Universal Metal Service Enhances Customer Service and Streamlines Operations using AXIOM® ERP/MES System

Increasingly, manufacturers are realizing that to differentiate themselves from competitors, they need to focus on and improve customer service; companies are finding that they can no longer rely solely on the quality of their goods to retain customers. One company that understands this concept is Universal Metal Service, a diversified cold finish steel bar processor with a focus on cold drawing, turning and polishing. The company is unique in that it does not buy or sell steel; the company processes only customer-owned material. Universal Metal Service is based in South Holland, IL, and serves the automotive, agricultural, steel mill, service center and hydraulic cylinder markets both in the Midwest and nationally. Their steel bars are used for applications such as input/output shafts in transmissions, power steering units and for hydraulic cylinders in tractors and trucks, to name just a few uses.

The thirty-four year old company had been relying on outdated technology and systems which made operations very time consuming and hindered employees' ability to service customers efficiently. According to Mark Ruder, president of Universal Metal Service,

"We are very customer-oriented and pride ourselves on providing service and information to customers." Ruder realized that to better the company's operation, it was necessary to partner with a company that not only had a similar customer-service focus, but could also provide the company with a superior software system. Universal Metal Service turned to AXIS Computer Systems, Inc., a Marlborough, MA-based company that provides ERP/MES systems to metals companies.

More specifically, Universal Metal Service was using a twenty-year old software system that only performed shipping and receiving functions and printed bills of lading. The company used a separate, stand alone PC-based system for accounts payable and receivable. Furthermore, the company kept all its inventory on paper. None of this information was integrated into one system. If customers called to inquire on order status, raw material inventory, or to request other information, employees had to either obtain the necessary information from two separate computer systems, or retrieve a piece of paper from inventory control. Employees had to use calculators to manually calculate costs or obtain totals on customer orders. A report then had to be compiled to give to the customers in response to each customer's inquiry. This process was time consuming, since the information could not be obtained from one computerized source to give customers real-time data; the process also resulted in unproductive downtime for Universal Metal Service employees. Additionally, because the company kept all its inventory on paper, errors resulted from data recording. Employees had to copy the same information on several different pieces of paper; this would naturally result in the occasional mistake.

Ruder realized that if he wanted his company to remain a player in its industry, changes to this system were necessary. Ruder recognized that a single ERP system was the solution. Evaluation of half a dozen ERP software companies began. Extensive studies were conducted that showed that the majority of software packages tended to be generic and did not focus on metals. The few software packages that were metals-oriented were geared toward flat-rolled steel product versus the very different steel bar product that Universal Metal provides. Company officials then discovered AXIS Computer Systems.

Ruder and other Universal Metal employees began evaluating AXIS' AXIOM/mx Open ERP/MES software. They also checked AXIS' customer references and actually visited customer sites. According to Ruder, "We were very pleased to learn about the companies that AXIS serves, companies which are leaders in their industries. We also found our visits to actual customer sites to see the software in action to be very helpful." Ruder determined that AXIOM/mx Open was well suited for the steel bar business; the terminologies and nomenclatures applicable to the steel bar industry found in AXIOM/mx Open were not available in other software packages that were evaluated. This familiarity with the steel bar industry was also apparent when the Universal Metal team spoke with AXIS employees. AXIOM/mx Open seemed the perfect choice for Universal Metal Service; as Ruder states, "We didn't feel that anybody else even came a close second."

AXIOM/mx Open has proved to be ideal for Universal Metal Service. The company has finally been able to integrate all of its software functions into one system, and is using the AXIS software for purchasing, inventory of customer-owned material, shipping and receiving, invoicing, accounts payable and receivable, general ledger functions, aging reports and financial management. This integration means that Universal Metal Service customers are now provided with reports printed directly from the system; employees no longer need to manually compile reports. Ruder states that, "With the click of a mouse, we can give customers raw material inventory, order status, etc. We were not able to do this prior to using AXIOM/mx Open." Customers are also now provided with real time data within a few minutes of their call. This has resulted in a dramatic improvement to Universal Metal's customer service. Previously, customers had to wait anywhere from a half-hour to the next day to get a response.

Use of AXIOM/mx Open has also reduced the paperwork and errors associated with past manual methods. Data entry errors are reduced because users need only enter data into the system once; with the manual system, data had to be entered several times. Additionally, operators are more productive because they need only document data once. Inventory is now managed totally on the computer, so the massive paper-based system has been eliminated.

AXIOM/mx Open is also easy to customize. Universal Metal Service took advantage of this feature by performing several modifications; specifically, reporting functions were customized. According to Ruder, "AXIOM/mx Open allowed us to customize reports to make them similar to what our customers and staff were familiar with." Another key benefit of AXIOM/mx Open is that it allows traceability, an important feature for the steel bar industry. Steel bars are kept in bundles, and each bundle has different characteristics such as size, shape, heat number, etc. Each bundle is given a tag number; AXIOM/mx Open allows users to track down to the tag level so they can trace bundles back to their mother bundle and maintain heat lot traceability.

Overall, Ruder is satisfied with AXIS Computer Systems, not only with the software but also with the support given by AXIS personnel. Ruder praises the AXIS team for going beyond Universal Metal's expectations and for the team's extensive knowledge about the steel bar industry and of the capabilities of the AXIOM product. He believes the AXIS team completely understood how the software would address Universal Metal's needs. He states, "Whenever we contact AXIS' help desk, whoever answers has been able to readily answer questions and take prompt action in response to our needs."

This implementation is AXIS Computer Systems' second entry into the service center market and, as Ruder has explained, this product is ideal for this market. "We are happy in hindsight that we chose AXIS Computer Systems and their metals-industry focused solution. If we had to choose again, we would make the exact same decision," says Ruder.

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