Improving Operational Efficiency

Learn how IQMS' manufacturing-specific ERP solution has helped AMA Plastics, the largest injection molder in the West, achieve their highest levels of success.

Video Transcript:
Mark Atchison, CEO: A little bit of history of AMA, we’ve been in business for going on forty five years this coming year. It was started by my dad and uncle, Joe and Jim Atchison. The generation part isn’t as big a deal today because this is an almost 50% owned ESOP, employee owned, company now. So going forward, it’s not the legacy as much as being competitive in business in today’s environment.

Michael Engler, VP of Operations: Prior to IQMS, everything was done on spreadsheets and whiteboards and through verbal communication and email. With IQMS, it actually became the common manufacturing language for the whole system. The system forces you to kind of use that language, that common architecture, and that’s what allows the team to communicate now. I can’t even imagine running an operation without the ability to have all of that information at your fingertips.

Pat Williams, Customer Service Manager: When I came in, I had not been exposed to IQMS. I believe that IQMS is instrumental to the success of the company because of our ability to understand what’s going across all areas of the company. The flexibility of your system is amazing, and provides us a lot of opportunity to review the data and make improvements where we need to make improvements.

Chris McMillon, Process Engineering Manager: IQMS is important because it gives us data. It gives us information, it gives us direction. Where do we fall down? If you don’t see the data, if you don’t have the data, you just have an opinion.

Ian Donnelly, Master Scheduler: Pre-IQMS, we were using an accounting system and a manufacturing system, that didn’t talk. So Customer Service would put in orders, in the accounting system. I would have to find those orders and manually enter them into the manufacturing system. If they made a change, I would have to find the change and edit something somehow. Literally, I was doing entry with two hands. As our company has grown, had we stayed on that route, you would have needed five people to do that job. So I was a huge proponent of a single system.

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IQMS was acquired by Dassault Systèmes® in December 2018 and has been rebranded as DELMIAWorks, part of the 3DEXPERIENCE® Works design to manufacturing software portfolio for mid-market manufacturers. Please visit our website for more information: www.delmiaworks.com/