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To succeed in today’s manufacturing industry, companies must be efficient, innovative, customer focused, and skilled at using business-critical information. Achieving any one of these goals requires the standardization of business processes, integration of systems and processes, and timely retrieval of business-critical information. When critical information resides on disparate systems, employees may have difficulty gaining an accurate view into the state of company. The mere thought of taking many different sources of data and combining them into one meaningful database is enough to make even a seasoned programmer’s head spin! Universal Labeling Systems, Inc., a manufacturer of pressure sensitive labeling equipment, faced just this challenge.

Universal Labeling Systems is considered the industry’s most comprehensive manufacturer of pressure sensitive labeling equipment. All Universal products are designed and manufactured in-house and are supported by an expert technical staff and world-wide network of authorized distributors. Universal’s engineers possess the expertise gained from having designed more than 18,000 labeling machines and systems over the past 40 years. Over those 40 years, Universal has grown to meet their customer demands, which resulted in an array of systems used for a wide range of business applications. Using a combination of Encore ERP and Access-based systems for order entry and manufacturing, AutoCAD for engineering, and Great Plains for accounting, their basic needs were covered, but none of their systems talked to each other, resulting in redundant data entry processes and poor data query tools.

Universal’s management struggled trying to find a complete ERP solution that would:

1.) Allow engineers to design custom parts in Autodesk and seamlessly push them into the ERP system.

2.) Provide programming expertise to migrate nearly 500 access databases and other legacy systems into one database.

3.) Provide customized bar-code technologies and other CAD technologies to ERP integration.

Fortunately, with New Generation Business Solutions (NG erp), Universal found the system and programming expertise they needed. Universal selected NG erp’s business management software to streamline and automate all of their business processes, including Sales / CRM, MRP, Inventory Control, Shop Floor Control, QC, Customer Care, and Field Service. In addition, NG erp was able to migrate all of Universal’s data into the NG databases and create the required custom interfaces between Autodesk Inventor and NG erp.

The partnership between Universal and NG erp was now solidified and the implementation plan was set into motion. Implementing an ERP system is a challenging experience for any organization. The KISS (Keep It Super Simple) principle was critical at Universal. Users can get starry-eyed when they see the capabilities of a new ERP system and imagine being able to employ all sorts of new time-saving tools. The real benefits for Universal that came from ERP involved automating their existing processes and transactions, and providing a central repository for all business data to which everyone has access. It enabled all employees at Universal to play from the same sheet of music instead of each person playing their own tune from disparate sources of information.