
"The Third Choice"


Jeffrey Jones, Corporate Director of IT, MetalTek International
When most Metals and Mining Technology companies are presented with the need for a new software solution - whether it is to replace a legacy application or to fulfill a new need - they seem to go through the selection process with only two alternatives in mind. “Do we choose a shrink wrapped solution?” or “Do we design and develop the software ourselves?” My previous employer was a high volume, low margin automotive industry supplier. Design engineering was something rarely done. Our customers knew what they wanted and how they wanted it made. They usually supplied us the material, the casting, or at least knew which metal and grade they wanted us to use. Software selection at this company was not very complicated; our processes were not complex nor were our development of product.
When I changed jobs eight years ago, however, I joined a metals manufacturing company that could not be more different. Unlike my earlier experience with the automotive supplier, MetalTek International is a low volume manufacturer of highly engineered parts. We often are asked to supply parts that need to perform in very high temperature or harsh corrosive environments for many diverse markets and applications. Very often we produce a single part for a customer every three to five years. This is quite different from the high volume manufacturing from which I came and with which I was so familiar.
Our client applications pull data from our ERP system and push data into our ERP system. This negates the need for duplicate entry and improves our data integrity and consistency
I quickly earned that not only were the products and manufacturing processes different between the two companies, the software needs were vastly different as well. I was always leery of using in-house developed software, because it defied the standard which guided me when choosing solutions. That is that the solution had to be supportable, scalable, and repeatable. At smaller to medium size IT departments, software development seemed to be very agile; each developer created applications within their own style and comfort zone. When IT departments would experience employee attrition causing a change on their software development team, inefficiencies arose. The new software developer would have to spend time familiarizing him or herself with the way the application was written and the code that was developed.
Therefore, I tended to favor shrink wrapped solutions, where I could depend on the software developing company for support and maintenance. However, this was not a perfect solution. We could never find a solution that fit all that well into our requirements. We would have to be satisfied with a 70 percent fit and then battle with the desire to modify the source code. This would make support and upgrades a huge challenge. In fact, some companies would either not provide their source code or would void support if we made changes.
It was not until joining MetalTek International that I realized there was a third choice available to Metals and Mining Technology companies when selecting software – a hybrid of the two. At MetalTek, we have found more than one software developing company that has provided us with a “shrink wrapped” solution and then worked with us to modify the software to fit our specific needs and requirements. Software from these companies has been designed to allow for modifications and additions of code to be autonomous from their base source code. It does not adversely affect upgrades, patches, and the availability of support for the application. These software companies have been very willing to work with us through the requirements gathering and developing of a solution that protects the integrity of their source code, while adding our customization.
This customization has also allowed us to limit “Information Silos” and duplicate data entry. We have become quite adept at pulling data out of other applications to feed those new applications that need that same information. For example, we make every effort to use our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system as the central repository for our data, from which all data is pulled. However, there are times when it does not make sense for certain data to be entered into our ERP system. At these times, we have the users enter in the more appropriate application and then “push” the data into our ERP system. This is simplified since all of our applications are either SQL based and run on our Wintel platform or support DB2 and run on our AS/400. We are also very fortunate to have a small group of very talented software developers. They are comfortable working within these technologies, they understand our business, and also know how to develop software that works with existing “shrink wrapped” software.
Two examples of these hybrid applications are our Lab Information System (LIMS) and our Melt Optimization Program (MOP). Our LIMS is used to test samples of the metal we are using and certifying the chemistry of the material we are about to pour. This is an essential capability for MetalTek as well as our customers who participate in some of industry’s highest performing markets. Our MOP provides us with the least charge makeup of a certain grade or chemistry, which helps us to optimize material cost for the job. These applications were developed by two autonomous companies, both of whom were willing to work with us to customize their application to fit our requirements, but still keep the design and source code of their software intact. Plus, both of these applications pull data from our ERP system and push data into our ERP system. This negates the need for duplicate entry and improves our data integrity and consistency. We have a good mixture of shrink wrapped software, software developed in house, and software that has followed this hybrid solution. We firmly believe that it is the hybrid software that has yielded the most success. It has allowed us to meet the complex requirements of our manufacturing process while still keeping our software investment under control. The number of Full Time Employee (FTE) in our IT Department is well below the average for our size company in this industry.
In conclusion, if you are struggling to find a solution to a software need at your company and are trying to weigh using one of the two more common software solutions, I encourage you to look into this third solution. Engage software development companies that are open to this type of hybrid project.
Featured Vendors
Advanced Material Solutions (AMS): 'Next Level' Flaw Detection with SmartTest™ Advanced Resonance Inspection
Technology Coast Partners: Helping Latin American Manufacturers in their Digital Transformation Journey
Panasonic Factory Solutions Company of America: Computer-integrated Software to Streamline Manufacturing Processes
NDS Global: Delivers Integrated Enterprise and Digital Solutions for Next Generation Manufacturing C
Reveal: Increasing Investor Confidence and Customer Market Share with People, Processes, and Technol
Panasonic Factory Solutions Company of America Seamlessly Integrating Manufacturing Systems with Pan
Epalign: Committed To Building The Highest Levels Of Performance In Manufacturing Operations Todd An
EDITOR'S PICK
Essential Technology Elements Necessary To Enable...
By Leni Kaufman, VP & CIO, Newport News Shipbuilding
Comparative Data Among Physician Peers
By George Evans, CIO, Singing River Health System
Monitoring Technologies Without Human Intervention
By John Kamin, EVP and CIO, Old National Bancorp
Unlocking the Value of Connected Cars
By Elliot Garbus, VP-IoT Solutions Group & GM-Automotive...
Digital Innovation Giving Rise to New Capabilities
By Gregory Morrison, SVP & CIO, Cox Enterprises
Staying Connected to Organizational Priorities is Vital...
By Alberto Ruocco, CIO, American Electric Power
Comprehensible Distribution of Training and Information...
By Sam Lamonica, CIO & VP Information Systems, Rosendin...
The Current Focus is On Comprehensive Solutions
By Sergey Cherkasov, CIO, PhosAgro
Big Data Analytics and Its Impact on the Supply Chain
By Pascal Becotte, MD-Global Supply Chain Practice for the...
Technology's Impact on Field Services
By Stephen Caulfield, Executive Director, Global Field...
Carmax, the Automobile Business with IT at the Core
By Shamim Mohammad, SVP & CIO, CarMax
The CIO's role in rethinking the scope of EPM for...
By Ronald Seymore, Managing Director, Enterprise Performance...
Driving Insurance Agent Productivity with Mobile and Big...
By Brad Bodell, SVP and CIO, CNO Financial Group, Inc.
Transformative Impact On The IT Landscape
By Jim Whitehurst, CEO, Red Hat
Get Ready for an IT Renaissance: Brought to You by Big...
By Clark Golestani, EVP and CIO, Merck
Four Initiatives Driving ECM Innovation
By Scott Craig, Vice President of Product Marketing, Lexmark...
Technology to Leverage and Enable
By Dave Kipe, SVP, Global Operations, Scholastic Inc.
By Meerah Rajavel, CIO, Forcepoint
AI is the New UI-AI + UX + DesignOps
By Amit Bahree, Executive, Global Technology and Innovation,...
Evolving Role of the CIO - Enabling Business Execution...
By Greg Tacchetti, CIO, State Auto Insurance
Read Also
Using Technology to Improve Remote Worker Safety
A Call for More Consistent and Better Customer Experiences
Empathy Matters More Than Your Technology Budget
Empowering the Retail Paradigm
The Evolution of the Matrix
How Blue Shield of California implements finance technology in...
