Today, Tieman design and manufacture liquid road tankers (stainless steel, mild steel and aluminum), loading dock products, freight and scissor hoists, tail lifts and vehicle disability access equipment.
These specialised product groups are used within many different and broad industry segments throughout the market. Tieman support their products with a professional mobile service team of over 65 company employed service technicians around Australia.
Why Tieman selected Epicor ERP
Tieman undertook a rigorous selection process reviewing solutions from many vendors including SAP, Oracle and Epicor.
Tieman's requirements covered their entire operation especially Engineer-to-Order (ETO) manufacturing, Make-to-Stock (MTS) and after sales service including in-house and mobile service units.
"The decision to implement Epicor ERP system really came down to the fit between Epicor and Tieman," Marcel Wynn, Tieman's general manager said.
"We felt Epicor related to our needs which has proven to be true."
Epicor is experienced in Manufacturing, particularly Engineerto-Order manufacturing.
The implementation started in "our largest division first which is the Tanker business". This has required considerable thinking around our business processes and methodology. Additional time spent in this area has enabled us to identify efficiency opportunities between Engineering and Manufacturing.
The advantages the Epicor ERP provide are the solid foundation in the business to explore other initiatives we could not contemplate previously. Areas such as Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) to manage Engineering changes are realistic areas for us to focus on in the near future.
Tieman are planning a rollout of the Epicor solution, implemented across their entire business in the near future.
Tieman at a glance:
- Industry: bulk road tankers, materials handling equipment, tail lifts, truck doors and wheelchair lifts
- Headquarters: Keon Park, Victoria, Australia
Solution - Epicor ERP
Business benefits
- Visibility on the production line
- Greater control of our cash flow
- Access to every single job live
- Better management of demand and resources
- Integration of core manufacturing and service businesses
- Integration of engineering and manufacturing
"The thing that impresses us about COGITA as a partner is that they are in it for the long haul," Marcel Wynn, Tieman's General Manager, said.
"We anticipate the rollout will become easier in the make-to-stock and imported products businesses. We are working with Epicor to plan the rollout."
What are the benefits Tieman has achieved with Epicor ERP?
The Epicor ERP system integrates all areas from finance to production, engineering, to distribution and warehousing to production planning and scheduling, purchasing, milestone tracking and billing.
"Epicor ERP provides us with complete visibility to the point we know exactly where a job is up to in the production line in the system at any stage," Wynn said.
"The benefit this gives us is enormous. We have greater control of our cash flow, our demand and our resources. The ERP system gives us the ability to drill down from any screen through to the originating transactions. We will be able to track and trace jobs by serial number through to the originating transactions once fully implemented. It is very flexible and very powerful."
Managing and tracking field support/services
Tieman provide a range of value added support options to their customers including after sales service.
"We have a combination of planned/scheduled service at our customers premises and on-site at our branches and 24/7 nationwide breakdown support," Wynn said.
"Managing this to increase our efficiency in delivery and cost/time tracking and billing is a key future objective.
"We are very excited about the Epicor Field Service solution which we see can provide a full end-to-end solution for us in terms of managing and tracking field service. This is an area we are looking to use in the immediate future."
Field Service is designed to centralise all processes related to the dispatching of technicians and cost reporting of service calls in the field.
The application is set up for a single interface, so a dispatcher can track all stages of each service call with just a few mouse clicks. Field Service will allow Tieman to solve key operational problems including return-to-base travel.
Exceeding expectation
"The system delivered everything we asked of it and more! said Wynn. In terms of costs we are under what we budgeted. Timing is slightly over due to our rescheduling not the fault of COGITA or Epicor" said Wynn.
Partnership with Epicor
"One of the areas we found the most exciting in dealing with Epicor is the way they have worked with us to understand our future requirements," Wynn said.
"To our delight, we are starting to see the additional functionality in the new releases of the system.
"They work in a true partnership way and look to help save us money where possible. Obviously we can get things customised if we are not prepared to wait -at least they are open to giving us this option. Tiernan rate Epicor services 10 out of 10."
The future
Epicor ERP provides Tieman Industries with greater visibility throughout the entire supply chain including marketing and sales, production and planning, sourcing and procurement, installation and service, and financial recognition.
In an increasingly competitive environment, Epicor ERP will enable Tieman to easily manage the impact of constantly changing customer requirements.
Wynn concluded: "We are working in strategic partnership with COGITA and Epicor on our future rollout plans including PLM and Mobility to our Service Group."
