Esker, a provider of document process automation and cloud computing, has been selected by Esterline's Kirkhill-TA facility in Valencia, CA, a manufacturer of clamping systems for civilian and military aviation, to streamline order management using Esker's Order Processing automation solution.
According to the company, increasing competitive pressures in the aerospace industry and Esterline's commitment to lean practices prompted Esterline's Kirkhill-TA facility to focus on improving its order management process. Instead of printing out and handling incoming purchase order documents and manually routing the documents for audit and scanning, Esker has allowed Esterline's Kirkhill-TA facility to completely eliminate paper from the process with automated scan, file and archiving capabilities. The initiative has allowed the company to reduce waste, improve efficiency and process an increasing volume of incoming orders while maintaining current staffing levels.
"Even though order storage was already digitized, we were still moving a lot of paper around when it came to document retrieval, printing, delivery and scanning," said Larry Levey, Customer Service Manager at Esterline's Kirkhill-TA facility. "Our organization is very dedicated to lean practices so it made sense to pursue a solution for improving order management."
According to the company, Esterline's Kirkhill-TA facility has experienced:
- Faster processing. Based on its own internal studies of processing time, Esterline's Kirkhill-TA facility is saving 4-5 minutes per order with Esker (a savings of 800-1,000 hours annually).
- Improved productivity. Fewer manual processing tasks allow employees to focus on meeting the aerospace industry's compliance requirements.
- Business scalability. Esterline's Kirkhill-TA facility has been able to maintain the same number of employees for order processing, even with order activity on the rise.
- Future improvements. With Esker's flexibility, Esterline's Kirkhill-TA facility can extend its use of document automation to other areas of business as needed while maintaining business continuity.
"Esterline's Kirkhill-TA facility plans to expand the use of Esker to its Brea facility, which has a similar order process flow to Valencia with larger order volumes (20,000-25,000 orders annually)," said Levey. "Esker delivered everything we wanted and more the first round and we are expecting no less moving forward. We are excited to expand our lean practices and maximize order processing efficiency."
Esterline Corporation is a worldwide supplier to the aerospace and defense industry, specializing in avionics and controls, sensors and systems and advanced materials.
Esker addresses all types of business processes, from accounts payable and accounts receivable to order processing and procurement, automation of reception, processing and sending of any business document with one platform.
For more information contact:
Esterline Main Headquarters
500 108th Avenue NE
Bellevue, WA 98004
425-453-9400
www.esterline.com
Esker Inc.
1212 Deming Way Suite 350
Madison, WI 53717
800-368-5283
www.esker.com