Machine-Intelligence Platform in ERP Software Drives Utilization Gains

All Metals Fabricating Inc. (AMF), Allen, TX, a family-owned and -operated sheet metal fabricating, welding and machining company, has a clear goal: be the best and most automated contract manufacturer in the world by 2030. To help do that, AMF, while searching in 2021 through its JobBoss ERP provider, ECI Software Solutions, for a machine-monitoring product, was introduced to ECI’s Alora machine-intelligence platform.

Alora integrates out-of-the-box with ECI’s JobBoss, and as AMF leverages JobBoss ERP to support its focus on growth, the integration between ECI and Alora is key. 

“The fact that Alora tied into our ERP system was huge; that made the choice a no-brainer for us because it helps us limit system sprawl,” explains AMF CEO Lance Thrailkill, representing the third generation of his family to guide the company. 

Since incorporating Alora, Thrailkill has realized that the manufacturing-intelligence solution delivers significantly more value than expected.

“Initially, machine monitoring was the big appeal,” he says. “Then we got into the dashboards and analytics, and I realized that data go hand in hand with what we’re doing here.”

At the base level, Alora’s ability to connect bilaterally into JobBoss ERP allows AMF to see all current jobs on all its machines right on the stripe chart, driving the type of improvement that Thrailkill strives for. In fact, in the first 6 mo. after deploying Alora, AMF realized improvement across the shop floor, including departments that improved utilization rates by as much as 152%.
“Awareness fuels the conversation,” he says, “and the metrics raise the questions about what else we can do to improve. For example, our operators realized that we needed additional standardizing on tooling. With that and some reorganization, we gained efficiency, driven by the operators and not management. We’ve been accumulating data and also getting that data in front of our people to help them set goals and drive accountability.”

Return on investment (ROI) from implementation of Alora in JobBoss includes financial and soft rewards.

“Efficiency and utilization are two different things and coupling them together is powerful on several fronts,” Thrailkill says. “When we look at the improved utilization alone, that completely justifies it from the numbers side. But you can’t measure the soft wins—engagement, continuous improvement, morale. Those are harder to put an ROI on, and that’s gravy.”