Hi-Vac Corporation ERP Case Study

The Challenge

Hi-Vac was constrained by a legacy ERP system that failed to meet modern manufacturing needs. The system's limitation to a single bin location per part resulted in poor inventory visibility, while manual labor tracking and purchasing processes introduced inefficiencies, errors and excess administrative workload. As Hi-Vac aimed to expand and compete in a dynamic market, these challenges hampered their ability to manage over 2,000 parts per truck, maintain accurate cost tracking and adapt operations for greater scalability.

The Solution

Recognizing the need for a modern, adaptable solution, Hi-Vac evaluated several ERP options before selecting Global Shop Solutions ERP for its robust inventory control, automation capabilities and powerful customization features. The decision was heavily influenced by the Global Application Builder (GAB), which offered unmatched flexibility. As Ezra Ward, Applications Support Manager, explains: "We liked the Global Application Builder (GAB), which allows us to easily adapt parts of the software to our ways of working. But what really attracted us to the software was it seemed like the best fit to take the company where management wants to go, which is becoming more of a make-to-stock company." Hi-Vac implemented RFID-based labor tracking, leveraged multi-bin inventory management and automated purchasing with Auto Purchasing. These changes enabled the company to allocate the same part number to multiple bin locations, as Ward notes: "Global Shop Solutions allows us to allocate the same part number to multiple bin locations. As a result, we know with a high degree of accuracy how many parts we have in inventory and where each part is located."

The Results

After implementing Global Shop Solutions ERP, Hi-Vac realized substantial operational improvements. Inventory management evolved with precise multi-bin tracking, eliminating manual counts and ensuring high accuracy across multiple bin locations. Job costing became more reliable, with operators logging time and materials via RFID, giving Hi-Vac precise data on labor and materials used. As Ward highlights: "The way Global Shop Solutions tracks each work order and each job forces us to report correctly. As long as operators log on and off correctly, we know exactly how long they worked and what parts they used. We can now identify our costs with remarkable precision." Automated purchasing replaced time-consuming manual processes, resulting in significant time savings: "Purchasing materials for a large job often consumed an entire day. Now purchasers run each job through Auto Purchasing and it automatically determines what to order. It saves a huge amount of time while allowing us to buy materials more cost-effectively." With over 1,000 ARC programs available and the ability to manage thousands of parts per truck, Hi-Vac achieved new levels of efficiency, scalability and data-driven decision making.