Web-based PLM Software Rings a Bell

MiTek Corporation designs, manufactures, and sells high performance mobile, residential, marine, and commercial audio products. The company operates three separate R&D division – mechanical, electrical, and acoustical – each focused on a different market. Each operated independently, using their own paper-based, ad-hoc systems to track and manage projects. But there was a problem with communications among groups, and management had no visibility into production, individually or cross-functionally.

In an attempt to fix the problem, the company decided to unify and automate processes across all three divisions. Two years ago, it evaluated several document management systems and selected Aras web-based enterprise open source PLM software. Since then, the company downloaded all the Aras community modules.

Today, two thirds of MiTek’s employees use Aras and the company houses more than 70,000 parts in its database. All R&D engineers across all divisions are trained on the software. They can create their own systems, ISO documents, workflows, and lifecycles. Quality engineers and the material planning group are self-sufficient, too.

With Aras, MiTek now has the ability to create and maintain forms and documents, design and build their own modules, and modify any existing module to suit their needs. MiTek incorporated the use of signatures on documents, and allowed the signature to appear only after the document was approved.

Since implementing Aras, the company says it has made gains in project management and ultilization. Because the software is web-based, managers can see the status of any project, at any time. They can also optimize resources across all three R&D divisions.

Aras enabled MiTek to gain control of their processes and critical visibility into their workflow. MiTek personnel no longer spend time trying to locate documents sent off for approval. They can see the highlighted status of any
item in the workflow at any given moment.

The software is integrated into MiTek’s ERP system which helps streamline and automate the design process. Before the company used Aras, R&D teams manually completed numerous paper-based forms, and then duplicated the form for every design evaluation. They also manually entered the same information into the ERP system. Today, the company anticipates automating its engineering change process and integrating tools into Aras, and implementing help desk functionality to manage warranties, monitor problems, and track trim to repair. The company also plans to leverage the software for scrum and FEMA (failure modes and effects analysis).

Aras
www.aras.com

MiTek
www.mitekcorp.com

::Design World::