Epicor Mattec MES network global factories of plastic bearings firm

BNL, a plastic bearings company based in North Yorkshire has taken advantage of its global manufacturing network to integrate a ‘manufacturing execution system’ from Epicor.

With 200 staff at factories in Knaresbrough and in Thailand, plus development and sales staff in china, Japan and America, BNL needed to bring together its international manufacturing network but was running it on multiple systems.

BNL implemented Epicor Mattec MES to eliminate the need for manual data input and offer access to data in real-time, as well as the improvement in the overall visibility of the production process, better accuracy of reporting and tie up with an existing ERP (enterprise resource planning) system.

Sunil Sharma, BNL IT manager, said: “We needed a MES system that would easily integrate into our existing ERP software, and Epicor Mattec MES offers just that. This means we can export the production schedule out of our existing ERP system into Mattec, making it a smooth and easy process. We also noticed discrepancies in our reporting with our old system, and had to rely on employees manually tracking completed tasks. Mattec however, provides accurate reporting and therefore helps free up staff time and increases productivity.”

“Mattec is used in both our UK and Thailand locations, right from the shop floor to the supply chain. We have been running Mattec in the UK for eight years and when we opened the Thailand factory, we also installed the system over there to give the same, great benefits—particularly access to better data.”

BNL will extend its use of Mattec by implementing its statistical process control (SPC) module. This will make an automated process, freeing staff time to focus on value-added activities that contribute to the company’s growth goals.

Sharma said: “Implementing the SPC module will help remove some of the current manual exercises our employees go through. We are extremely pleased with the results seen so far since implementing Mattec, and sincerely believe the system will continue to help us grow as a company.”