Good lean manufacturing product for SMB.
December 17, 2012

Good lean manufacturing product for SMB.

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review

Software Version

2012

Modules Used

  • Manufacturing Execution System (MES)

Overall Satisfaction

Pros

  • Lean and job shop manufacturing for non-integrated facilities, with emphasis on domestic logistics.

Cons

  • Integrate facilities, export logistics, complex product configuration manufacturing management
  • Over $150M in direct benefits, including eliminating the hard and human resource costs of supporting multiple non-standardized processes and software platforms across the globe.
High deployment investment, Microsoft partnership, but some difficulties dealing with large enterprise complexity
Dynamics AX MES does not appear to be built for large enterprise needs, but more small and medium, possibly large single facility, manufacturing. The price and capabilities against large enterprise competitor products reflect the same. It is a good Lean Manufacturing product.

Product Usage

5000 - Manufacturing, Logistics, Inventory
15 - Development, Testing, Project Management Leads
  • Direct Manufacturing; Indirect inventory/supply hub, planning, transportation/logistics

Evaluation and Selection

Home grown, highly configurable, multi-facility integration, resulting in high complexity and cost.
Oracle. Cost and mitigation of single platform risk, as we also use Oracle for Finance, Order Mgt, etc.

Implementation

Some rough spots, but ultimately worked out. The contract didn't appear to be structured to support the level of overlapping facility deployments required to meet timeline commitments. Merging cultures on the program was also challenging. Overall, not an easy implementation by any stretch. Everyone did the best they could.
  • Vendor implemented
  • Implemented in-house
Join implementation effort between my company and Microsoft for the first 2 facilities, than in-house for the remainder.

Training

  • Online training
  • In-person training
  • Self-taught
It took a lot of work, but Microsoft ultimately did a good job with in-person training, including being onsite in multiple global locations for extended periods.
Our solution deviated from a number of key out-of-the-box standards that were included in Online training. We just used that for introduction to the general functionality.
No. This is relatively heavy MES platform that requires in-person and ongoing training support, in my opinion, until a viable support organization is established.

Configuration

Regional facility needs around particular complex product configurations, facility production specialties and regional logistics support (ie. Brazil tax and Asia export regulations.)

Support

Microsoft did a reasonably good job supporting the deployment efforts to multiple factories and ongoing stabilization. I don't think that MES was intended for the large enterprise volume and complexity levels our operations required.
Yes - Our MES deployment is global and complex, including BizTalk support. We've also completed some important customizations with Microsoft's help that have system level implications, requiring highly knowledgeable configuration management support when undertaking patching, upgrades, etc.

Usability

Dynamics AX MES is a good product, once deployed and stable, much easier to manage for the operationally than legacy systems.

Reliability

Some integration and high volume ramping challenges, particularly with BizTalk and SQL Server, but getting sorted out. Outages over time appeared to be more dependent on integration complexity than AX MES.
Some integration and high volume ramping challenges, particularly with BizTalk and SQL Server, but getting sorted out. Outages over time appeared to be more dependent on integration complexity than AX MES.

Integration

  • Inventory, Trade Compliance, Logistics, Cost, Supply Hub, Data Warehouse, Customer Factory Integration
Significant and complex. Certainly more than I think Microsoft expected.
  • None further from Microsoft. Integrating with Oracle.
All being supported in-house with vendor support, as needed.

Vendor Relationship

As easy as to be expected on the circumstances. Our company drives a hard bargain.
Included licensing (including for both AX and BizTalk), implementation consulting, training, premium support. Careful consider your licensing needs and arrangement.

Comments

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