Headquartered in Mentor, Ohio, MUM Industries, Inc. encompasses three entities that provide comprehensive contract manufacturing services to customers in consumer, commercial and industrial markets. And they efficiently manage these three different entities using Global Shop Solutions ERP software.
As with any mixed-mode manufacturer, efficient material handling and inventory management is essential for producing jobs on time and within budget. Previously, MUM Industries’ lack of an inventory bin system led to cumbersome, error-prone materials movement and inaccurate inventory counts. Getting the right materials to the job on time was a hit or miss process, and managers never knew how much inventory was on hand at any given moment.
Since implementing a bin system and using Paperless software called GS Mobile to manage materials and inventory in real-time, MUM Industries has completely transformed its material management process. This has resulted in fast, accurate inventory movements and bin-to-bin transfers in real-time.
Although MUM Industries performs regular cycle counts in their ERP software, they still perform physical inventory counts once a year. However, moving to a bin system enabled them to use GS Mobile to automate much of the counting and data entry process, thereby reducing the time it takes to perform physical inventory counts from 10 to 2.5 days.
“GS Mobile is much faster because it eliminates most of the manual entry from the process. Upgrading to the CODESOFT labeling software also made the count go faster. We saved thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of labor time by not having to shut down for two whole weeks while we count inventory.”
Ann Marie Yates, IT/IS Manager at MUM Industries
Meanwhile, using GS Mobile to stage shipments has dramatically increased visibility of inventory on hand by automatically allocating parts to an order once it has been staged.
Low pricing isn’t the only factor in today’s competitive manufacturing markets. Customers also want on-time delivery and fast, responsive service. According to Yates, Global Shop Solutions provides a diverse menu of tools that help support both – starting with the ever-popular Supply & Demand screen in the Inventory application.
The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) also helps MUM Industries provide optimum customer service. Suppose a customer needs 100 parts within a week. Sales reps can look into the BOM for inventory status, enter the number of parts in the system, and tell right away whether they can fill the order by the desired due date.
In addition to the many robust business management features in Global Shop Solutions, Yates also gives the company high marks for its outstanding technical support.
“Whenever I call in with an issue, I can count on receiving timely technical support from a well-trained team,” says Yates. “A while back we had an issue that involved deactivating a number of parts for engineering. We needed a quick resolution, but my account rep was out of the office due to illness. The person I spoke with quickly escalated my issue, and we got it resolved within 45 minutes.”
Yates also appreciates the way Global Shop Solutions constantly updates and improves the software to keep up with the changing needs of its customers. This includes making tailored programs available to all users through the ARC store, an online library of archived programs that can be downloaded and implemented at no cost.
To learn more about how ERP software helped Mum Industries, download their full case study.