How Apagen Streamlined Operations for a LT Panel Manufacturer

Today we will be showcasing how we provided a solution to a LT panel manufacturer which heped them streamline the manufacturing operations.

Overview of Client

Our client is into making custom LT panels for industrial and commercial projects. The utilize different vendors for procuring multiple components. After they have procured the components, in house teams assemble the panels and then they are tested for quality. Thereafter the panels are delivered to end consumers. Apart from that, they also provide maintenance for the installed panels. Growth was not an issue but their processes were manual, slow and prone to errors.

Excerpt of Project

The client wanted us to provide them with a structure, visibility and speeding up their operations. A lot of processes like – purchase orders creation through manual intervention, stock registers, QC, and maintenance logs were causing delays. Their manufacturing unit’s team were not able to see the stock levels in real time, vendor bills were mismatching, along with that the quality assurance and maintenance data was always on papers. They asked us to streamline their Purchase → Inventory → Manufacturing → QC → Maintenance through a unified system.

Challenges & Objectives

The LT Panel manufacturing client had a lot of problems on the ground, to mention some are –

• Their teams were tracking purchase orders and receipts manually.
• The need of specific one time projects were unclear and misaligned with the inventory.
• There was a poor coordination between the teams which was leading to higher procurement delays.
• There were also some internal issues which led to vendor bills being delayed or even mismatched.
• Due to their practice of jotting down quality checks on paper, the relevant data was becoming hard to trace for future use.
• Whenever there was a requirement for machinery maintenance the requests were tracked verbally as they had no system to put in track the requests.

When we were discussing the requirements the client said that right now their main objective were –

• To streamline all of their operations in one workflow.
• Get a real time visibility of their materials.
• Reduction of manual work and cut the duplicate data.
• Improvement of their procurement planning along with coordination with their vendors.
• Provide all of their teams with a single source of truth.

Scope of Work

Our team gave the LT panel manufacturer a scope of work that would fulfill their main objectives wherein we were going to –

• Purchase order creation and approvals were to be be automated.
• Integrate inventory with manufacturing and project needs.
• Vendor bills were to be validated automatically.
• For their materials and assemblies we had to add QC check points for proper quality checks.
• Set up scheduled machinery maintenance.
• Set up a standardized workflow across their departments to cover – procurement, QC, production, and maintenance.

Solution Design

We used our custom manufacturing solution designed on top of the Odoo framework. Here are the key features that were introduced –

• We automated the purchase wherein the system generated purchase orders whenever the stock hits a minimum or when a project requires materials.
• Provided inventory dashboard that shows which stock is in hand, reserved, and in transit. This will help every one to be on the same page with the same numbers.
• Ensured zero billing errors by three way matching that is PO + GRN + Vendor Bill.
• QC integration will help them in stopping the material movement to inventory unless QC passes them. So, if a batch fails the testing, system will flag it and prevents it from going into the production.
• Preventive maintenance schedules pop up automatically so if there is a monthly motor check it triggers a ticket before a breakdown happens.
• Notifications for low stock, pending receipts, and delayed vendor bills are there to check the important things.

Our Implementation Steps

1. Process Mapping:
   First of al we went out on ground to check and document how procurement, inventory, QC, production, and maintenance currently worked in the manufacturing plant.
2. Module Configuration:
   After the first step we went on to setup – purchase, inventory, manufacturing, QC, and maintenance modules in Odoo that we have customized as per the vertical.
3. Workflow Creation:
   When we were done with the module configurations, we started defining PO triggers, approval hierarchy, QC rules, and maintenance schedules.
4. Data Migration:
   We then proceeded further to import vendor master, product lists, opening stock, QC history, and past maintenance logs.
5. User Training:
   Provided hand on practice with dashboards in training sessions for procurement, store, QC, accounts, and maintenance teams.
6. Pilot & Go-Live:
   We rolled out the unified system in phases. First POs → inventory → QC → production → maintenance tickets and then we gradually scaled up.

Some of the Execution Challenges

• Moving from paper to screens was kind of resisted by their staff initially.
• Initially their purchase and production schedules were not aligned.
• There were inconsistencies in the product names and SKUs.
• initially the vendor invoices were not matching with their purchase orders.

How we solved these challenges

• We set up weekly change management sessions with their staff.
• We set up clear standard operating procedures for each team.
• Every one was able to access the real-time dashboards allowing them to see the same data.
• Their teams were able to move quickly through the system and started adapting the same after they saw fewer errors and faster approvals.

Results & Impact

After the implementation of the Odoo ERP software system now the client has evaluated the impact it has brought to their business. To mention some are –

• Faster procurement cycles are there which have come down from 5–7 days to almost 48 hours.
• They have zero vendor billing mismatches after three way match setup.
• Procurement and production now have a real time visibility into the inventory.
• Accurate vendor billing has improved their cash flow.
• From purchase to panel dispatch they have a complete traceability.
• Breakdowns have reduced due to the preventive maintenance.
• QC team are now able to flags defective components instantly before moving to the production.
• Maintenance team can check and see pending and completed tickets along with the spares used.

Feedback of LT Panel Manufacturer & Innovations

What the LT panel manufacturer has to say –

“We don’t chase vendors or search files anymore. Everything from stock, POs, QC, bills, and maintenance is now visible in one single dashboard.”

Innovations Introduced:

• Added real time low stock triggers.
• Integrated QC checks with inventory.
• Maintenance tickets were linked with stock consumption.
• Department-wise material consumption analytics was provided.
• Preventive maintenance alerts now ensure that there are no surprises.

Key Learnings & Project Team

Here are a few points that we would like to share that we learnt from this project –

• You need to standardize the product and SKUs upfront as this will help to avoid confusions later down the line.
• Staff should see the value of the system and change management is a critical point for the same.
• Procurement, QC, production, and maintenance teams should always work on the same data.

Project Team(Apagen):

• ERP Functional Consultants(1).
• Procurement & Manufacturing Experts(2).
• Implementation & Support Engineers(2).
• Client Procurement, QC, Accounts, and Maintenance Teams

We have taken utmost care by providing a feasible solution that has helped our LT panel manufacturer. If you are also manufacturing LT panels and are looking forward to digitize your operations drop us a line at sales@apagen.com or call us on +91 9971800665.