Company
The company specializes in three primary categories: aerosol; paint, plastic & general line; and custom & specialty.
The company has held the leading position in aerosol container sales in the United States for a number of years, and with its global expansion in 1996, it is now the number two producer of aerosol containers throughout Europe as well.
|
Problem
The US Can Engraving Order (EO) is a business process requiring collaboration among internal US Can employees, their customer, and the graphic arts supplier. The process is tracked from artwork procurement and approval up to entry of a customer order for the end item. The goal of the implementation was to:
|
Solutions
An implementation of American Software's e-Process Management system allowed U.S. Can to reduce the Engraving Order (EO) process cycle time; improve communication among the internal and external team members involved in the process; and provide accurate and on-time fulfillment of customer orders. The U.S. Can decorative product line is composed of lithographed metal tins, featuring a wide variety of shapes and sizes.
|
Challenge
- Reduce engraving order cycle time from 30 days to less than 10 days
- Track and analyze events to improve process
- Fulfill customer orders accurately and on time
- Improve communications among the multiple parties responsible for the process/automate tracking of events
American Software’s e-Process Management system improved the management and execution of the US Can's EO business process by allowing automatic seamless email of Engraving Order information to all identified recipients at the start of the EO process. For those recipients identified as responders, a pushbutton on the email message triggers a pop-up web response page allowing the user to complete the current step or issue an alert for delay or rework. If a response is not received within a specified time period, subsequent automatic time-phased alerts and escalation emails are triggered until the step is completed.
|
Benefits
- Reduction in the US Can Engraving Order cycle time
- Enhance the accessibility and usability of Engraving Order host system
- Expedite internal and external communication related to Engraving Order Approval
- Track and analyze historical data for use in process improvement
- Flexible process template allows for easy changes to process steps, email recipients and responders, and email content and timing of notifications and alerts.
|
Linda Faber, U. S. Can Project Manager, states: “The new Engraving Order process was well received internally and by external suppliers who need to participate in the process. The benefits of the on-line tracking were seen immediately. Management was extremely pleased with the solution, but also in that it was completed on-time and within budget.”
|
