is a custom shop with a 7-10 days lead-time, so speed throughout the organization is a need not a want.

WFB's conversion to the DTR Master Scheduling Module resulted in the following notable benefits:
 

 
  • Immediate cost savings;
  • 10 percent capacity expansion;
  • A boost in operational efficiency;
  • Enhanced customer service; and
  • Total return on investment in less than six months.

”When the company can gain capacity without spending capital on manufacturing assets, project approval is an easy sell,” said Al Johnson, vice president and chief financial officer at WFB. “The fully integrated ERP system was of significant interest to buyer candidates back in 2007. Since we became a location tracked facility and converted to master scheduling, the company is continually seeking ways to make its software systems even better. Future enhancements that are already being considered include a business intelligence system and process monitoring.”

“WFB has relied on Consona's DTR solution for well over a decade now, and continues to benefit from the upgrades and product enhancements that we design with the particular interests of their industry in mind,” said Scott Malia, general manager, Consona ERP division. “It's incredibly rewarding for us to see our customers grow and prosper, and it is successes like WFB's that drive us to continually improve the performance and capabilities of our solutions.”

DTR is Consona's ERP solution designed specifically for the unique requirements of the plastics processing industry. The Master Scheduling Module generates forward finite, queued, and just-in-time scheduling for all workstations and secondary operations, allowing increased visibility into where sub-component and assembly jobs are scheduled and identify late jobs, material shortages, and available stations and tools, helping to maximize machine utilization and efficiently determine production schedules.

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