Once the Tada solution assembles this information, technologies like machine learning and arti cial intelligence help business leaders analyze the information and make rapid, intelligent business decisions, Parambi says.
Tada’s technology, along with connecting people, systems, and
processes within an organization, can link vendors and customers, promoting collaboration and providing visibility across the end-to-end supply chain. For example, once a customer places an order, the Tada system can check whether it’s in manufacturing or assembly. The company can see if an individual supplier or part is holding up the schedule. “They know immediately what the issue is,” Parambi says. This knowledge enables companies to quickly address any challenges, providing a competitive edge. Etnyre implemented Tada’s solution in 2020. In the months leading up to the implementation, Etnyre made its data accessible to Tada’s team members, so they could enable the connections between the various systems. Most areas of Etnyre were involved in the system implementation. The Tada system covers everything “from quote to cash,” so departments involved in or impacted by these functions were involved in the implementation. GETTING SMARTER By leveraging the Tada solution, Etnyre was able to create information dashboards showing, among other data, operating and sales trends over time, along with key performance indicators. “Almost overnight, we got a lot smarter about our business,” Nelson says. For instance, supply chain and other leaders could easily see where inventory was being used and identify any suppliers that were falling short of their service- level agreements. With information no longer scattered across multiple systems, “we could shine a light on this,” Nelson says. Etnyre implemented the system in phases. Nelson and his colleagues would make some information accessible, and
For more than 100 years, E.D. Etnyre & Co. has manufactured equipment that serves the asphalt roadbuilding industry. New technology helps the company manage and leverage information about suppliers and orders to make better business decisions.
then Tada would use it to develop, say, an inventory turns dashboard. Etnyre would make sure the dashboard met its information needs. Because Tada’s solution is delivered over the internet, Etnyre didn’t have to implement new hardware or systems. The solution also sits as a layer outside Etnyre’s current systems, so it can be implemented without “breaking continuity,” Nelson says. In contrast, when a company shifts from one system to another, it often can be dif cult to continue producing analytics that include past information, allowing for apples-to- apples comparisons. Tada completes many of its implementations within six to eight weeks, Parambi says. THE RELATIONSHIP IS KEY One key differentiator from many other initiatives has been Etnyre’s strong relationship with Tada, Nelson says. As the two companies worked together, Tada would often identify information Etnyre might not have thought to ask for. For instance, as Etnyre began using the Tada solution to analyze its supply chain, Tada built supplier scorecards that measure promised delivery dates against actual ones. This allowed Etnyre to identify any suppliers that were holding up orders. Etnyre also built a capacity planning tool, which was outside the initial project scope.
Along with the expertise they provided, Tada employees were on-site at Etnyre to help employees understand and learn the solution, and recognize the value it could provide. Their involvement helped encourage adoption across the organization. “Tada has also been a key driver in breaking down information siloes,” Nelson says. Now, among other changes, sales can see planning and production scheduling and identify the locations of any bottlenecks. And as employees have become more used to sharing information, they’ve engaged in more collaboration and bridge-building. “That has been the biggest return on investment,” Nelson says. In addition, “strategically, we’re a stronger organization because we have greater access to information,” he adds. For instance, information made newly accessible because of the Tada solution has helped management more rigorously evaluate its product mix with respect to pro tability. “We’ve made decisions regarding where to divert resources to run our business most effectively,” Nelson says. In contrast, several years ago, many of these types of decisions were based on “conjecture and assumptions,” he adds. In the future, Etnyre plans to expand its use of the Tada technology. Currently, the schedule is on hold as Etnyre replaces a range of other systems with a single ERP solution. n
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