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Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)

Inventory Management Systems Upgrades a Major Component of EMS Cabling’s Growth Trajectory

With the help of: Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions

About

EMS Inc. of Lincoln, Arkansas, was formed in 2006 to satisfy growing demand for electro-mechanical assembly of wiring harnesses, cabling assemblies and enclosures. The company experienced rapid growth with additional capabilities that allowed them to compete with overseas companies by producing quality products and by quickly responding to ever changing needs of customers.

The Challenge

EMS quickly outgrew their materials management systems. Expanded customer and product bases resulted in an ever-growing number of different raw components and sub-assemblies. Parts traceability has also become more important both for internal controls as well as customer requirements. EMS needed to choose and implement the right ERP system (enterprise resource system, a type of software organizations use to manage day-to-day business activities such as accounting, procurement, project management, risk management, compliance and supply chain operations) to handle their current and future needs.
The improvements from these projects allowed EMS to continue to grow sales and profitability
— Dennis Miles Jr., Training Coordinator

MEP's Role

Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions, part of the MEP National Network™, partnered with EMS for a two-phase approach to address the issues EMS faced in managing their growing production levels and creating a materials management infrastructure to manage that growth. 

First, Manufacturing Solutions helped EMS complete a Technology Transfer Assistance Grant (TTAG) to use Manufacturing Advisors of Fayetteville, AR, to research and develop a plan for an advanced inventory management system clearly establishing the system requirements. Next, EMS applied for another TTAG for an ERP modification to significantly increase production capacity and reduce the back-order time. Manufacturing Solutions and Pragmatic Consulting of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, helped EMS implement a major modernization upgrade to their existing ERP system adding digital tracking which eliminated most manual data entry, improved the inventory accuracy, and reduce errors and the time required for receiving and routing materials to the production area.

Created November 6, 2020, Updated December 1, 2022