Powerful new supply chain management software
Powerful new supply chain management software
Keywords: Aerospace industry, Software, Supply-chain management
Lilly Software Associates announces for the first time in Europe an important new product initiative that targets small to medium-size Aerospace and Defence(A&D) manufacturers.
The new vertical market product, VISUAL Enterprise Aerospace and Defence,integrates project and contract management within a well-proven ERP system, said to be a highly desirable development that has not been available to date in this area of the market. With the project management feature of the system, Lilly Software brings capabilities found in much larger systems within the financial grasp of small to medium-size enterprises (SMEs). This major segment of the A&D manufacturing industry can now reportedly work more efficiently, closely, and profitably with its customers–the aircraft makers, engine builders, and related tier-one suppliers.
Subsidiaries or smaller manufacturing divisions of multinationals in the A&D market will now be able to invest in an affordable and functional supply chain management system, rather than having to install the large, costly, and often inappropriate ERP systems that are better suited to centralised, corporate needs. Lilly believes that its software offers an affordable solution with solid A&D functionality. Product features include contract administration, work breakdown structure, project management, project control, and project execution. In addition, with features such as change order control, configuration management, and compliance reporting, VISUAL Enterprise Aerospace and Defence can reportedly help companies significantly improve their project execution and better manage project schedules, product quality, and on-time delivery.
“With VISUAL Enterprise Aerospace and Defence, we have included specific functionality–project management and related features–that suppliers to the A&D industry need to manage larger scale projects and programmes, such as tracking costs and project status over multiple years and with multiple supply and demand organisations. By choosing our software and services, A&D manufacturers will find that they can improve throughput,improve agility, and ensure they deliver on time, on budget, and to specification, honouring their contract demands”, says Dr Maz Mohamedali,Lilly Software Associates’ director for European sales and marketing.
Why is project management crucial to the A&D industry? Project management, an important activity in the highly collaborative A&D industry,poses a unique set of challenges to standard ERP systems. Until now, most vendors have designed ERP tools to execute a discrete set of tasks, such as fulfilling a customer order, within a finite period of time typically measured in weeks or, at most, a few months. The nature of project management, however,is based on a company’s ability to manage many “sets” of discrete tasks, over longer periods of time, in order to satisfy a broader scope of contract requirements–aerospace development and production projects tend to span years, not weeks or months.
A project typically expands or contracts in scope as it progresses, which requires more project-focused reporting, rather than the standard work order-based reporting of a typical ERP system. To meet these requirements in an A&D context, an ERP system must embrace a new set of concepts, including the following.
Projects can be as short as a few weeks but can extend to many years.
Project management and project execution (manufacturing and purchasing, for example) are two different functions that the system must address equally. The project management function is not generally identified in most ERP systems. The project and contract managers must be able to view the execution world in a project oriented view to perform their respective functions.
A project management system must incorporate different accounting methods than a typical ERP system. These methods include adherence to project accounting standards that dictate how and when the system should recognise revenue over the life of a project. VISUAL Enterprise Aerospace and Defence includes tools to report and analyse earned value by work breakdown structure.
Procedurally, the workflow in a project management environment is a more complex model that encompasses not only all of the usual ERP workflow, but must also support the interaction of project management, contract administration,production planning, and cost accounting. To address these concepts, Lilly Software has developed a system that integrates essential ERP planning and control functions with project management and control architecture. The system ties every ERP function back to a project management control task and allows project managers to review every execution-related task to the overall project plan.
According to Lilly Software Associates VISUAL Enterprise Aerospace and Defence has been designed to meet these requirements. The package incorporates the company’s well-proven VISUAL Enterprise functions that provide make-to-order SME manufacturing companies and sub-contractors with tools for planning, scheduling and completing multi-task customer orders. This capability is thought to make the system particularly well-suited to be the foundation for a project-oriented, A&D focused, end-to-end enterprise system.
Details available from: Tel: +44 (0)1763 232222; E-mail: mmohamedali@lillysoftware.co.uk;Web site: www.lillysoftware.com
