Tucson Arizona’s Chamber of Commerce announced that AGM Container Controls had won the 2013 Nextrio Innovation through Technology Award. The accolades were presented at an award’s dinner for the AGM Container Controls at the Tucson Metro Chamber Copper Cactus Awards, held at The Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa on September 27. This award honors businesses that are technology-led and/or look to IT to solve problems and increase efficiency.
Established in 1970, AGM Container Controls (AGM) manufactures environmental control hardware for containers that hold missiles, engines and other sensitive equipment. Since then, AGM has started manufacturing parts that protect missiles, and other electro-optical equipment, from moisture vapor. AGM also manufactures tie down straps, as well as a product called tie down shelving that helps protect sailors and soldiers from missile, torpedo and mine strikes. Finally, AGM manufactures the world’s premier wheelchair lift for individuals with disabilities to help them access stages or navigate elevation changes in schools, convention centers, hotels, casinos, churches and other public facilities.
In 2012, AGM implemented an Epicor Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. This software integrates AGM’s accounting, operations, engineering, and quality systems within a single database platform. Using this system has resulted in a significant labor-savings company-wide. For example, production meetings used to take 10 key managers and support staff a total of 50 hours per week. However, now, using the ERP system, these same meetings only take the same personnel 20 hours per week, resulting in a dramatic labor savings. The ERP system has also increased visibility on upcoming issues, giving AGM the agility to quickly respond to customer demands. In fact, AGM’s On-Time Shipping percentage has climbed from 85%, before implementation of the ERP system, to an all-time record high of 96%. This excellent on-time shipping record has helped AGM to maintain its 100% on-time delivery and 100% quality rating with the Defense Supply Center Richmond (DSCR) since 1998. The ERP system has also helped AGM management increase AGM’s operational productivity. For example, AGM’s annual shipment dollars per employee, a key metric that measures how efficiently AGM is operating, was only $133,000 dollars per employee in 2008, but has climbed to $165,000 dollars per employee, in 2012, a 23.5% increase over the last four year period.
When implementing the Epicor ERP system, AGM did not expect to be able to reduce our paper footprint so successfully. To date, AGM has been able to scan and index over 235,834 documents, and has been able to remove hundreds of storage boxes and numerous filing cabinets, freeing up space for other uses. AGM has also closed an off-site storage rental, saving thousands of dollars per year.
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About Cre8tive Technology and Design
Cre8tive Technology and Design continues to differentiate themselves from other partner organizations by providing a full range of services, backed by their drive for complete Customer Satisfaction. Our services include: Custom Programming, Consulting, System Integration, Data Migration, System Installation, Managed and Hosted Service. The Company’s headquarters is located in San Diego, California, with offices in Chicago (Illinois) and San Luis Potosi (Mexico). For more information, visit www.ctnd.com.