Underscoring the value of an integrated system for manufacturing operations, SAP AG today announced the success of customer Greenheck Fan, a leading supplier of air movement and control equipment. Due to the complex needs of customers that require complex products of varying sizes, Greenheck manages an extremely configurative order environment using the SAP® Product Lifecycle Management (SAP PLM) application. The announcement was made at the SAP Manufacturing Industry Forum 2014, being held April 15-16 in Itasca, Illinois.
Founded in 1947, Greenheck Fan is the manufacturer of air movement products tailored for the institutional and commercial market. Since its inception, Greenheck has grown considerably, and now has six manufacturing locations and six distribution locations across the country and around the world. With SAP PLM, Greenheck integrates the engineering and design process into manufacturing systems so users are able to design multiple product variants, make changes to them and control these changes in the same system, helping them flow seamlessly into production. The integration is critical as the sole way for Greenheck to keep pace with customer changing requirements, which are unique for each customer and can change up to the day of production.
In coordination with SAP PLM, Greenheck runs the SAP® Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence (SAP MII) application to pass dimensional drawing data, which employees can view on the shop floor. Because the products are so parametrical dimensional and run in many sizes, the possibility for human error in entering dimensional data was high. SAP MII helps solve the problem by downloading dimensional data, from order entry to machine floor, helping reduce operator errors. Additionally, SAP MII helps to consolidate Greenheck’s half million different active parts in one plant. Inventory is now completely synced in the system and more accurate 24 hours a day.
SAP PLM and SAP MII are part of “idea to performance,” the company’s holistic business approach to managing the entire life cycle of a product, which supports manufacturers with software for integrated end-to-end processes. This ranges from early product design phases, throughout responsive manufacturing processes to sustainably managing humans, energy and assets to help ensure operational excellence.
“Since our first SAP implementation in 2005, we have grown our business and grown our SAP system simultaneously,” said Don Brekke, vice president, Information Technology, Greenheck Fan. “As our products have become more nuanced and specialized, so too have our SAP manufacturing components, allowing us to better serve our customers and ensuring that all of their needs are met with Greenheck Fan.”
