Clyde Bergemann’s ERP system did not support the company’s quality processes. As a result, the use of standalone databases and isolated spreadsheets complicated their production workflows.

CHALLENGE

Clyde Bergemann is a global manufacturer of boiler cleaning solutions for power markets. An ISO 9001:2008 certification uncovered deficiencies in how the company managed job quality. The problem stemmed from the ERP system – it could handle the key functions, but it did meet the company’s quality management needs. As a result, employees and departments created standalone databases to perform various quality functions. These silos of information – often isolated spreadsheets – complicated the ability to get information to the right people at the right time. Because there was no standard data and reporting structure for customer issues, identifying and resolving quality problems was cumbersome.

SOLUTION

Clyde Bergemann realized they needed better visibility into their business processes and a mechanism to manage quality across all departments – especially customer issues that touched purchasing, receiving, inventory management, work in process, shipping, and customer installs.

TwinEngines analyzed all the quality workflows – from identifying processes, the people involved, the interactions between departments and customers, and the flow of information that supported the processes. Through this across-the-board audit, TwinEngines organized all quality-related actions and standardized on a common data and reporting structure.

Each quality-related action was mapped, including audit findings, deviation requests, corrective/preventative action requests, customer service requests, field service requests, engineering change notices, nonconformance material reports, requests for repair-refurbish-replace, and RMAs. Automatic routing of tasks, notifications, and audit logging were built into the workflows.

RESULTS

TwinEngines developed a Quality Management System built around a Visibility Platform with ERP integration. The new solution embraces automated workflows, routings and audit logging, quality actions visibility, and connections to Infor VISUAL ERP data and transactions.

Every employee now has a view of the quality actions they own, the approvals needed, and follow-up activities. Whether a part is in inventory, in production, or ready for shipping, employees have access to quality information at the time and place they need it.

Employees now have a complete picture of quality in real-time with visibility of business processes across all departments.

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