Production Scheduling Optimization at Industries GRC

Innovation within high-precision metal fabrication

Industries GRC specializes in the manufacture of customized and mass-produced metal products, derived from high-precision sheet metal processing. They produce a variety of items such as enclosures, cabinets and components, meeting the specific needs of their customers. Their services include design, metal processing (cutting, machining), assembly, painting, mechanical assembly and shipping.

Their customers come from a variety of industries, including electrical, electronics, automation of power distribution, automatic machine control and telecommunication network systems.

Company Overview

Annual Revenue: Over $10 million
Number of Plants: 2 (Plant Industries GRC in Saguenay & BATKO in Portneuf)
Employees: More than 50
Founded: Industries GRC in 1987; Batko in 1982

Background

The main user of the iGRC planner application has been with Industries GRC since 1998, and holds the position of Planning Manager. As part of his duties, he is responsible for planning work by scheduling orders according to the requested delivery date, production duration and the plant’s production capacity for the period in question. He faced a number of production management challenges, spending a considerable amount of time adjusting job parameters in the JobBOSS resource planning system and manipulating an Excel file requiring frequent manual updates.

These manual adjustments in JobBOSS and frequent updates to the Excel file were taking up valuable time and limiting productivity, delaying critical decisions.

This inefficiency increased the risk of errors and created bottlenecks in the production chain, impacting customer satisfaction, while hampering Industries GRC’ growth and innovation initiatives.

For Industries GRC, transforming sheet metal into finished products such as enclosures, cabinets or components, whether custom-made or standard, means meeting customer needs and requirements while respecting the best lead times in the industry.

Solution

Openmind Tech developed a customized tool to replace the manual Excel file and improve communication with JobBOSS in real time.

This solution enables the main user to make rapid, informed decisions on production planning and monitoring, thus improving efficiency and productivity.

Time savings: Real-time access to data eliminates tedious manual handling.
Better decision-making: An overview of the order book enables better management of lead times.
Easy parameter modification: Rapid adjustment of production parameters.
Improved communication: automated, customized reports for better coordination.

Technology serving processes

The new application has been designed to apply the specific business rules and logic that only user has, enabling planning scenarios to be generated and promised dates to be suggested, automating a previously manual process.

Services

Services provided by Openmind Tech include :

Needs analysis and audit of existing processes: In-depth understanding of operational challenges.
Planning tool development: Creation of a customized solution integrating the necessary modules.
Training and support: Team training and ongoing support
Maintenance and updates: Regular maintenance and addition of new functionalities.

The results

User feedback was very positive, indicating a high level of satisfaction with the following outcomes:

Efficient Application: Enabled GRC Industries to make significant progress.
Good Relationship and Communication: Facilitated smooth and easy exchanges with Openmind Tech.
Effective Scrum Methodology: Allowed the project to evolve and better meet needs.

Testimonial

"Thanks to the application developed by Openmind, we have considerably improved our planning efficiency. Real-time access to critical data and process automation have saved us valuable time and reduced errors. This has transformed the way we work and enabled us to better meet our customers' expectations.”

Clément Bolduc

Planning Manager

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