© 2010 DiCentral Corporation. All Rights Reserved. All other products, company names or logos are trademarks and/or service marks of their respective owners. v1-10 /10

119 9 N ASA Park way < Houston, Texas 770 5 8 < te l : 281.4 8 0.1121 < fax : 281.218 .4 810 < sa les@dicentra l .com < w w w.d icentra l .com

c a s e s t u d y

company profile:

Founded in 1987, Indiana-based Madison Precision Products, Inc. manufactures high quality aluminum die cast parts for the automotive industry.

The challenge:

Madison Precision Products’ EDI system lacked the functionality that the company needed to efficiently fulfill customer orders and effectively scale with new business. Their biggest challenges involved inbound orders and imports into their ERP system.

changes creaTe complicaTions

Madison Precision Products’ biggest customer, Honda, implemented a substantial change in the format of their sales orders. The sales orders that the automotive buyer sent to Madison Precision Products displayed multiple PO #s for each part. The company’s previous EDI software could not accommodate the change, resulting in some internal PO #s not appearing on the ASN sent to Honda. When Madison Precision Products contacted the software company to request support in resolving the EDI issue, no answers were provided—leaving Madison Precision Products to find a solution on their own.

WanTed: inTegraTion

Madison Precision Products’ EDI system also lacked integration with their ERP system, Exact Macola. The accounting department was forced to manually enter shipping data into Macola. From the bills of lading to Macola, the manual data feed amounted to hundreds of lines per day and consumed approximately 20 dedicated work-hours each week. Hours spent on manual data entry became costly, and the possibility of human error hung over the operation. In order to successfully fulfill orders and meet growing needs, the company needed an EDI system that could efficiently manage the orders from receipt to import into the ERP.

The soluTion:

Their search for a more efficient solution ended with Base2. Madison Precision Products implemented the Base2 automotive solution and immediately began reaping the benefits of an integrated system.

“We spoke with several existing users of Base2 and were pleased with our findings,” stated Joel Applegate, shipping coordinator and EDI tech for Madison Precision Products.

Madison Precision Products, inc. iMProves efficiency with Base2 edi

© 2010 DiCentral Corporation. All Rights Reserved. All other products, company names or logos are trademarks and/or service marks of their respective owners. v1-10 /10

119 9 N ASA Park way < Houston, Texas 770 5 8 < te l : 281.4 8 0.1121 < fax : 281.218 .4 810 < sa les@dicentra l .com < w w w.d icentra l .com

difficulTy is a Thing of The pasT

After implementing the Base2 EDI solution, Madison Precision Products was able to efficiently adapt to Honda’s sales order changes. Base2’s solution stores inbound data exactly as it is received. The unique nature of each inbound order is preserved for ASN creation. For Madison Precision Products, the ASNs sent to Honda now display the correct (multiple) PO #s. Base2 is Honda certified which provides extra reassurance to the user.

AD-Hoc and formatted reporting is provided by Base2 for any number of situations, including shipping summaries, pick lists, forecast and order summaries. “Processing the orders became a breeze,” commented Mr. Applegate. “From the sales orders, I create spreadsheets by exporting this data to Microsoft Excel. The data includes part names and quantity of all items shipped and is separated by truck.”

maclink eases The Burden

Base2’s solution provides fast, efficient integration to Exact Macola. With Base2’s Macola interface—MacLink—the order data is automatically imported into Madison Precision Products’ ERP system. Instead of hundreds of hours spent annually on manual order data entry, now it only takes two minutes per shipment to complete the task. For Madison Precision Products, order fulfillment has been greatly simplified, and the chance of error is almost nonexistent.

“It just works,” stated Mr. Applegate.

Base2 MacLink directly populates the Macola order entry files with the user’s sales orders. ASNs are subsequently created, using the pre-loaded data. The solution also uses a simple algorithm to locate and update orders and forecasts in the Macola database thus keeping the MRP current with the frequent changes sent by the OEMs. The result of these strengths is an efficient and accurate EDI management system that facilitates growth by allowing staff to do more and accommodate additional customers.

“Business is growing,” stated Mr. Applegate. “Base2 has enabled us to get back to fulfilling orders quickly and accurately.”

exTra, exTra, read all aBouT iT

Madison Precision Products further simplifies their operation with Base2’s labeling system. With Lineside Labeling, hundreds of labels are printed daily, and parts are labeled as they come off the manufacturing line. The labels are pre-populated and are produced in the correct format and quantity for the shipment. No data re-entry is needed, thus greatly reducing chance of error.

“We now have a better system,” commented Mr. Applegate.

going The exTra mile

“Base2’s support is amazing,” said Mr. Applegate. “If we ever have problems, we know we can call the support team and they will guide us to a solution.”

In addition to 24/7 assistance available, Base2 practices a ‘hands-on’ approach. Base2 visited Madison Precision Products early in the relationship to examine the operation and to assist with implementation. “Communication with our customers is of utmost importance,” commented Russ White, director of business development for Base2. “We are here to assist with setup, daily maintenance, and any issues in between.”

For more information on this case study or how Base2 EDI can improve your operation, please contact Russ White at 281-480-1121 ext. 764 or rwhite@dicentral.com.