The Company
Since 1989, Cosense, Inc., based in Hauppauge, NY has been a world leader in designing and manufacturing Ultrasonic sensors and systems for highly reliable OEM fluid measurement and control applications such as liquid level monitoring, air bubble detection, flow sensing, fill verification of liquids and solids and more.
Manual Procedures and Low Visibility
Bill described how Cosense handled their production before implementing PBS MFG. “When I first arrived at this company I looked at our systems and knew we were not capable of running at our capacity with the routines we had in place. We had no short cuts–everything was handled manually.
We had our accounting under control but an order for a standard part would come in and we would have to go and hunt to see if we had what we needed to produce it; we really didn’t know without looking what we had on hand and how much of it we had. And, our order lead time was typically 3 to 5 days– too slow for us to meet our demands cost effectively.”
Passport Software
Bill said Cosense began to look at $100K manufacturing options. “Everyone was worried. We were contemplating changing everything from our accounting all the way through the production line – the upheaval would be tremendous. Who wouldn’t worry!”
Cosense brought in Ian Creswell, Manufacturing Product Manager from Passport Software.
Reduced Order Lead Time
Said Bill, “We use Passport Business Solutions™ for our accounting and had been trying to use it to handle some of our manufacturing needs. It couldn’t handle any more than a flat BLM and, while the accounting staff was happy with it, it just could not meet our manufacturing needs.
We decided to take advantage of Passport’s Site Analysis. When Ian told us the PBS Manufacturing modules could reduce our order lead time down from days to minutes, he had my attention.
Implementation
The implementation was stressful for me. I was worried about the database issues – would all our data move correctly? Plus, we had several independent systems so I was concerned about that, too. But because we chose the PBS Manufacturing modules, we did not have to change everything – the accounting staff were thrilled that their system stayed the same. That really helped.
We are changing over one system at a time and it is going fine. We have reduced our order lead time. For example, we recently had a rush order arrive at 3:00 pm in the afternoon. This order was completed and was shipped out in the next morning’s UPS pick-up.
Lead Time Down to Minutes
Our lead time is indeed down to minutes, from days. I have the full Bill Of Material structure that I need. When I look up our inventory, I can say that I have confidence in the numbers – it has never let us down. I don’t have to go find out if we have something and count it myself to know what we have.”
The PBS Manufacturing System allows us to do what we need to do. We started with just a few users while we got started. We recently doubled our user count and implemented using RMA’s – It’s going great.
Passport asked Bill what he would say to other companies faced with the circumstances he faced:
“If a company is in the position we were: Using their accounting/distribution system supported by multiple manual procedures to manage their manufacturing, they have to get the manufacturing modules. They still need the manufacturing modules…”
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