Episode 39: Expediting ERP Software Deployments

In the latest installment of On the Line, Products Finishing learned about a recent ERP deployment by manufacturing software solutions provider Steelhead Technologies that was completed in record time for A1 Paint, Powder and Sandblasting in Kansas City, Missouri. Frank Laster, president and owner of A1 and Jordan Peterson, deployment engineer for Steelhead Technologies, recently took some time out of their busy schedules to tell us about the project.

Tell us a bit about A1’s current capabilities and the markets that you serve.

FL: We serve as a job shop for about anybody. The markets we try to niche towards are companies that manufacture larger parts — steel fabrication manufacturers that deal in structural steel. Some of our larger customers build structures for waterparks throughout the U.S. We do a lot of structural steel for other companies that fabricate outside the area and bring the parts to Kansas City to have them coated and then transported on to the job sites.

Describe your process prior to adopting Steelhead’s ERP system. What factors led you to seek out a new system, and how did you go about selecting Steelhead?

FL: When we first started out, our processes were communicated verbally through the staff. We would have a morning meeting and say, “This is what we’re doing today.” As we grew, so did our communication. It went from verbal to a piece of paper that was handed out, and then became an Excel spreadsheet. Eventually, we hired an intern who wrote up a program for us — a cloud-based Google Drive document that gave us an opportunity to receive all our documents, track the production of the pieces, and communicate with the staff. The system gave everybody online availability to see what we were doing and what the goals were for the day.

Basically, we turned to Steelhead because we felt that we were starting to outgrow what we had created internally. We knew from participating in peer groups through the Chemical Coaters Association that there were different systems that gave the ability for better communication, more in-depth knowledge and to gather better data. We felt this was a great opportunity to advance our tracking with our ERP system, improve communication with our staff, and improve visibility on the profitability and success of each day.

You’ve said software deployment was accomplished in just 36 hours — that seems like an ambitious undertaking.

JP: Steelhead is always trying to improve our customer’s lead times in the job shop, so this was kind of an experiment to see if we could increase our own lead time, right? In general, ERP systems are not known to be quick deployment projects. We thought, “We can do this much quicker.” We found a perfect partner in A1 — they already had a pretty incredible system, and they were always looking to improve, and very driven as well.

FL: I felt that this was, as Jordan said, an ideal environment for Steelhead to test their rollout in — I was very receptive to what they wanted to do.

In terms of training your team to handle this new system, can you talk about that process?

FL: The hardest thing for us in the deployment was to pull away from what we used to do. That happens anytime you have change. But, it was one of the things that I told our team — there would be no going back. When people wanted to fall back into old systems that we had in place, we wouldn’t allow that — it was not an option.

The hard thing when you bring in a new system is the change. I truly believe that the success from this came partly from Steelhead’s commitment to being here. They had a team of seven on site and my team saw that commitment and saw it was something that they needed to commit to as well. The team here at A1 realized that they needed to learn this process, because it was going to be the process we wouldgo forward with.

Initial training was done on the second day that the system was in place. But actual training and the instigation of the process really came from on-the-job training. Jordan and I, along with the team, set up a daily check-in via Zoom to make sure that everything was working in a positive manner, as well as to discuss any modifications that we would like to make to make our system more unique to howwe do things.

What kind of results are you seeing now that the system is in place?

FL: We’re seeing a lot more information being communicated through the system. Everybody knows what’s going on and our priorities. That’s now being handled by the cloud system versus verbally via walkie-talkies, as we've done in the past.  We have a 60,000 square foot warehouse, and the office is on one side of the building — so sometimes the communication was difficult. The new system has improved that. Production has also been more efficient. The labeling system, the QR codes to be able to communicate, being able to monitor actual usage of powders specifically to a project versus just a Color Run for the day — these are the areas where we are seeing good results in being able to cost out jobs. We’ve been able to see some of the efficiencies in margins and identify which jobs are actually more profitable to us — and ones we may need to take a look at pricing on.