Science Fiction to Science Fact: Opie Group embrace IoT, streamlining processes

Integrated Software Fundamentally Transforms Opie Manufacturing Group Established in 1962, Opie Manufacturing Group – an Australian fabricated metal manufacturer, offering a wide range of products and services – has transformed their production and customer care processes, by fully embracing the Internet of Things. Covering over 7,000 square metres under roof, Opie Group’s state-of-the-art manufacturing and metal processing facility in Emu Plains is expansive and one of the largest in the industry. NetSuite CRM and TRUMPF Software Integration Boosts Production and Customer Care We spoke to Tristan Opie, CEO of Opie Group, about the their recent investment in state-of-the-art software, and the impact this has had.

“Previously, we had no data available to determine where our inefficiencies were throughout the production process and where we needed to focus to improve. Now we can pinpoint exactly where we need to focus, what needs to be done and how we can fix it” Tristan Opie, CEO, Opie Group

Opie integrated four essential pieces of system technology that allowed their machines to talk to each other as well as to the production and customer care team. Since November 2018, Opie has invested in connected machinery to automate their manufacturing processes and customer communications system, which means less idle machine time, ease of production planning and swift customer care. No more blind spots! TRUMPF Software Optimises Production Sequences and Processes TruTops Fab was the first piece of software to be integrated, which allows the user to instantly convert jobs into work orders and to start production. The second was TruTops Boost for 2D/3D design and programming of laser, punching and bending machines. Third was TruTops Calculate, for which works out the processing times and anticipated costs, and the fourth was the NetSuite CRM/ERP system for customer data management and finance administration. By connecting their NetSuite CRM system to TruTops Fab and TruTops Boost, Opie Group has control over the entire production process, managing customer orders right through to shipping, with constant visibility of the status of production. Opie Group can now seamlessly send quotes to customers as a result of integrating both TruTops Fab and NetSuite CRM systems with their TRUMPF machinery. With NetSuite CRM, the customer care team can follow up and check on the performance of quotes, giving them full visibility of the process and estimated time to completion.

“If we look at our materials management as one example of one part of the process, previously a person would have to go through the drawings, the bill of material, manually check stock and confirm if we had enough, which could take up to a minimum of 4 hours. Now this can be done automatically in about 5 minutes.” Tristan Opie, CEO, Opie Group

Thanks to this investment in innovative technology, Opie Group is now enjoying the benefits the Internet of Things delivers in the manufacturing space. Read more about Opie Group here. Read more about TRUMPF Software here.