Copperweld

The Challenge

• Copperweld was forced into a position of borrowing convertible raw materials from various production runs to meet spikes in demand in another production line.
• Copperweld’s Materials Resource Planning (MRP) system did not support visualization of the stock outs or inventory fluctuations that resulted from these practices.
• Consequently, Copperweld suffered from inaccurate raw material inventory levels and periodic shortages of vital materials in production.

Copperweld turned to Ultra for business process improvement and enterprise evaluation/selection services to streamline business areas and functions.

The Solution

Working directly with Copperweld IT Executives and Production staff, Ultra Consultants designed a Raw Materials Pipeline Model.

Utilizing a custom application and Microsoft SQL Server, this model extracted raw materials inventory data, pipeline data, finished goods orders and forecasts from the operational systems.

Detailed conversion/precedence rules and exceptions to rules were acquired from the operational system and interviews with the master scheduler.

These rules allowed the Raw Materials Pipeline Model to simulate raw-material consumption into the future.

Furthermore, Ultra independent consultants designed a Decision Support System (DSS) and reporting writer, using Cognos, to allow fast, graphical use of the information generated from the Raw Materials Pipeline Model.