Transforming Manufacturing Processes: Western Trailers' Success Story with IoT

Western Trailers is a trailer manufacturing company based in Boise, Idaho. The company was established in 1958 and entered the trailer manufacturing industry in the late 1960s. Today, Western Trailers builds high-quality, custom-built trailers that are among the strongest and lightest in the industry. The company employs over 450 people who share a vision of being the leading trailer industry by listening to customer needs, delivering quality and innovative transportation solutions, and utilizing their people, core values, and technology to build, supply, and service the best products on the road. The company attributes its success to the quality of its employees and their commitment to providing the highest level of detail in their work.

Western Trailers, a manufacturing company based in Boise, Idaho, was facing significant challenges due to manual data entry processes. The company was losing a substantial amount of money due to errors in the manual transcription of Bill of Materials (BoM) data into their ERP system. This manual process was not only time-consuming but also led to a culture of manual processes within the organization. The company had made several unsuccessful attempts to implement CAD-ERP data integration, which resulted in further financial losses. The need for a solution that would eliminate the manual transcription of BoM data and the associated errors was paramount. The company was also looking to shift from a culture of manual processes to one of automation.

Western Trailers found their solution in Agni Link, a system that allowed them to successfully push BoM data into Microsoft Dynamics. This was a significant change for the company as it eliminated the need for manual data entry and the associated errors. The implementation of Agni Link, which began in 2017, led to significant changes in the engineering department in a short amount of time. The system provided the company with the flexibility to integrate with their specific environment and offered a new perspective on how their processes worked and where modifications or streamlining was needed. The implementation of Agni Link also led to the addition of 'best practices' in the engineering department, which brought about beneficial changes for the company as a whole.

• The implementation of Agni Link brought about a significant transformation in Western Trailers' operations. The system not only eliminated the need for manual data entry but also reduced errors on the shop floor, leading to more efficient use of raw materials. The automation of the creation of Balloons, Parts Lists, and Bills of Materials in AutoCAD drawings further streamlined the company's processes. The system also provided design engineers with the ability to view current supplier prices of all components and compare multiple suppliers of the same part with visible competitive pricing. This led to a shift in the company culture from manual process-oriented to automated process-oriented. The benefits of Agni Link spanned across the entire company, including the engineering, production, accounting, and executive departments, making a wealth of product data available in a more timely fashion.

• Significant reduction in engineering lead-time

• Reallocation of labor time to tasks with higher added value

• Elimination of errors in BoM data, leading to fewer errors on the shop floor