The driving force behind Matrix Packaging Machinery has been to deliver rugged, well-engineered packaging systems that are cost-competitive and easy to use. Founded in 1988, the family-owned company prides itself on outstanding customer support and has machines in operation throughout the world handling a wide range of products in diverse and demanding conditions.
Situation
The company’s aging ERP system could not support its growth plans. The system required a great deal of manual resources and labor-intensive processing. As a result, inventory closing and month-end closing took too long. Accurately tracking inventory was also difficult. The inadequate system generated data that wasn’t detailed or meaningful. Matrix officials recognized it was time for something better and turned to Wipfli to help implement a new ERP system.
Strategy
With a strong working knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics AX, Wipfli shadowed work processes at Matrix and identified a series of production and purchasing issues the Microsoft ERP solution could effectively resolve. They included management issues in inventory, warehouse, and production.
Wipfli then guided Matrix through the ERP implementation to address greater efficiencies. Among them:
- Connected sales and purchasing processes with production and warehouse management
- Allowed the engineering group to create bills of materials and do so more quickly
- Directly integrated shipping services
- Established direct credit card processing in sales
- Eliminated need to conduct physical inventory counts thanks to accurate cycle count program
Benefits
Matrix now enjoys real-time visibility into its business and supply chain, and the company has greatly streamlined its inventory management. Its new ERP solution lets them optimize inventory levels and production flow using meaningful data. Resources are now effectively maximized, and productivity has improved. In addition, by accurately tying supply with demand, order fulfillment has improved and month-end closings now occur much faster and with more accuracy.
