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Komatsu UK Ltd.
Overview
Komatsu UK Ltd is a key subsidiary of Komatsu Ltd in Japan, the world’s second largest manufacturer of construction equipment. Komatsu UK Ltd, established in 1985, is responsible for the design, manufacture and sale of large and medium sized hydraulic excavators, mainly for the European market. Komatsu UK is now Europe's premier manufacturer of crawler and wheeled excavators.
Challenge
As a successful manufacturing company, Komatsu runs an ambitious new model introduction program that touches ten different departments within the company before the final product is manufactured. Komatsu had a particular challenge with managing and tracking problems encountered during the new product introduction process.
Komatsu wanted to automate the steps involved in its process for tracking these problems– a process known within the company as “action sheets” - that encompasses procedures for documentation and tracking of errors or faults that are discovered on prototype or commercial production of a new model. For example, if a component is delivered to the wrong material spec, or parts of the excavator cannot be assembled properly, this information is required to be logged onto an action sheet and passed around to the appropriate departments responsible for implementing countermeasures. Reporting on issue resolution is also required.
Use of a paper template and interdepartmental mail to process these action sheets sometimes led to lost forms, product manufacturing delays, and an inadequate system to keep track of requests. There also was no way of knowing whether or not the action sheet ever made it to its destination and if the error was in the process of being corrected. The end result was a lack of visibility and control and slow time-to-market.
Komatsu management realized the company needed to create a streamlined and automated action sheet system to improve its process controls and promote a collaborative, efficient environment. The company first evaluated whether or not it could use existing systems to solve the issues but quickly realized the existing functionality was not adequate. So the company turned to Business Process Management (BPM) technology from Metastorm.
Solution
The company was introduced to Metastorm through Genisys, its existing supplier of document management technology and a Metastorm partner. After completing a successful pilot, Metastorm met the company’s key requirements and demonstrated its ability to provide the right business process management platform for Komatsu’s new product introduction procedures.
Metastorm BPM has supported a complete overhaul of the action sheet tracking process, resulting in a more collaborative environment that ensures problems with new model introduction are highlighted at an early stage and resolved with an appropriate level of input from all relevant departments. Action sheets can now be initiated electronically and routed automatically to the appropriate people and departments. The solution also provides employees with visibility across the entire process so that they can see the status of an action sheet at any given point in time. Users can also simultaneously review work-in-process on the system – a collaborative quality that also leads to more efficient communication.
Metastorm BPM integrated with Komatsu’s existing environment and today is embedded in the company’s document management solution, Genisys. Metastorm BPM is also reading data from Komatsu’s ERP system.
Results
Using Metastorm BPM, Komatsu has dramatically enhanced visibility while simplifying a complex manual process. The company reports increased speed of information and improved collaboration and knowledge share among employees. The Metastorm solution is also allowing Komatsu to implement more discipline, structure and accountability while at the same time increasing operational efficiency, and accelerating time-to-market.
With Metastorm BPM, users now have qualified information and the right documentation at their fingertips. Users no longer have to worry about tracking down an action sheet, as the BPM system automatically enforces the appropriate actions are completed at each stage and the originator is kept informed via a “watch list” dashboard..
Having achieved success with its critical new model introduction process, Komatsu is now leveraging Metastorm BPM to improve efficiency in other areas of its operations. The company’s next process to be automated will be its procurement quotation approvals process which will be integrated with the company’s ERP system.
Other future projects include automating procedures to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley (Komatsu’s parent company has a partial listing on the New York stock exchange and must comply) as well as invoice tracking and verification to monitor and manage its invoices.
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