Managers at Astronics Advanced Electronic Systems (AES) in Redmond, Wash., needed product content and engineering change management software for manufacturing their power generation, distribution, and control systems. They found their solution in the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software from Omnify Software in Andover, Mass.

Astronics chose the Omnify PLM software for “its robustness, seamless interface to the Intuitive ERP (enterprise resource planning) system and excellent customer support staff,” says R.M. “Marty” Jeide, program manager at Astronics AES.

Astronics AES engineers were facing an exponentially growing number of parts, workflows, bills of materials (BOMs), and ECOs, in addition to keeping track of a wealth of drawings, schematics, and part lists.

Omnify PLM was adopted not only to assure that no steps were skipped, but also to facilitate the elimination of outdated processes in the workflow. As it turned out, several BOMs, such as design and production, could be combined into one. Moreover, it enabled the consolidation of roughly 20,000 plus parts, compliance information from vendors, subassemblies, and workflows to prepare the data for importation into the Intuitive ERP system.

“Having some 300 employees and data coming from multiple sources, systems, and departments, it is often difficult to adapt to change and instill good corporate disciplines but a number of small efficiencies can really make a major impact,” Jeide explains. “Control disciplines, such as not skipping a certain step in the process or pinpointing a particular repetitive error, can be easily ascertained if your product lifecycle processes are fine-tuned, a result all manufacturers want to achieve prior to having any kind of data integrated to your ERP.”

For additional information, visit Omnify Software online at www.omnifysoft.com, or Astronics AES at www.astronicsaes.com.