How AmeriLux cut the cost of their ERP upgrade with PorterLogic work order execution

What we did

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‍Pain Point: AmeriLux was transitioning from a legacy ERP to NetSuite. Deep into the implementation, the team realized NetSuite lacked the robust work order management, labor tracking and timecard approval capabilities critical to their value-added distribution operation. 

"As we were going through the implementation phase of NetSuite, I took for granted that an ERP system with 30,000 customers would have a very robust time clock and job costing tool fully integrated. Well, it turns out they do not. We were only a couple of months away from going live, and we didn't want that to slow us down," said Nick.

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Solution: AmeriLux partnered with PorterLogic to implement a composable operational solution that tracks employee time against specific work orders, sequences and indirect activities, with data syncing back with NetSuite. 

The work order execution and labor management functionality enabled AmeriLux to:

• Streamline assembly execution by providing a user-friendly interface where employees could clock in/out and allow supervisors to track time against work orders, sequences — and even indirect activities like meetings or station cleaning.
• Improve labor costing accuracy by capturing labor time for executing each step in a work order. 
• Improve payroll processing through straightforward timecard management, allowing supervisors to review, edit and approve employee time entries quickly.
• Gain visibility into production bottlenecks and identify cost savings opportunities through reports on work order details, labor distribution, overtime and indirect activities.
• Handle complex requirements like midnight shifts.

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Key Takeaway: As AmeriLux rapidly scaled and outgrew their legacy systems, PorterLogic's composable solution complemented their new NetSuite ERP by providing work order execution capabilities configured to fit their operations. As a result, AmeriLux avoided costly ERP customizations, upgrade delays, and the need to rely on manual, offline processes.

How we did it

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Opportunity: AmeriLux needed a comprehensive work-order time-tracking solution to optimize utilization, improve labor costing accuracy and streamline payroll processing. 

Solution: PorterLogic's work order execution module helps AmeriLux accurately track employee time spent on each work order sequence and operation. This includes calculating the actual labor run time for work orders, helping to enhance labor costing accuracy. PorterLogic's solution also allowed AmeriLux to attribute labor costs precisely to specific work orders and sequences.

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Opportunity: NetSuite could only track direct labor activities tied to work orders. However, AmeriLux also needed to account for "indirect" labor like meetings, cleaning or receiving. 

Solution: PorterLogic enabled AmeriLux to create and track these indirect work orders, providing visibility into non-productive time. Once set up, employees could clock in against these indirect work orders, crediting them with work time. 

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Opportunity: AmeriLux required a robust platform for supervisors to review, edit and approve employee time cards to ensure payroll accuracy. 

Solution: PorterLogic streamlined this process, allowing supervisors to make changes, lock pay periods and generate reports for payroll processing, ensuring accuracy before finalizing payroll.

 "You need a system that can allow us to adapt quickly, and that is the benefit of PorterLogic's composable solution," Nick said. 

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