Overview
Located in Northern Ireland, Aerospace Metal Finishers Ltd. provide a number of finishing processes, to high standards. With a number of customer approvals and AS9100 and Nadcap accreditations, AMF need to demonstrate compliance to a high degree. They previously used a very rigid system that was unable to accomplish all the tasks they required, and often had to supplement that system with spreadsheets. So, in 2013, AMF decided to search for a more comprehensive solution that provided greater visibility of processes.
Company Profile
Established in 2002, Aerospace Metal Finishers is part of the Dontaur Group. Employing over 75 staff at their site in Northern Ireland, AMF carry out a wide range of processes and endeavour to keep control of these with extensive in-house testing facilities. These include a range of Chemical Processes, NDT, Heat Treatments, Painting, Blasting, and Laboratory processes; all held to a number of accreditations and approvals.
Prior to Fitfactory
Prior to using Fitfactory’s system, AMF used a rigid Production Control System that didn’t suit all their needs. The company often supplemented their system with spreadsheets to ensure all their processes were tracked. Because of this, there was very little analysis of the total process, and job costings. Ultimately, AMF decided they needed more from their system to help the company scale and grow.
The Selection Process
Alan Selfridge of AMF says: “When I began looking into getting a new system, I was very green to which companies to approach etc. We had worked with our Redthorn System for many years and weren’t aware that there were any better options available. I had approached some independent software design companies and retrieved some quotations. However, from speaking with different companies and suppliers I was given the Fitfactory name and told it was specifically tailored and would suit us best.
Why Fitfactory
“After reviewing some of the system capabilities, it was immediately evident that this system catered for all our needs. Working with Fitfactory was the most attractive part for us. They are a company that share our desire for continuous improvement, and offered the opportunity to help develop the system to cater to the unique industry requirements.
The implementation process was very good. The training was comprehensive, and covered everything we’d need to use in the system. Help was only a phone call away, and the team were very supportive with any issues we had.
We’re delighted with the system so far. It works better than expected and continues to improve as it is further developed.”
Impact on business
“The live updates provided on the system are fantastic. Our legacy system did not provide live progress of where a current job is up to, but this system tracks jobs in real time. We now receive regular updates, and have complete visibility of our processes.
This has also improved customer satisfaction, as we’re easily able to answer any questions they may have, and provide updates on job status when they ask.
The reporting and analysis section is great for generating intelligence as well. We can easily identify any issues that may have occurred, so we can prevent them from causing a major issue.”