ICF Industries, Inc. ERP Case Study

The Challenge

Despite its scale and expertise, ICF Industries struggled with fragmented manual processes for tracking labor and material data, frequent transactional errors in inventory management and imprecise job costing. Each day, staff had to correct at least 20 data entry errors, which not only consumed valuable time but also hampered timely and accurate reporting. Inadequate visibility into inventory and true production costs limited the company’s ability to confidently quote jobs and optimize manufacturing workflows.

The Solution

To address these challenges, ICF Industries evaluated ERP solutions capable of unifying and automating shop floor data collection, inventory management and job costing. The decision was driven by a need for a comprehensive, user-friendly platform that could support the company’s evolving demands and ensure reliable technical support. According to Paul O’Brien, IT Administrator at ICF Industries: “When you purchase a complex software system, good tech support is essential, because if you can’t get problems resolved in a timely manner, you will have problems. We chose Global Shop Solutions because it has one of the highest-rated customer and tech support in the industry.” By implementing Global Shop Solutions ERP, including Shop Floor Data Collection stations, ICF Industries was able to automate the tracking of labor and materials, centralize data management and reduce dependency on manual corrections. The all-inclusive nature of the platform integrated accounting, payroll, job costing and inventory into a single solution. "Global Shop Solutions is an all-inclusive solution, with accounting, payroll, job costing, inventory and everything else you need in one complete package,"  added O’Brien.

The Results

The impact of Global Shop Solutions ERP was immediate and measurable for ICF Industries. Daily entry fixes dropped from 20 to just 0.5 - an overwhelming reduction in manual corrections. Shop Floor Data Collection brought speed and accuracy to labor and material tracking, resulting in more precise job costing and nearly eliminating daily balancing issues. As O’Brien noted: “With Shop Floor Data Collection stations, everything is faster and more accurate. In particular, job costing is more precise because we’re tracking time and materials to the minute. And daily balancing has shrunk to almost nothing. Before, we had to fix a minimum of 20 entries every day; now it’s once every couple of days at most.” The company also benefited from time savings in reporting, improved training outcomes and comprehensive support. O’Brien summarized: “The bells and whistles in the software are great. But for me, it all comes down to customer service and support and Global Shop Solutions excels in this area.” ICF Industries is now positioned to deliver accurate quotes, maintain high-quality standards and scale its manufacturing operations with confidence.