Talsco Had a Superhero. REALTRAC’s Machine Shop Software Was His Sidekick

Sometimes, even companies that operate in the demanding aerospace field need someone within their operations who can push every boundary and perhaps, even leap over tall buildings to implement new processes and new machine shop software. Talsco Aerospace Manufacturing is such a company and Jeff Piaskowski, the Production Manager, is that kind of company superhero. A medium-sized aerospace manufacturing company, Talsco is a family owned business that was founded in 1968. They serve an elite list of aerospace companies and the US Military by providing highly customized sheet metal components. They have consistently had strong leadership and a highly skilled workforce, but, until a few years ago, did not have the kind of operational focus that would allow them to maintain profitability with the strong growth they were experiencing. Jeff Piaskowski joined the firm and was given the mandate to improve operational efficiency and the vital management support to do what needed to be done.

Stepping into an established family operation and being charged with making big changes is not what most people would consider an easy task, but Piaskowski was just the man for the job; maybe even the company superhero for the job. Talsco had been using one module of REALTRAC’s ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) machine shop software to help manage their operations. Jeff learned to use the software and quickly realized he could do more, a lot more, with REALTRAC. Over the next few months, Mr. Piaskowski worked to build his case for each new module he added. Like any crusader, caped or not, he did his homework, learned what each module could do specifically for Talsco Aerospace manufacturing and took his plan to management. He then worked with his team to implement these modules. As a result, the new software modules rapidly improved the efficiency of Talsco’s operations.

Every superhero has their super powers and saving lots of time and saving even more money are Jeff Piaskowski’s claim to operational fame. His focus on efficiency and the support he had from management allowed him to make significant improvements in a short period of time. In addition to the time and money savings, he says “REALTRAC has taken a ton of stress out of my days – and nights and weekends; everything is there, where I need it, when I need it with just a few clicks”. Key features of the machine shop software provide a proverbial utility belt of efficiency building tools; you can almost hear his assistant saying “Holy cost savings Jeff!!…”.

Job Shop Scheduling:

Talsco utilizes the flexibility of the job scheduling feature in two different ways. Like many firms, Talsco inputs a project and a start date and immediately know what date they will finish a customer order. On time delivery in the aerospace industry is essential and Talsco is able to provide better than 99% on time delivery. Talsco also leverages the backwards scheduling feature built into REALTRAC. By inputting the delivery date, the system provides the day the job must start in order to be ready on time. “If we start it late or early it will tell us how many days we are behind or ahead. REALTRAC also uses this information to tell us what our highest priority jobs are so that we have full visibility and knowledge of what is ‘HOT’ ” said Jeff Piaskowski. “Everyone can see what jobs are top priorities at all times, ensuring that the entire team is focused on the right projects”, he added.

Multi-component Jobs:

REALTRAC’s “Tree Module” is used to schedule assembly or multi-level jobs. This is critical for parts that take multiple components and provides a view into the critical path for the entire project. Jeff commented that “REALTRAC enables us to schedule all the components in the order they must be manufactured in to produce a complete assembly by a certain date.” This kind of scheduling ‘super power’ makes complex jobs dramatically easier to manage.

Efficient and Successful Audits:

Audits are important at many machine shop operations and when you work in the aerospace industry they are critically important. “Not only has the company saved time – lots of time, but our last audit for AS9100 was perfect; not one thing was written up by the auditor and that is huge, in fact nearly unheard of”, Piaskowski said. He went on to attribute the audit’s success to the REALTRAC machine shop software that tracks every aspect of the audit. “Even better” Jeff added, “We used to take as much as four weeks to prepare for an audit, now we can prepare in a couple of days. So we save an incredible amount of time and got a perfect audit.”

No Time Wasted on Paperwork:

Paper work can be a time waster, necessary, but it can delay the start of important jobs; but not at Talsco. Jeff Piaskowski explained why this is so important: “When we are quoting a new project and setting it up, my team has everything they need at their fingertips. They do not need to leave their desks to track down information or materials, and once the job is set up, it can be started immediately, if need be.”

Materials Tracking and Quality Control:

Inventory management is important in any machine shop operation, if employees have to go to a storage area and look to see what materials are in stock you are losing productivity. The Talsco team can view their entire inventory in REALTRAC from anywhere. The super powers role really came into play when Talsco was able to automatically track every bit of raw material from sheet metal to specific finished parts right in the REALTRAC machine shop software. In the aerospace industry, knowing exactly which sheet of aluminum was used to make a specific finished part is a critical element of the quality control process. Today that capability is built right into the process and takes no additional time or paper work.

Resource Utilization:

REALTRAC’s loading module has allowed Talsco to really optimize their production schedule and their capacity utilization; especially as they continue to grow quickly. “We were already pretty darn efficient, but what the software has helped us to do is know when we need to purchase new equipment; it tells me when we simply don’t have the capacity for a new job. I can order a new machine and minimize expensive outsourcing”.

Firms of any size can benefit from good ERP software. Even the smallest firms will realize a return on their investment within a few months. Every company needs a superhero that can fight waste, save time and save the company a lot of money. As Talsco’s own production superhero said: “It would be absolutely impossible to manage the kind of growth and the quality improvements we have seen without REALTRAC”. Become a crusader (cape optional) within your own organization and adopt an easy to use ERP system today.