Ryan: All right, let’s dive in. Today we’re looking at this case study about AGIS OS Group Industrial services.
Emma: Yeah.
Ryan: Big company engineering and fabrication in Australia. Really interesting story. All about managing crazy growth and, you know, using this idea of shop floor optimization to really, like, get a handle on everything.
Emma: It’s, it’s interesting, right, because it really is a classic case of growing pains.
Ryan: Yeah.
Emma: So AGIS, they were, you know, they were doing well, but then they went and acquired all these assets from Melco Engineering.
Ryan: Oh, wow.
Emma: Yeah. And you know what that means. Three new workshops. Giant ones.
Ryan: Oh, I bet that was a big change.
Emma: Huge. All of a sudden they’ve got multiple locations to manage new equipment, workflows. They got to integrate, and you know, through it all, they still got to keep things running smoothly for their, their existing clients. Right. Can’t. Can’t let those folks down.
Ryan: Yeah, no kidding. So how did they, how did they handle that? I mean, that’s a lot to juggle all at once. Did they just like throw a bunch more people at the problem?
Emma: That’s, that’s what a lot of companies do, right? Just hire more people. But, but they were smarter than that. AGIS, they took a more, a more strategic approach. They realized that to manage this kind of expansion, you need, you need, well, control, control, visibility and control, you know, like over their shop floor. They needed to streamline, make sure everyone was on the same page.
Ryan: Yeah.
Emma: And really make sure they could meet that demand without, without sacrificing quality, without, you know, becoming less efficient.
Ryan: Sounds like they were in the market for some, some kind of tech solution.
Emma: Right, Spot on. So they teamed up with this company, Dynamic Aspect. They’re specialists at this kind of stuff.
Ryan: Okay.
Emma: And they came up with a three part plan, which was pretty cool.
Ryan: A three part plan. Okay, lay it on me. What’s, what’s part one?
Emma: Okay. Part one was implementing this platform. It’s called wise.
Ryan: Wise.
Emma: Yeah, and wise. Now it’s actually built on Microsoft Dynamics 365, Business Central. So that’s, you know, it’s a type of enterprise resource planning software, or as the cool kids call it, erp.
Ryan: Hold on, hold on. Erp. Maybe not all of our listeners are like, you know, total Tech geniuses here. Can you break that down for us a little bit? What does that even mean?
Emma: Oh, right, yeah, yeah. It’s easy to get bogged down in all that jargon.
Ryan: Yeah, for sure.
Emma: You know, think of ERP as like the central nervous system of a business. You know how your nervous system connects everything? It’s kind of like that. It connects all the different parts of the company, like finance, sales, inventory, production, all of it all into a single system. So instead of having all that information, all that data scattered around in different spreadsheets, different departments, you know, everything’s centralized, everything’s accessible, and you can see it all in real time.
Ryan: Okay, so basically with Wise AGIS was they were trying to create, like, a single source of truth for their whole operation.
Emma: Yep, you got it. That’s exactly it. Get rid of all those silos of information. You know, make sure everyone’s working from the same. The same data, same. Page executives, down to the shop floor workers, everybody. Everyone has the latest and greatest info.
Ryan: Okay, I can see how that’d be really helpful for a company with multiple sites to manage. For sure. All right, so that’s part one, Wise. What about part two of the plan?
Emma: So part two, they layered in JET Reports. It’s this really powerful analytics tool from Insight Software.
Ryan: Okay.
Emma: And it basically gave them the ability to really dig into their data, like really slice and dice it, you know, track these key performance indicators and just get a much clearer picture of what was happening across the whole business. They wanted to know everything, so they.
Ryan: Were moving away from, like, gut feeling and going more toward, like, data driven decision making.
Emma: Exactly. That’s the whole point. You know, instead of just reacting to problems when they pop up, they could use the data from JET Reports to spot trends, anticipate those bottlenecks before they even happened, make those, you know, those proactive adjustments, keep things running smoothly.
Ryan: That sounds like a really good recipe for smarter, more efficient operations. All right, so we’ve got Wise, we’ve got JET Reports. You said there was a third part to this plan. What was the final piece?
Emma: All right, so this is where it gets really interesting, especially for, you know, for anyone listening who’s. Who’s in the manufacturing world.
Ryan: Okay.
Emma: The third part of their solution was to implement Shop Floor Insight by insightworks.
Ryan: Shop Floor Insight.
Emma: Yeah. And this is what really. This is what really transformed their shop floor.
Ryan: Okay, I’m definitely intrigued. Shop Floor Insight from insightworks. Tell me more. What is it and how did it help AGIS tackle all those challenges they were facing with this rapid growth Shop.
Emma: Floor Insight, it’s all about real time visibility and control on the shop floor space specifically. Okay, so think about all the moving pieces you have in manufacturing. Right? You get your raw materials, you manage the work orders, you’ve got to track production, quality, control, shipping.
Ryan: It’s a lot.
Emma: It is. And Shop Floor Insight, it connects all those steps digitally. I mean, to managers, workers, they have instant access to the information they need right when they need it.
Ryan: So it’s not just about collecting data, it’s about making that data useful.
Emma: Right.
Ryan: Giving people the insights they need to make better decisions in the moment right there on the shop floor.
Emma: That’s, that’s the key. And that’s, that’s exactly what AGIS needed. They had to streamline workflows, reduce those bottlenecks. Yeah. You know, get everyone talking, get departments talking to each other, really just get a much tighter grip on their whole production process. And, and Shop Floor Insight gave them the tools to do all of that.
Ryan: Okay, so, so we’ve set the stage here. We know, you know, AGIS, they’re dealing with these growing pains. They’ve implemented this three part solution. Sounds pretty impressive, but did it work? I mean, what kind of results did they actually see after bringing in Shop Floor Insight?
Emma: Oh, it worked. Yeah, it worked really well. Actually. Before Shop Floor Insight, AGIS, they were battling these production delays. They had inventory inaccuracies, just this overall lack of visibility. Like they knew things weren’t quite right, but it was hard to pinpoint. You know what I mean?
Ryan: Yeah, yeah, I get it.
Emma: It was like trying to conduct this big orchestra where everyone’s playing a different tune. It was a mess.
Ryan: So how did Shafleur Insight change the tune? I like that. What specifically did it do for them?
Emma: Well, right off the bat, they saw these production delays just plummet, you know, like, think about it. When you can see everything, every stage of production in real time, you can spot those bottlenecks way before they become these, these huge issues.
Ryan: That’s smart.
Emma: Yeah. Right. Like maybe a machine’s running behind or a crucial part’s out of stock. With Shop Floor Insight, they could see these things happening as they were happening.
Ryan: Oh, wow.
Emma: And then they could just like jump in. Right. Adjust the schedule, move people around, expedite an order, you know, whatever they needed to do.
Ryan: So it was like Shop Floor Insight was like having a traffic control tower for their whole production process.
Emma: That’s a perfect analogy. I like that. And it wasn’t just about like avoiding delays either. Inventory accuracy, it went Way up, like way, way up. Before it was all, you know, manual counts, estimates, all that.
Ryan: Yeah, which is, which is not always the most reliable, let’s be honest.
Emma: I don’t know, lots of human error, you know, but with Shop Floor Insight, they could, they could track every single thing as it was coming in, as it was being used. You know, moving between those, those workshops.
Ryan: Yeah, that, that sounds like a massive time saver, honestly.
Emma: Oh, huge.
Ryan: And not to mention, probably save them some money too, right? Not having to constantly hunt down missing parts or place those like last minute rush orders.
Emma: Exactly. It all adds up. And you know, it meant they could cut down on waste, Right. Optimize stock levels. So that’s good for, you know, further budget for the planet. Win win.
Ryan: Yeah, definitely a win win. Well, okay, so less delays, better inventory. What else? What other like real tangible benefits did AGIS see after using Shop Floor Insight?
Emma: Oh, well, labor utilization, that was a big one. Shop Floor Insight, it’s got these, these features where you can actually track employee time, their skills, their availability.
Ryan: Interesting.
Emma: Right, so instead of just assigning tasks all willy nilly.
Ryan: Yeah, yeah.
Emma: AGIS could, they could actually match the right people to the right jobs, you know, based on what they were good at, what their experience was.
Ryan: Okay.
Emma: So that obviously made things more efficient, but it also helped them really, really get the most out of their, their workforce.
Ryan: You know, I imagine that probably helped with, with employee morale as well.
Emma: Yeah, for sure.
Ryan: If, if people feel like they’re being used effectively, their skills are being valued, you know, they’re, they’re going to be happier, more productive.
Emma: Absolutely. And AGIS saw that they reported, you know, higher employee satisfaction after Shop Floor Insight came in.
Ryan: That’s, that’s fantastic.
Emma: Always a good sign, right?
Ryan: Yeah.
Emma: Happy workers, happy company.
Ryan: Exactly. So Shop Floor Insight, it seems like it was like a home run for AGIS, right? Pretty much addressing like a whole bunch of challenges and really giving them some concrete results, like across the board. But I want to like bring this back to our listener for a second.
Emma: Yeah.
Ryan: Let’s say I’m running a smaller manufacturing business, right. Maybe just one workshop, not multiple sites like AGIS had. Is, is a solution like Shop Floor Insight still still relevant to me? Like, is it still something I should be thinking about?
Emma: Oh, absolutely, yeah, for sure. You, you don’t have to be, you know, a huge corporation with tons of locations to benefit from from Shop Floor optimization. In fact, I’d argue that smaller businesses, they, they often have even more to gain from from a system like Shop Floor Insight.
Ryan: Really? Why, why is that?
Emma: Well, think about it. Smaller businesses, they usually have like tighter margins, you know, fewer resources to throw around.
Ryan: Yes, that’s true.
Emma: So anything that can help them, you know, streamline things, get rid of waste, boost efficiency, that can have a huge impact on their bottom line.
Ryan: Yeah, yeah, that definitely makes sense. But sometimes, you know, technology can feel kind of intimidating, especially for smaller businesses. Yeah, like maybe they don’t have a, a whole IT department to handle that kind of stuff.
Emma: Yeah, I hear you, I get that. But, but one of the great things about shop floor insight and a lot of these, these cloud based solutions is they’re, they’re designed to be like user friendly.
Ryan: Oh, okay.
Emma: Easy to implement. You don’t need a whole team of programmers to get it, to get it up and running.
Ryan: So it’s not just about the technology itself. It’s also about the support, the guidance that comes with it.
Emma: That’s it. Exactly. And good vendors, you know, like, like insightworks, they get that. They’ll, they’ll work with you, you know, tailor the solution to what you need. They’ll, they’ll train your people, make sure you’re getting, you’re getting the most out of it. They want you to succeed.
Ryan: So, so what you’re saying is that like shop floor optimization, it’s not, it’s not just for the big players.
Emma: Right.
Ryan: It’s something that can, that can really benefit manufacturers of all sizes.
Emma: Exactly. It doesn’t matter if you’re, you know, a global company or a small family run shop. It’s about recognizing that the shop floor, that’s the heart of the operation. Yeah, yeah, that’s where, that’s where the magic happens.
Ryan: You know, that’s, that’s a good way to put it.
Emma: That’s where the value is created and that’s where, you know, efficiency or a lack of it, that’s, that’s what makes or breaks you.
Ryan: Well said, well said. So as we kind of wrap up this deep dive into shop floor optimization, what’s the, like the main takeaway you want to leave our listener with? What’s the one thing they should remember about, about Shop floor insight?
Emma: I think the biggest thing is this shop floor insight, you know, from InsightWorks. It’s not just like another software program, you know, this thing, it’s a game changer for manufacturers who are serious about really optimizing their shop floor. It’s about taking those guesses, all that guesswork, and replacing it with real time data. You know, give your workforce the tools they need, create a process that’s, that’s just more efficient, more agile.
Ryan: And we’ve seen, you know, how AGIS, a company with real growing pains was able to like completely transform their operations using Shop Floor Insight.
Emma: Oh yeah.
Ryan: I mean they went from barely keeping up to running like a well oiled machine.
Emma: Yeah. And you know, it’s important to remember that they didn’t just like implement Shop Floor Insight on its own. They combined it with that, you know, that solid ERP foundation, those powerful analytics tools, you know, so it was a truly integrated solution, really tailored to their needs.
Ryan: So it’s not, it’s not just about the technology, it’s about knowing, you know, how to, how to use it.
Emma: Exactly. That’s why it’s so important to work with a vendor who gets it, you know, someone who understands your industry, who can like guide you through the whole process.
Ryan: Well, I think we’ve covered a lot of ground today. We’ve talked about, you know, the challenges of multi site manufacturing, the power of shop floor optimization and the real world impact that Shop Floor Insight can have on a business.
Emma: And hopefully our listeners walking away with a better sense of how to apply these ideas to their own work.
Ryan: Yeah. Whether they’re running a huge factory or a small shop, it all applies.
Emma: It does, yeah.
Ryan: And I want to leave our listener with this thought. Think about how much more you could accomplish if, if you had that same level of visibility and control over your shop floor. What if you could get rid of those annoying delays, reduce waste, give your team the power to make better decisions on the fly? I think that’s something worth thinking about.
Emma: It really is. At the end of the day, it’s all about reaching your full potential. Right. And Shop Floor Insight, it can help you get there.
Ryan: Well said. Thanks for joining us for another deep dive. We’ll see you next time with more insights to help you navigate the ever changing world of manufacturing. Until then, keep those gears turning.
