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Computer system helps firm bear down
Posted Friday, June 10, 2005
St.
Charles-based Moline Bearing Co. was the phoenix that rose from the
ashes of the 1992 bankruptcy of Moline Corp. — with a more targeted,
strategic vision. “We make bearings for
industrial applications, and if you look at almost any piece of
equipment that has a shaft that moves or drives a chain or belt, you
will find a bearing at the other end,” said President David Fauntleroy. Positioned
solely as a manufacturer of mounted ball, Type E roller and spherical
bearings, the company based at 3N555 North 17th St. established four
warehouses across the United States and developed significant overseas
business. “The industries we serve
need bearings,” said Fauntleroy. “They are used in pavement stripping
equipment, the wood industry, saw mills … the possibilities are
endless.” Fauntleroy says that he
realized in recent years that the inventory and accounting computer
software system that Moline was using was failing to support a high
level of customer service and growth. “Everything
that we make, someone else also makes,” said Fauntleroy. “So we better
be able to tell a customer immediately, when they call, whether or not
we have what they need. The customer needs his order not two weeks from
now, but tomorrow … and I needed a system that helped us deliver both
of those things.” The old system
routinely crashed — causing missed orders and loss of productive work
time — and lacked support services. Enter OpenMFG, a Norfolk, Va.-based
software-solutions company tailored to the needs and budgets of small
manufacturers. They matched Moline Bearing with an open source
enterprise resource planning system designed to automate operations,
inventory and production. The system has been in use at Moline for the past seven months, and went through five months of testing before that. “It
is almost a little overwhelming because it gives you so much
information,” said Fauntleroy. “Our old system was four years old, and
in many cases I was looking at spending money to replace it with
another system that did the same thing and nothing more. With Open MFG,
so many more options are open to us.” Moline Bearing grew almost 20 percent last year, and is on target to grow an additional 15 percent in 2005. “We
are looking at other product lines and adding a new e-commerce option
for our customers,” he said. “My advice for other companies in our
position: do your homework. I had a local consultant who helped me
through that process, and because of it found a system that works for
us.” For more information, visit Moline Bearing Co. (www.molinebearing.com) or OpenMFG (www.openmfg.com).
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