Case Study: A K Industries achieves real-time production control and streamlined operations with WinMan ERP

How WinMan Helped Consolidate Disparate Systems

A K Industries, a Hereford-based custom injection-moulding manufacturer with 30 machines and annual turnover above £5m, was constrained by an outdated Infor system, heavy manual data entry and disconnected satellite systems (sales databases, standalone Sage accounting, etc.). The company needed integrated, real-time manufacturing management, quoting/CRM and tighter control of materials (AKI uses ~£2m of polymer annually) to reduce errors, speed quoting and improve shopfloor visibility. WinMan ERP was chosen to replace Infor and address these challenges.

WinMan ERP went live at A K Industries on 6 April 2010, providing an integrated BOM with attached CAD/docs, a tooling database, Mattec process-monitoring integration, barcode tracking of raw materials/WIP, FTP-based order processing and automated electronic invoicing (previously 1,000–2,000 invoices/month), plus an integrated accounting module and email alerting. As a result WinMan ERP delivered real-time shopfloor data (hourly Mattec signals into backflush processes), dramatically reduced manual data entry and paper usage, improved quoting and forecasting, and enabled accurate material-weight reconciliation and scrap valuation so AKI can set realistic scrap targets and make faster management decisions.

A K Industries

Allen Green

Managing Director