If you don’t hear much about a company’s supply chain in the news, it typically means that it’s working just as it should.
Keeping a supply chain running efficiently (and silently) is solely dependent on suppliers all doing their jobs well—including responding quickly to any changes, updates, or challenges that may arise as part of the day-to-day manufacturing process.
This ability to respond quickly is particularly important to the reliability and quality that have become trademarks of BRC Rubber & Plastics, Inc. BRC is a privately held manufacturer that builds and molds solutions across several different product lines for automotive and industrial products. The company produces critical parts that make a car drivable—from steering columns to engine air management and suspension and more.
BRC has been quietly working behind the scenes for over 40 years as a true partner to its customers. The kind of partner that doesn’t let anyone, or any company, down.
The company’s dedication to its customers has enabled BRC to grow to more than 750 employees across seven locations, with customers that include leading automotive OEMs and tier one suppliers.
BRC credits its dependable track record and steady success to the solid execution of lean manufacturing practices. Today, that includes use of the Plex Manufacturing Cloud to ensure that its team has real-time access to its manufacturing operations, which allows the company to be agile in its responses to opportunities.
Until this year, BRC had been relying upon a homegrown, 20-year-old legacy system that, while effective for nearly two decades, didn’t have the ability to continue to evolve with the company without a significant investment in resources. BRC took the opportunity to explore ERP offerings on the market, and that’s when they found the Plex Manufacturing Cloud. Plex met BRC’s requirement for a cloud ERP solution that could be quickly implemented at all seven of its facilities. Moreover, Plex gives leaders a single point of contact with unlimited access to the software through a subscription-based model. This has enabled BRC team members from the shop floor to the top floor to access the data needed to make better business decisions.
One of the benefits that BRC has discovered with Plex—and not on the company’s original ERP system wish list—was that Plex serves as the system of record for many automotive suppliers. This means BRC could be looking at becoming even closer with some of its customers through integrating the system cross-company.
While BRC’s implementation of Plex will continue through 2018, BRC is already recognizing the benefits from Plex by taking time to work as an organization to evaluate processes, reporting needs and how ERP will be used and applied by the entire organization—from business analytics to HR functionality. It also helps the company’s leadership best understand how BRC will continue to transform and be successful for its automotive customers—an industry that’s rapidly undergoing its own significant changes.
See how Plex works in an automotive supplier/manufacturer environment. Watch the Automotive Manufacturer Cloud ERP Demo here.
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