Haynes Wire Company Searched For, Found ERP System Suited to Help Increase Control, Visibility and Profitability

Profile
The Branford Wire Company, founded in 1954, was purchased by Haynes International in 2004, through its subsidiary Haynes Wire Company. Haynes International, Inc. is a world leader as the inventor, developer and producer of quality, high-performance nickel- and cobalt-based alloys. Haynes Wire Company produces stainless-steel medical wire and nickel- and cobalt-based wire for structural and welding applications. Today, based in Mountain Home, N.C., Haynes Wire’s 70 employees generate over 2 million pounds of nickel- based, cobalt-based and stainless steel wire products annually.

Challenge
Because its existing home-grown system was increasingly unable to manage and provide access to the information Haynes Wire needed to effectively operate its growing and expanding business, a team was formed to select and implement a packaged and supported ERP system suited for the needs of a wire producer: AXIOM Version 5.1 from Mass.-based AXIS, a Consona business unit. One of the biggest concerns with the incumbent system was a lack of information on per-order costs—a rather serious concern in such a competitive field like Haynes Wire’s. On top of that, order setup was cumbersome and had to be redone for each new order. In addition, the legacy system’s minimal reporting and tracking capabilities and lack of routing history left the company with little in the way of information tools to run the business.

"The business was well managed,” said Haynes International Vice President and CIO Jeffrey Young, “but most of the information was only available in the aggregate. We really didn’t know how costs applied to specific processes or orders.”

Why AXIS?
A prime concern during the selection process was to identify a supplier that understood the wire-processing business and could provide solutions to support its complex, unique requirements. AXIS and AXIOM ERP met Haynes Wire’s needs. Not only did the AXIS sales and support team truly understand the wire business, its software fit Haynes Wire’s requirements very well. When it got down to the final three candidates, it was the coil tracking and heat traceability throughout the system that made the difference. “AXIOM ERP has great tag control and lot tracking,” said Young. “That is very important to us, and it’s the reason we chose AXIOM ERP. Its capability was much better than that of the other finalists.”

AXIS would also implement the system with very little modification—another key factor in Haynes Wire’s decision. After struggling with custom code for many years, the company definitely wanted to stay within the functionality of a supported package system.

The implementation was completed one month ahead of schedule (in eight months) and under budget. “It was very much a company project,” said Young, “not an IT project. The users were the leaders in all phases of the implementation, and that’s the way it should be.”

Results
Haynes Wire now proudly showcases its AXIOM ERP system for customers who visit the plant. It emphasizes its high level of accountability and traceability, along with the sophisticated shop-floor reporting capabilities that provide customers with a level of confidence that is rare in the wire business. The increase in on-time shipments—from 44 percent to 95 percent—is additional proof of the system’s success. The system also provided the ability to accurately capture costs and understand expenses per product and per order.

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