Macola Success Stories

Celtron, Inc*

Celltron, based in Galena, KS, is a leading manufacturer of wiring harnesses, custom cable assemblies and electro-mechanical subassemblies for defense and commercial customers. The company’s high-performance cables have performed critical functions on many military and commercial programs since 1983. Celltron was certified to ISO 9001 in 2000. In addition to the headquarter facility in Kansas, Celltron has partner facilities in the Pacific Rim, which allows the company to provide targeted turnkey solutions based on volume and cost requirements of customers.

In the mid-1980s, Celltron decided to move away from its manual system and its outside data processing service. At that time, the company selected Macola Software’s Progression Series for its accounting modules. A decade later, Celltron added several distribution modules.

“We’ve stayed with Macola all these years because it has continued to meet our needs,” said Stacey Williams, treasurer. “We’ve never had a reason to look for anything else.”

According to Williams, Celltron’s business has grown tremendously over the past two decades. “It would have been impossible to maintain our growth without a system like Macola,” she said. “Ten years ago, if we processed 10 invoices a day, that was a big day for us. Today, we process anywhere from 30 to 80 invoices a day. We couldn’t keep up with that volume without Macola.

“Even though our business has grown by leaps and bounds, we’ve only added one accounting staff member and one order entry staff member, yet we’re able to handle a much greater volume,” Williams added.

Besides helping the company keep up with its growth, Macola has increased efficiency at Celltron. When the Order Entry module was implemented, Celltron moved all customer files from numerous huge file cabinets onto the computer. More recently, Celltron has been using the receivers in the Accounts Payable module to tie the purchase orders to vouchers and payables.

Celltron is currently running Progression Series 7.5 on a Windows NT network. About 30 people access the system each day. Modules include General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Asset Manager, Order Entry, Purchase Order, Inventory Management and Bill of Materials.

The company works with Integrated Business Solutions, an Authorized Macola Business Partner, for training and support. “They have been wonderful; we’ve been with them for years,” Williams said.

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KPR Foods*

For a company that has experienced growth in the double digits for the last three years, integrated software was crucial. KPR Foods , a subsidiary of Foodbrands America, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortune 200-company IBP (Iowa Beef Producers), chose Macola Software in 1992 and hasn’t regretted the choice.

The Fort Worth, TX-based company also has plants in Dallas, Columbia, SC, Hutchinson, KS, Waterloo, IA and Naas, County Kildare, Ireland. KPR Foods utilizes the latest technology in the high-volume, heavily automated production of soups, sauces, side dishes, taco meat and meat pizza toppings. An impressive clientele of both national and regional, casual and formal dining restaurants as well as national pizza chains uses KPR products. A staff of culinary and technical experts custom design products in KPR’s spacious research and development center.

With 1000 employees and half a billion dollars in revenue, the company has doubled its revenue in the last three years.

Among the unique challenges facing this large member of the food industry, was the need to keep track of a phenomenal amount of inventory as well as keep a tight rein on the rotation of that stock, according to Terry Hodder, vice president and controller for KPR.

“We lease a warehouse, as well as utilizing on site storage,” says Hodder. “This poses unique issues related to rotation and level of on hand stock, both finished and raw.”

In addition to having a finite shelf life, KPR products have to meet food safety standards. Product cannot be shipped until it exceeds those requirements. In addition, product cannot be shipped if its shelf life has expired.

“We use Macola to help control that process,” explains Hodder. “Macola’s standard product, along with some minor modifications, allowed us to meet our needs and that’s really helped us control our inventory.”

Due to a product’s shelf life, KPR needs to insure that older stock ships first.

What today is known, as KPR is two IBP facilities previously operating under the name KPR Foods and the Hutchinson, KS facility. Each plant, according to Hodder, was unique in its business challenges and software usage.

For instance, he explains, two plants were using a bar code program, a financial accounting software package and Lotus1*2*3 to track manufacturing. These plants were then updating data manually by journal entry. The whole process was labor intensive.

“It was a welcome change to integrate all facilities,” says Hodder of the move to Macola.

Some of the most important Macola programs KPR utilizes include Shop Floor Control (SFC) and Landed Cost (part of Macola’s Advanced Distribution module). According to Hodder, SFC helped the company manage its double-digit growth by helping keep a tighter rein on manufacturing.

“With the way the company’s sales have grown, we would have seen a larger growth in inventory,” he explains. “Thanks to Macola, we’ve been able to keep inventory growth at a pace proportionate to the sales growth.”

In addition to helping control inventory, Macola has helped to centralize the company’s customer service processes.

The use of Landed Cost has also benefited KPR. According to Hodder, Landed Cost has helped KPR identify the true cost of inbound product.

The ease of use and flexibility of Macola’s Progression series have also proven useful to KPR. In 1999, KPR had just finished installing Progression Version 7.5 when Foodbrands acquired another company and KPR absorbed an additional100 million pounds of business.

“Thanks to Macola’s ease of use, we had a good handle on the system by the time we were asked to absorb the new volume. If Macola hadn’t had the flexibility to handle that growth, the transition would have been far more difficult,” says Hodder. “I’m still not saying it was easy, but the skill set of our people and the software’s flexibility made it easier on all of us.”

For the future, KPR Foods is looking into using Macola’s Material Requirements Planning (MRP) to further reduce its inventory and the associated costs, as well as Macola’s Bar Code program to help manage the flow of product.

In addition to the products listed above, KPR is using Macola’s Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, General Ledger, Assets and Depreciation, Inventory Manager, Order Entry, Purchase Order and Receiving, System Manager, Bill of Material, ERS, Master Scheduler, Crystal Reports, Manufacturing Cost Accounting, Purchase Order Processing, Standard Product Cost, Standard Product Routing, EDI and Virtual Basic for Applications.

Approximately 60 people access the system, which operates on a Compaq Proliant 6500 server.

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Davis Controls*

Founded in 1933, Davis Controls is a distributor, representative and licensed assembler for international manufacturers of instrumentation and control products. The company offers a comprehensive range of products for the industrial market. Davis manufactures Klinger Magnetic Level Gauges and supplies them across the continent through a network of local distributors and representatives.

In 1996, Davis Controls was challenged with the task of replacing the company’s 20 year old legacy information system. Leading edge technology, very knowledgeable consultants and a sound implementation strategy helped make Macola’s Progression Series the preferred software package.

Since 1996, sales at Davis Controls have increased by more than 50%. This represents explosive growth for a company that has been around for 68 years.

"The Macola Progression Series has allowed us to increase our throughput significantly, without incurring additional expenses to support it. Progression is perfectly suited to meet all of our current and future needs," says President Neil Montgomery.

It was cutting edge technology that attracted Davis Controls to the Macola Progression Series five years ago. And today, Davis is still impressed with the direction of Macola.

"Macola and Progression Series are going places. By continuing to set new standards of excellence, Macola makes it possible for Davis to demonstrate the professional image that our customers expect," adds Montgomery. “For almost 70 years, Davis has built and maintained a leadership position in this country, serving Canadian industry by providing reliable solutions for industrial control applications.

“Maintaining this leadership means a continuous investment in improving ourselves, in adopting new technology and in finding better ways to give our customers true peace of mind,” explains Montgomery. “Macola continues to develop and provide the technology tools required to maintain a competitive edge. We are proud of our record of continuous improvement, and credit much of our success to the products that Macola continues to develop.”

In August 2000, Davis upgraded from Btrieve to SQL, and also transitioned from Citrix Winframe to Metaframe. In addition, the company installed an IIS Server to support the transactional web site it is developing and installed Web.Tools. More recently, Davis has been working with Return Materials Authorization (RMA) and Executive Dashboard. The company currently runs Progression 7.5.103e.

Montgomery also is pleased with Macola’s customer service, both in the United States and in Canada . "We have been very pleased with our selection of Macola, and with the excellent service and support we have received. They are always available with the appropriate resources to resolve any issues that come up."

Davis Controls runs all of Macola’s financial modules, as well as Currency Manager, Enterprise Reporting System, Order Entry, Purchase Order, Inventory Management, Bill of Material and Production Order Processing.

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* Story is from Exact / Macola Software's web site.