Ameritex Turns Quotes Around In Hours and Integrates Data Seamlessly Into ERP
Location
Conroe, TX
Company Plan
Enterprise
Processes
Sheet Metal
The Challenge
Ameritex’s quoting process was riddled with bottlenecks and human error, forcing COO Zack Fennell and his team to reconcile issues manually and, at worst, incur costs based on those errors.
The Solution
Ameritex implemented Paperless Parts to streamline the quoting process, integrate quoting with its ERP system, and connect the front office with the shop floor to boost capacity. It’s now the centralized hub and single trusted source to ingest and house part data that informs production.
The Results
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Ameritex now has complete confidence in the accuracy of its quoting data, and project details flow directly into the company’s ERP system following a seamless integration with Paperless Parts.
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Customers receive consistent and thorough quotes in hours, and all parties have access to the same project information, including 3D models, eliminating errors prior to production.
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Workflow automation saves Fennell and other production engineers from spending excessive time on front office activities.
Background
Ameritex is a Texas-based provider of advanced metal fabrication services. The company has been delivering fabricated metal components to customers across the United States since 2004. What differentiates Ameritex from other machine and fabrication shops is its commitment to using the best technology available.
Today, Ameritex offers many services, including laser cutting, sheet and plate rolling, welding, and more. The metal fabricator serves more than 1,000 customers and prides itself on completing projects quickly at the highest quality, no matter how big or small.
Challenge
Despite Ameritex’s production capabilities, COO Zack Fennell was dealing with several front office issues. First, employees spent considerable time inputting job data manually into the company’s ERP platform, E2. This led to routing errors, payment term problems, incorrect part number entries, and general scheduling confusion. Ameritex knew there was an opportunity to automate and boost productivity but didn’t have the right tools to connect the front office to the shop floor.
Second, Ameritex’s quoting process was antiquated and inconsistent. In order to get quotes out quickly, the process would often result in overlooking details and quoting inaccurately to avoid having quotes sit for days or weeks. Each estimator quoted parts differently with very little being tracked throughout the process, causing inconsistency in the quotes delivered. Their quoting process often missed small details or contained mistakes due to human error and as a result, Ameritex had to absorb the cost if a part was produced incorrectly.
Third, Ameritex was only winning an average of 30% of the jobs they quoted, and often would have programmers spending hours programming parts to get runtimes on jobs they would statistically lose. This was a waste of time and resources.
Ultimately, Fennell had little confidence in Ameritex’s quoting accuracy, consistency, and data quality. Ameritex needed a solution that could not only integrate seamlessly with its ERP system, E2, but also streamline the quoting process to merge the front office with the shop floor more efficiently. This would enable the company’s manufacturing engineers to focus more time where they wanted to.
“Most people who start these types of businesses are shop people,” says Fennell. “They want to be on the floor doing work – that’s where the passion is.”
Solution
Ameritex had been searching for a way to price with models for a while, and it was difficult to find technology that supported the automation of their specific capabilities. No quoting tools met Ameritex’s goals like Paperless Parts, which can support the unique needs of quick-turn, low-volume metal fabrication companies. Paperless Parts integrates seamlessly with ERP platforms like E2, and offers a tremendous degree of customization.
Another benefit of Paperless Parts is it can instantly analyze a 3D model and generate a list of features for estimators to price. The platform keeps quotes and models in one place for all to reference, including the customer, and removes any subjectivity associated with quoting. Ameritex’s estimators also now have a compelling reason to ask customers for their models: they’ll get back higher-quality quotes in a fraction of the time.
Equally as important, the team no longer needs to input purchase orders or data manually into E2. Paperless Parts generates the quote and then pushes orders directly to the ERP.
Results
Using Paperless Parts, Ameritex:
- Connects quoting directly with resource planning: Paperless Parts feeds data directly into E2 that manufacturing engineers can use to schedule production. Furthermore, Ameritex can automate and customize how data moves between the two platforms, eliminating manual data entry, and human error, from the process.
- Increases confidence across the board: Ameritex trusts that its quotes are accurate, consistent, and thorough. The team only runs into data errors every few weeks compared to what was once a daily occurrence and front office headache.
- Minimizes revenue loss and wasteful costs: Ameritex spends less money hiring outside designers to redraw models, and the shop floor doesn’t have to remake parts as often due to errors in the quoting process.
- Shortens its quoting cycle: Ameritex now has the capacity to deliver quotes in hours rather than weeks. The team can upload designs directly into Paperless Parts, knowing the platform will capture all features that need to be quoted in one place.
- Paperless Parts gives Ameritex total control over how they share data: The platform supports resource planning thanks to its ability to integrate seamlessly with E2. After years of multi-week quoting, Ameritex now has a cloud-based solution in Paperless Parts that empowers estimators to deliver consistent and accurate quotes.