The automotive supply chain is far more complex than it used to be, a fact Morgan clearly knows.
In early September, Morgan Motor Company, the British sports car manufacturer, said they had chosen IFS Applications as their new ERP solution.
The company began an 18-month implementation program in August to enable all departments within the business to access the ERP system, including R&D, the customer service center, sales and production. Following the initial roll out, Morgan plans to introduce IFS Applications to its global dealer network, replacing unnecessary manual processes with fast, direct orders.
I was thrilled about the news, especially when I look at what Morgan is: a manufacturer of cars – sleek and beautiful ones, too, as the photo above of their classic Morgan Plus 8 convertible roadster illustrates – at the end point in the connected supply chain.
Morgan Motors Makes Way for Future Growth & Innovation
In the press release we issued, Morgan said they are looking to improve operational efficiencies, making way for future growth and innovation.
The automotive supply chain is far more complex than it used to be, a fact Morgan clearly knows. Companies are sending more design and production activities downstream to suppliers or to production facilities overseas. They’re forming strategic alliances and joint ventures. And customers are ordering parts – even vehicles – online.
So the ERP system – the business backbone that helps them manage their supply chain – must help a car manufacturer simplify that management and leverage the relationships within the supply chain for maximum profitability.
Graham Chapman, technology director at Morgan Motor Company, told ComputerWorld UK magazine that Morgan Motors is ripping out and replacing its old ERP system down to “maturity”:
“We’re a very old company but over the past ten years we have gotten really forward-thinking with technology. We might have that old style of businesses on the manufacturing side, but in the line-out are becoming very modern and technical.”
And talking about plans for IFS Applications, Chapman says:
“IFS grew up in the manufacturing industry so it has very strong modules for quality and for product data management (PDM), for example.”
“The plan is that in two years’ time every employee will be using the ERP from job sheets and work construction processes like a shop-floor data capture site. Finance, sales, technical support design and development will have access.”
“IFS Applications will allow the firm to cut manual paper entries. It will allow the business, and most importantly the shop-floor workers, some foresight on how many parts are needed and are in stock – minimizing waste and speeding up ordering processes.”
Looking ahead, Chapman says the company intends to use warranty data to improve production line faults. He hopes the IFS platform will mean Morgan can gain more from its customer information – data it has never taken advantage of before.
Big expectations!
But we’re up to the challenge to help car makers like Morgan Motor Company get the most from their supply chain in key areas such as these:
- IFS Applications is designed to simplify management of the automotive supply chain and help manufacturers leverage the relationships within it for maximum profitability.
- IFS’ integrated product data management (PDM) and change management capabilities, two-way CAD integration, and integrated document management system helps streamline engineering and design processes. Working in a single system, engineers can easily share information, no matter where they are located or what design tools they are using. Once a product has been developed, all product data is immediately available in IFS Manufacturing, saving time and improving the quality of the information.
- IFS’ web portals make it easy to share real-time information with anyone in the extended enterprise, including suppliers, partners, and customers.
It’s an exciting time to be an agile automotive business!
