Case Study

Program implementation at Ward Tank & Heat Exchanger Corp. (Charlotte, NC).

The complete ProJex Production Management System started back in 1998 with the creation of basic spreadsheets utilizing VBA to produce schedules and to assist in quotations and bill of materials. The dream to completely automate the Estimating and Engineering Departments became a reality for Ward Tank & Heat Exchanger Corp. in late 1998/early 1999 with full automation by the Summer of 2000. Continuous beta testing with the additions of enhanced features and functionality continued for 3 more years resulting in a solid “work horse” business system for pressure vessel and heat exchanger fabricators.

During the development of the programs, studies were performed to better understand the overall impact the programs had on the overall Company performance. The tasks that were automated in both the Engineering and Estimating departments are compared as follows.

Efficiency Study - Engineering Department
    Prior to March 1998   April 1998 - December 1999   January 2000 - Present
  Task Desc.
Duration (Min.)
Cost
Duration (Min.)
Cost
Duration (Min.)
Cost
  
  Maintain Production Schedule
10
$3.33
5
$1.67
3
$1.00
  
  Create Bill of Materials
240
$80.00
30
$10.00
25
$8.33
  
  Create Title Block
60
$20.00
5
$1.67
3
$1.00
  
  Write Transcript Letters
10
$3.33
10
$3.33$
3
$1.00
  
  Create Shop Package
360
$120.00
60
$20.00
45
$15.00
  
  Create Shipping Tickets
10
$3.33
10
$3.33
1
$0.33
  
  Create Ship Loose Lists
10
$3.33
10
$3.33
1
$0.33
  
  Cost Bill of Materials
60
$20.00
60
$20.00
45
$15.00
  
  Total Minutes/Dollars per Job
760
$253.33
190
$63.33
126
$42.00
  
Efficiency Study - Estimating Department
    Prior to March 1998   April 1998 - December 1999   January 2000 - Present
  Task Desc.
Duration (Min.)
Cost
Duration (Min.)
Cost
Duration (Min.)
Cost
  
  Create Bill of Materials
120
$40.00
30
$10.00
25
$8.33
  
  Write Quotation Letter
60
$20.00
30
$10.00
15
$5.00
  
  Cost Bill of Materials
60
$20.00
30
$10.00
25
$8.33
  
  Total Minutes/Dollars per Job
240
$80.00
90
$30.00
65
$21.67
  

When examining the substantial decrease in time and cost per job/quotation, Ward Tank & Heat Exchanger sees the following yearly savings.

Engineering Department = Savings of $63,300.00 per year
(Based on 325 jobs per year and comparison of current per job cost to the per job cost prior to March 1998).

Estimating Department = Savings of $99,100.00 per year
(Based on 1700 quotations per year and comparison of current per quote cost to the per quote cost prior to March 1998).

In summary, with the above-mentioned savings and additional savings due to improved shop efficiency, Ward Tank & Heat Exchanger has been able to automate their processes and.….

  • Reduce their costs
  • Increase their profitability
  • Increase their market exposure
  • Improve their competitive edge


 
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