FIMA ERP Case Study

The Challenge

With a workforce of 500 employees and a production facility of 250,000 sq. ft., FIMA managed complex, large-scale projects - often juggling dozens of concurrent jobs daily. However, their legacy AS400 custom system and MS Project software were not designed to handle the scale and intricacy of their workload. Shop load reporting was slow, taking up to three days to generate and often yielding inaccurate results. This lack of real-time, reliable data led to bottlenecks in scheduling and hindered FIMA’s ability to respond effectively to production challenges, threatening on-time delivery and overall efficiency.

The Solution

Seeking to modernize their operations and improve project management, FIMA evaluated ERP solutions capable of supporting their complex manufacturing environment. After careful consideration, FIMA selected Global Shop Solutions ERP for its robust integration capabilities and advanced modules, including Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) and Project Management. The solution stood out for its real-time data visibility, user-friendly interface and responsive Spanish-speaking customer support. According to Alejandro Canelo, Planning and Scheduling Manager at FIMA: “APS offers a very friendly interface for every user in the operational areas and it gives us a fast shop load overview and work order status. The benefits are tremendous. For example, APS allows us to have an online consolidated shop load in order to make on-time decisions about capacity and bottleneck processes. Before Global Shop Solutions ERP software, we worked with MS Project software that always collapsed with the huge amount of work orders we had to deal with. It used to take us three days to get a shop load report that was invariably inaccurate. Now it takes a couple of hours to get a precise one.” The ERP’s comprehensive reporting and centralized data environment gave FIMA a single source of truth for operational decision-making and project tracking.

The Results

With Global Shop Solutions ERP implemented, FIMA reduced shop load reporting time from three days to just hours, transforming their ability to react to capacity constraints and production changes. Real-time visibility into dozens of daily projects allowed for proactive management and faster decision-making. As Alejandro Canelo notes: “We now have the ability to get as deep as you can in details. This helps everyone understand that there is a unique single truth in each stage of the project; that truth is in what the Global Shop Solutions ERP software says. All questions are now derived from what our ERP software is showing us.” The company now efficiently coordinates a high volume of concurrent projects, with accurate work order status and shop floor insights readily available. FIMA also experienced outstanding customer support, with Canelo adding: “Geographic distance is not a problem. We usually have a very quick response to our service requests. With some vendors, we often have language barriers we must try and overcome, but with Global Shop Solutions there’s always a Spanish-speaking person to interact with in the service area.” The ERP system has empowered FIMA to optimize scheduling, enhance productivity and deliver projects on time, positioning the company for continued growth and operational excellence.