truck, automotive, automation, automation solutions, hendrickson

One of the primary responsibilities of QAD’s Research and Development team is to stay ahead of the needs of our customers. We work to develop solutions that can help our customers address their challenges. As a result of the work of these creative and innovative minds, QAD has rolled out solutions such as Adaptive User Experience (UX), which is formerly known as the Channel Islands UX project, QAD Supplier Portal and the QAD Enterprise Platform. Sometimes these solutions are developed internally, but often, it’s the collaboration with our customers that brings about amazing results. This is the story of QAD Automation Solutions.

QAD customer Hendrickson is a leading global manufacturer and supplier for the commercial transportation industry. They produce medium- and heavy-duty mechanical, elastomeric and air suspensions; integrated and non-integrated axle systems; auxiliary lift axle systems; parabolic and multi-leaf springs; stabilizers; and bumper and trim components.

With both manufacturing and distribution operations held within each of their plants, large amounts of both raw materials and finished goods crowded work areas, causing various storing and shipping challenges.

Efficient Materials Management is a Must for Automotive Manufacturers

The need to store large amounts of raw materials and prepare, package and ship large amounts of various finished products to their customers often caused long lead times and the need for more material handlers and equipment. Hendrickson needed to be more efficient when managing their inventory. They knew they needed a solution because the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in place wasn’t meeting their needs. After exploring several options within their current system, as well as external options, Hendrickson approached the QAD team for a solution. Working closely together, Hendrickson and QAD designed and developed two new automated processes that resulted in the best solution for their challenge…but it meant thinking outside of the box a bit.

“These were completely different processes for Hendrickson,” noted Scott Aselage, Hendrickson plant manager. “Not only was the software new but how the materials flowed was completely different. From the shop floor perspective, it wasn’t just learning new software. It was learning a totally new process.”

Technology Partners + QAD = New Solutions for Everyone

After extensive training and testing, Hendrickson was able to push the solution live and has realized substantial improvements. So much so that Hendrickson’s custom solutions have been standardized and packaged as a feature now available to all QAD customers – QAD Automation Solutions.

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“We have been very pleased with the success of our plant pilot program,” added Aselage. “These two new modules are now part of our portfolio and will be used at subsequent plants as we roll it out across the company. QAD Automation Solutions scales up very well for easy application across our multiple facilities with their varying size and complexity.” 

“Working with QAD has been a good experience for us – we shared quite a few ideas and it was clear that QAD has an innovative vision for the future of its customers,” concluded Senthil Kannan, IT project lead. 

To learn more about the benefits Hendrickson realized as a result of the QAD Automation Solutions implementation, check out our case study.

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