Posted July 17, 2012
Kaman to invest in new ERP system
Kaman Industrial Technologies announced plans to implement Infor10 Distribution Business (SX.enterprise), a new state of the art enterprise-wide business system.
“We are undergoing a transformation within KIT expanding to three complementary product platforms, re-aligning the organizational structure and now adding a new state of the art enterprise-wide business system to support our long-term growth strategy. Our new Infor System will speed transaction processing, provide more robust reporting and allow for easier integration of acquisitions. The new system will help enable us to achieve our revenue and profit objectives and provide even more exceptional customer service,” said Neal Keating, Kaman Corporation chairman, president and chief executive officer.
The project is expected to take several years to implement at a total cost of $40 million to $45 million. Approximately 75% of the costs will be capitalized.
“Our new system will consolidate seven existing ERP systems, some of which are losing vendor support over the next several years, into one system. This will provide consistency across the organization, lower maintenance costs and support the three product platforms we have developed," said KIT president Steve Smidler. "It is also scalable as we pursue our aggressive growth targets for the business. The largest of our current systems is adequate today for our bearing and power transmission product platform but is based on software originally acquired more than 25 years ago, and it does not make sense to continue to invest in this legacy system for the long-term. Leveraging the advancements in this new system with state of the art technology and combining that with more efficient and standardized processes will enable KIT to more effectively drive growth, productivity and profitability."
Smidler added that a customer relationship management (CRM) tool will provide critical information to support the outside and inside sales team. The time required to enter quotes and orders, support expediting requirements and exchange documents with both customers and suppliers electronically will reduce transaction processing and response times, driving productivity gains.
