Since 1992, L-D Tool & Die, a privately-owned mold-maker, and custom injection-molding company has been designing and creating molds as well as injection-molding a range of products. The company’s clients include, but are not limited to, recreational (diving knives, canteens, camping gear), medical (sterile vials for DNA sample gathering), military sub-contractors (plates and manifolds for body armor and bomb suits), communications (enclosures, wire coverings, housings) and toy firms. To satisfy its medical and military customers, the firm offers clean-room production and assembly with its portable clean-room capability and complies with a range of ISO and other standards.

Vital Statistics

55 employees, 10 injection-molding machines in a single 40,000 sq. ft. plant, custom runs of 250 to 500 pieces, common run is 5,000 pieces. Order sizes vary from 100 pieces to 1,000,000.

Key Challenges

In 20 years, L-D had dramatically increased its sales volumes and customer base, but the company’s infrastructure hadn’t grown with it. Too few people had too much to do. L-D’s silo mentality and history of operating its many departments as standalone units no longer worked. Microsoft Excel, Word, and an Access database simply couldn’t provide the range or depth of accurate, real-time data required to efficiently manage daily operations or make the best possible short- and long-term business decisions.

Why CyFrame

User-friendly, highly intuitive, off-the-shelf, configurable, operations-and finance-oriented ERP solution specifically created for mould-makers and injection moulders. In Fullerton’s own words: “CyFrame offered a cost-effective solution that was much more flexible and user-friendly with superior personalized service. It was even more affordable than comparable systems from major competitors”.

Solution

In 2010, L-D installed CyFrame’s Oracle-based ERP system with its menu-driven Financial Management, Inventory and Purchasing, Production and Distribution, Inventory, Barcode Scanning and Real-Time Machine Monitoring.

Benefits

Improved profitability and customer satisfaction through enhanced cost control, improved operator efficiency, fewer defects and better traceability. Better visibility and control over a growing business through instant access to real-time and historical hard data. Continued growth without added overhead.