This is an interview with Scott Brickler the Chief Software Architect and a partner at SolutionsX LLC. Recently he answered the following questions concerning the benefits of having CAD-ERP integration.
Why would companies consider adding a CAD integration tool to their ERP system?
Brickler: CAD to ERP integration makes a lot of sense when a company is doing a large amount of engineering or turnover of new designs and/or design changes. Businesses like these are often designing and building custom or configurable products for each customer and are often trying to find ways to cut the lead time from order to shipment. The manual transfer of data between the CAD software and SYSPRO can add unnecessary hours and days to the lead time of a product. If you factor in the possibility of BOM errors the delays are even worse. It is critical that companies in the MTO or ETO industry think lean and reduce their activities to the value added processes like design and manufacturing. Engineers are often tasked with getting the BOM information into the ERP and this can be a huge drain on their time. Any time savings for these high value employees has huge returns for a company.
What types of companies benefit the least from having their CAD product integrated with their ERP?
Brickler: CAD integration isn’t as beneficial for companies who have extremely infrequent and long design cycles for product. An example could be a company who builds a cell phone or automobile where new models are generated every few years instead of every few days or weeks. Companies in this space typically benefit from a more formal PLM type software to manage the complexity of the design process.
What are some things a company should be looking for in a CAD integration solution?
Brickler: Businesses should look for a solution that has had a deep partnership with both the CAD vendor and ERP vendor. The ERP vendor relationship is actually the most critical. ERP often requires much more information than the CAD system does and the customer will benefit the most by going with a product that has deep integration and knowledge of the ERP package. It is also important that the CAD integration tool be very flexible and allow for future changes to the logic without extensive programming.
What would you say to companies that are leery of add-on products or fear they won’t get an ROI?
Brickler: For companies that use ERP for manufacturing, the Bill of Material (BOM) is the keystone data that drives every other aspect of the ERP system. MRP uses the BOM to determine demand and offer recommendations for supply. Costs for manufactured parts are driven from routing and BOM data. Order entry needs to know what items to put on orders. Everything in ERP system starts with a BOM. Therefore, it is critical that a company invest in making BOM as accurate as possible so that they can realize the full benefit of their ERP investment. CAD integration is a way to ensure that accuracy. If you consider the far reaching importance of the BOM to the ERP system the ROI for that investment is measured in weeks and months.
How long should it take for a company to get a CAD integration tool implemented?
Brickler: Implementation time should be measured in days and weeks instead of months. We are not implementing an ERP system. Very often companies can implement the basics and get a big benefit in hours. Once implemented additional areas of improvement become apparent and easily added for additional savings. The most successful implementations typically start with the basics and evolve from there.
How are companies able to quantify the benefit of using CAD integration?
Brickler: Hard cost savings are made using labor hours saved entering Stock Code and BOM data manually. Many customers can also place a hard cost saving in the reduction of BOM errors that always accompanies this type of integration. Harder to measure soft cost savings are lead time reduction and additional benefits provided by employees no longer burdened by entering BOMs manually.
-Scott Brickler
Scott Brickler is the Chief Software Architect and a partner at SolutionsX LLC.
Among his specialties are Lean Manufacturing, Software Development & Architecture, CAD/CAM, Workflow Automation, System Integration, Project Management, and SYSPRO ERP. Scott was instrumental in developing CADTalk which is an add-on solution available for SYSPRO users.
About SolutionsX
SolutionsX provides professional consultancy, business expertise, and software solutions to help clients reduce costs, manage risk, and leverage people, processes, and technology for competitive advantage. SolutionsX serves clients by bringing proven, real-world expertise to bear on complex business challenges. SolutionsX is also the developer of CADTalk for SYSPRO which is a CAD integration tool that allows CAD software users to communicate with their SYSPRO ERP system.
About SYSPRO
SYSPRO is the leading supplier of ERP software to mid-market manufacturers and distributors. SYSPRO has more than 15,000 licensed customers in over 60 countries around the globe. If you’d like an ERP expert to contact you and further discuss how SYSPRO ERP can streamline your business processes, please contact us.