Optimising process documentation at Exel Composites
Knowledge sharing with
Process Guide
Exel Composites, a global technology company headquartered in Finland, is the world’s largest manufacturer of pultruded and pull-wound composite solutions. They design and manufacture composite products using carbon fibre, fiberglass and other high-performance materials.
Exel Composites produce a full range of standard and custom sized composite tubes, tool handles, profiles, and laminates. These are used in residential, commercial, and industrial applications. Exel Composites’ global manufacturing, R&D, and sales footprint serves customers across a broad range of industries and applications.
New tools and more knowledge sharing
Over the last two years Exel Composites implemented a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, which was planned to be carried-out in several phases. The project required a lot of staff training and writing of instructions on how to use the new system.
But although comprehensive process instructions had been prepared, some people found it easier to simply ask a more experienced user than read the available instructions.
Additionally, a Product Data Management System was implemented and it was necessary to controll different workflows and processes.
Filtering information with
imc Process Guide
Due to these challenges Exel Composites looked for a solution that would help their business and decided on imc Process Guide, since it allows people to easily find the information they want when they need it. Consulo (imc’s partner in Finland) provided a Process Guide implementation project to all Exel Composites’ Finnish employees, establishing a baseline.
With imc Process Guide, users can much easier find information and instructions, plus, the threshold of accessing instructions is now much lower. Additionally, it allows people to easily find the information they need for their job on demand.
Positive business impact
In general, the feedback across the business has been positive. Kimmo Puoskari, Exel Composites’ R&D Manager, summarised: “We feel that Process Guide is a nice way to document process instructions and have them all in one place, in a central depository. Because Process Guide has been a very easy and straight forward project to get up and running, it required very little IT/infrastructure effort.
Measuring business impact is not so straight forward, however my ‘gut feeling’ is that the business goals of having easier access to instructions and guidelines and getting people to focus on using our systems and processes correctly has had a positive impact.”
Kimmo also points out, that employees’ skill sets have increased, plus their learning curve has reduced. Another positive side effect: Calls for on-site help have reduced, meaning the IT team has more time to focus on more challenging issues and important system development work, instead of basic user assistance.