Carpinteria, CA February 3, 2003 Handy & Harman, a diversified industrial manufacturer and subsidiary of WHX Corp., has selected a solution from software company QAD to help ensure efficient and unified manufacturing operations.
Handy & Harman designs and produces specialty fasteners and connectors, electronic components, brazing materials and other products for a range of industries. The acquisition of vertical businesses, as well as the geographically dispersed nature of the company's operations, led to Handy & Harman having duplicate and complex processes and supply chains.
Robert LeBlanc, Handy & Harman president and CEO, has set out a vision for the company that includes removing roadblocks, redundancies and delays in processes across the enterprise by providing real-time information to employees to increase the speed and quality of decisions and by improving the quality of service to customers.
"Our supply chains have functions and trading partners in common, and operational efficiencies can be realized," said Mary Ann Confer, vice president of supply chain integration at Handy & Harman.
QAD said its MFG/PRO eB2 Web-enabled suite of enterprise applications and eQ order management suite will help ensure information and processes flow smoothly and efficiently across Handy & Harman's global manufacturing locations to deliver consistent products and services to its customers.
MFG/PRO eB2 will facilitate data continuity and operations such as accurate, coordinated fulfillment and invoicing across business units, geographies and currencies. QAD's eQ Sell-Side, a sales order management and fulfillment application, will support multiple points of electronic order capture such as for exchanges, Web sites or customer service centers with sensitivity to the entire relationship with every customer, including past orders, present order status, special requirements and credit information.
Implementation of QAD solutions will begin at one of Handy & Harman's locations in the state of Indiana, with roll out to the rest of the company's 18 sites taking place over approximately 36 months.
"We expect ease of use and minimal training requirements will accelerate employee adoption of QAD applications in all our units," said Confer. "In addition to streamlining operations, the QAD suite of applications will make our employees' jobs easier, and that helps make our locations great places to work."
