The software has made the company’s entire business more metrics-driven and transparent, Simmons reports, resulting in employees feeling more connected to the company’s mission.
“Automated dashboards at all sites project real-time KPIs so that each person can see his or her own impact on the business and how we are performing collectively,” he says.
One key benefit of the Epicor solution: API integration, which helps improve logistics by connecting to external applications such as FedEx and UPS. Epicor Kinetic also connects with Tuffaloy’s internal systems.
“We have approximately 6500 products on our website, and store all the data in Epicor, making for easy updates and maintenance,” Simmons says. “the same is true with our custom ecommerce site for distributors; Epicor pushes all the data to the site for real-time order information.”
Enhanced visibility from Epicor Kinetic has resulted in
increased on-time delivery in the United States, from 80 to 92 percent, and
from 65 to 90 percent in Canada. Cash-cycle improvements include a 50-percent
decrease in manufacturing overtime costs in the first year alone.
“As an example,” Simmons says, “we can now see the cash impact of a copper purchase—our primary raw material—in multiple timeframes. The software gives us the business intelligence needed to make critical decisions earlier and with a higher degree of confidence.”
And, by leveraging real-time data via the ERP software, Tuffaloy
has been able to optimize its supply-chain performance through quick
identification of potential inventory issues and automatic notification of
impacted departments to enable them to take corrective action, such as using
alternative suppliers or substituting components.
Simmons sees additional advantages ahead from his
partnership with Epicor. He has plans to utilize Epicor machine learning and artificial-intelligence
capabilities to improve forecasting and further optimize inventory levels. And,
a project to automate sales orders is underway along with planned deployment of
Epicor Data Analytics for improved budgeting.
Summarizing, “Epicor’s ERP gives us the business intelligence needed to make critical decisions earlier and with a higher degree of confidence,” Simmons says. “It is helping achieve my goal of improving Tuffaloy and leaving it in a stronger, future-ready position for the next generation.”
Technologies: Management, Welding and Joining
Tuffaloy Products, with locations in the United States,
Canada, Mexico and Europe, supplies resistance-welding consumables and
accessories, and had been making do with an aged DOS-based green-screen enterprise
resource planning (ERP) system. 
