| |
|
Success Stories |
|
|
 |
|
System
Integration |
| |
|
CLIENT:
Everest & Jennings
|
|
|
|
BACKGROUND: |
|
|
|
Everest & Jennings is an innovative manufacturer of heath care
products for physically challenged people. They are famed for their
development of tubular wheelchair technology. They manufacture
today’s battery-powered wheelchairs as well as the traditional
folding kind. They also produce a range of other related health care
products. They operate manufacturing and distributing facilities in
Canada, the US and Mexico. |
| |
|
OUR EXPERTISE: |
|
|
|
In
this Success Story, we look at how Everest & Jennings called on
Aimsoft’s Systems Integration resources to facilitate the moving of
their manufacturing base from the US to Canada. |
|
|
|
THE CHALLENGE: |
|
|
|
The time frame
for this extensive project was the mid 90’s. The company had decided
to gradually shift manufacturing operations from St. Louis Missouri
to its more modernized facility in
Concord,
Ontario. Aimsoft was assigned IT responsibility for the move because
of its knowledge of Canadian manufacturing systems. |
|
|
|
Under the new,
internationally configured company, US customers were to be
supported through the
St. Louis
customer service centre. The US entity was to become a distributor
for products made by Everest & Jennings in Canada. At the time of
the move, Canadian operations were being run using MAPICS
manufacturing software on IBM System/36, while US operations used
BPCS ERP software on the IBM AS/400 system. The two systems needed
to be integrated so that Everest & Jennings could efficiently
operate as one company. The manufacturing process was complicated by
the need to create ‘configured’ wheelchairs, specially built for
individual customers. |
| |
|
AIMSOFT SOLUTIONS: |
|
|
|
At the time of
the move, the decision was made to stay with MAPICS software due to
the unique needs of Canadian manufacturing. Our initial task was to
integrate Canadian non-manufacturing applications (such as:
Inventory, Order Entry, Purchasing and Accounting) running on BPCS-AS/400
with manufacturing applications (such as: Shop Floor Control and
Engineering) running on MAPICS-S/36. |
|
|
|
Aimsoft was able
to solve this problem through our unique ability to build
functioning bridges between the two systems. We recommended that
Everest & Jennings acquire Advanced 36 – AS/400 hardware capable of
running the S/36 operating system. This enabled communication of
information between the two platforms. All nodes and interfaces
where the two systems needed to talk to each other were defined and
triggering mechanisms were established. In this way, a sales order
could come into the system using BPCS software, be converted to a
manufacturing order under MAPICS, then triggered into a receipt of
finished good back in BPCS software. Stock balances could be kept in
sync on both systems for engineering and inventory purposes. |
|
|
|
THE RESULTS: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
