Actify, a provider of visualization and program management solutions for the automotive supply chain, announced that EG Industries, a Tier 1 supplier to the automotive industry, has achieved significant program management improvements from early adoption of the Actify APM Suite, a purpose-built automotive program management software that enhances communication, collaboration and comprehension across all teams working on automotive programs.
"We work with our automotive customers to design, develop and manufacture a wide range of components and sub-assemblies everything from external parts like wheel trims, to under-hood parts like engine undercovers," explained Terry English, Director of Program Management at EG Industries. "Some of our customers have a gasoline version of their vehicle, a hybrid version and an electric version, which means that for any one platform, we might have three different versions of a component to create instead of just one. That really compounds the amount of work that a program manager must do."
As with other auto suppliers, the automotive industry's move towards electrification has drastically increased the number of automotive programs that EG Industries needs to manage. The company found that "throwing bodies at the problem" was not a viable approach to this expanding workload since it came with its own set of challenges. To bring added scalability to its automotive program management activities, EG Industries tried out several different software tools, with varying degrees of success.
We tried doing program management using an Excel-based format for a while, but it just did not work very well," said English. "After that, we tried an ERP-based software solution, but it was quite cumbersome. Our team members found it very difficult and time-consuming to navigate the product and update all the different fields and forms. As a result, the system was often missing the latest status updates, which hampered accurate visibility into where a program actually stood. We knew there had to be a better way."
The Actify APM (Automotive Program Management) Suite was an ideal solution for EG Industries as it was designed in partnership with leading suppliers, specifically for automotive program management. Actify APM equips program teams with enterprise-class cloud technology to streamline day-to-day operations across the program lifecycle. The solution also pulls together the information needed to effectively manage the end-to-end program lifecycle and is flexible and customizable allowing customers to work the way that suits them best.
"Actify's system has simplified things quite a bit for us," said English. "For example, we are able to use forms with radio boxes or check boxes, so it is very quick and easy for the team members to go into the system, check off whatever they have to check off and update the program status. If they have to upload a file, it is just drag and drop. And as far as the training goes, it has been pretty painless. I am the person in charge of training everybody at all of our plants on the new system, and I think the longest any of those trainings took was about 20 minutes. The product is that easy to use."
In addition to the functionality of the Actify platform, EG Industries also appreciates the spirit of partnership displayed by Actify as a company.
"Any suggestions that we are giving to Actify are being implemented pretty quickly," said English. "It shows that they are listening to their customers."
Since going live with Actify, EG Industries has seen 100% adoption of the new system among its program managers and much better upkeep around program status which ultimately helps not just the program managers, but the customers as well. EG Industries' previous ERP-based system and the Excel-based system did not give a clear picture of what the program status was. Now, with Actify, there is an up-to-date dashboard any program manager can look at to immediately see if a program is starting to slip and if it is, they can see exactly where it is slipping and identify why it is slipping. That centralized view of information helps immediately clarify where any issues might be. If there is a problem, it can be identified very quickly and allow program managers to get to the root source of it.
"Actify saves EG Industries' program teams time every day, and that is important for a lot of reasons, not least of which is that program managers are very hard to find," added English. "If you hope to retain people, you have got to give them tools that make their lives easier. With Actify, we are getting more throughput, and we are getting program management tasks done in a timely manner, which ultimately is going to help our plants launch programs on time and on budget. Without a question, Actify has been worth it."
"We have an ambitious vision to transform program management," said Dave Opsahl, CEO, Actify. "We are beyond thrilled to see how quickly Terry and his team have experienced significant productivity gains from using Actify APM. It validates the invisible problem in the automotive supply chain that has gone unaddressed for far too long. In order for suppliers to survive and thrive through the onslaught of EV programs over the next decade, they will need tools to help them manage and increase program capacity, and Actify APM is that tool."
Authored by Actify
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