TimBar gains fast ROI with IBS IntegratorCustomer Story Business at TimBar Packaging & Display was booming – but its order and production systems had not kept pace with the growth. IBS Integrator was the perfect solution. Company background
Based in Pennsylvania USA, TimBar is the largest privately owned, independent producer of corrugated shippers, value-added packaging and point of purchase displays. The company makes everything from beer cases to large shipping cartons. Its pre-eminent position has been achieved partly by acquisition and partly by innovation and progressive thinking.
The original 10,000 square foot plant has grown by a factor of 50 and now consists of state-of-the-art design and manufacturing equipment. The operation includes eight manufacturing locations, three design centres and even an employment agency.
TimBar employs 950 people in the USA and turnover is in excess of USD 200 million.
Business issues
As with any first-time business, information systems are a low-cost initial development; they tend grow without a central controlling authority and without uniformity of supplier. TimBar was no exception. Seven programmers were employed but could not keep up with the constant demands for improved and more sophisticated software solutions.
Initially, TimBar had four issues to resolve that were causing major bottlenecks:
Corrugator machine data entry and collection
To make a particular kind of corrugated board, the corrugator machine needs to know what is in stock. This information had to be entered manually, which was time-consuming and prone to data input errors. With manual data entry, TimBar also could not collect production information from the corrugator machine for posting straight into the management system.
Grouping jobs that use the same raw material
To be more efficient, TimBar wanted to group the jobs that use the same raw materials. If inventory information and detailed project descriptions were included in the order data, it would lessen the number of times someone had to pick up a roll of paper with a forklift.
Tag printing issue
The printing of tags that contain customer order information was also causing headaches. These tags are created and printed by an IBM iSeries server in Pennsylvania and then routed to laser printers in Florida for ease of shipment.
Ease of extracting employee details
TimBar runs its own group insurance department, which means outside insurers constantly need to know certain details about TimBar employees. The company had to find an easier way of extracting this information and automatically emailing it to several insurance companies.
It was self-evident that this situation could not continue, and the company had to find a solution that would pull together all the disparate operations including raw material purchase, stock control, production, finance and sales.
Solution and capabilities
After searching the market, TimBar decided to implement IBS Integrator, which is a powerful tool for systems integration, business process tracking, data management, data replication and synchronisation. The company felt that IBS Integrator would simplify its business by providing complex power in a solution that is simple to use. The software features a graphical interface that allows TimBar to create, debug and maintain business adapters, including powerful functions that can be created via a simple wizard-like interface.
IBS Integrator allows non-programmers to create simple scripts that either manually (by double-clicking an icon) or automatically (driven by events such as a timer going off, or the fact that something has happened in the database). IBS Integrator does the complex work of creating scripts that convert, transfer and encrypt data and carry out other integration processes.
TimBar can more easily leverage worldwide resources such as buying power and business intelligence. The ability to read, convert and use information from any source has positioned the company’s business communications in the fast stream. IBS Integrator has improved TimBar’s operations, communications and relationships with its manufacturing operations, design centres, suppliers and customers.
Benefits and value
Soon after installing IBS Integrator, TimBar saw results. The corrugator machine no longer waits for someone to manually input details of what is in stock, as IBS Integrator performs this operation automatically. The software also extracts production information, which is now posted directly into the management system. IBS Integrator has eliminated these bottlenecks and the company now maintains a higher level of productivity. On the smaller machines alone, these labour saving processes have saved the company three man-hours per day.
IBS Integrator keeps the flow of data moving more rapidly in the production area by automatically providing information about orders that use the same raw materials, resulting in further labour savings by reducing expensive forklift usage.
Printing tags is now more efficient and streamlined even though the printing is performed by a server that is over 1,100 miles away.
Another timesaving area is in the insurance department, where IBS Integrator easily extracts relevant employee information and automatically emails it to several outside insurance companies. IBS Integrator also creates an MS Excel spreadsheet containing hundreds of cells that break down insurance coverages by operating division, coverage level and type of insurance, e.g. Medical, Dental, Vision and Life.
Expenses charged by executives to corporate American Express cards will soon be approved in a web browser and transmitted to the corporate Accounts Payable system for payment by an IBS Integrator script.
IBS Integrator has allowed TimBar to save both labour and production costs and to realise an almost immediate return on investment (ROI). With a rapidly expanding company to control, TimBar can be assured that IBS Integrator will stand the pace.
With IBS Integrator in place, TimBar is much more pro-active in its relationship with customers and suppliers. The company now has a platform for creating any interface and is now confident that technology will support, rather than hinder, more efficient ways of doing business. No matter what technology challenge may be imposed on the company, the result will be an advantage because TimBar’s competitors no longer have the technical expertise. This has allowed TimBar systematically to tie up customers and increase customer loyalty – in a highly competitive market place.
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