Cardinal MetalWorks
Cardinal MetalWorks
Industry: Metal Fabrication
"Before starting with our new ERP system, we were doing $2 million with 20 employees. Now, we’re doing $10 Million with over 60 employees, and that’s because we invested in automation. MIE Trak Pro helps us keep track of our costs."
Larry Isaacson
General Manager
In 2005, Cardinal MetalWorks moved from their homegrown ERP system to MIE Trak Pro. MIE Trak Pro’s robust toolset and flexibility aided Cardinal MetalWorks as they grew to scale. Since implementing MIE Trak Pro, Cardinal MetalWorks more than quadrupled their annual sales from $2 million to $10 million and tripled their company size from 20 employees to 60 employees.
Cardinal MetalWorks was founded in 1960 as Piper Industries in Durham, NC. The organization then became Cardinal MetalWorks in 2002 and has been providing sheet metal fabrication services for the Commercial, Industrial, Medical, and Military sectors. Since running their production using MIE Trak Pro ERP Software, Cardinal MetalWorks has grown into a company comprised of 60 employees with over $10 million dollars in annual sales. They are ISO 9001:2015 certified and have received the Workplace Conditions Assessment (WCA) Achievement Award.
Challenges
- Their homegrown ERP system was incapable of providing a clear vision of the status of each job
- Hours spent manually inputting data into their homegrown ERP were a serious time drain from operations
- There was a serious lack of support for the homegrown ERP system, making it difficult to fix issues once they arose
Solutions
- MIE Trak Pro provides great visibility on jobs and gave them the capacity to track more efficiently through custom dashboards
- MIE Trak Pro’s automated data import minimizes human error and is easy to use
- MIE Trak Pro’s customer service portal is available 24/7 and is backed by an experienced team
Value Added
- Job-status visibility gave them a clear view of their jobs and gave them a real-time snapshot of their entire workflow, allowing them to be more efficient and accurate with job estimations
- Cardinal MetalWorks saves time and money by minimizing human error
- Any issues in the system are solved quickly through support tickets
Using Cardinal MetalWorks’ homegrown system, Isaacson ran into a handful of difficulties. “It was a real struggle. The system allowed us to quote and make a basic traveler, but it was totally inadequate,” said Isaacson. “The homegrown system was created by a small business computer consultant. This led to a lack of capabilities, such as visibility and automation.
Isaacson made the decision to switch from their homegrown system when he evaluated different ERP systems at FABTECH, a trade show for the metal fabrication industry.
During his search, he met David Ferguson, the CEO and founder of MIE Solutions. Isaacson had previous experience using JobBoss, another ERP software application and was looking to invest in their product. However, he decided to move forward with MIE Trak Pro because it would better solve problems he was facing in his shop—including deficient visibility, excessive manual entry, and a lack of technical support.
During our ERP search, the thing I liked most about [MIE Trak Pro] was that [it was] made specifically for metal fabrication
Larry Isaacson
General Manager
Since moving from their old, homegrown system to MIE Trak Pro, Cardinal MetalWorks gained full visibility over their shop floor, significantly decreased manual entry errors through automation, and found the technical support they had been needing. With MIE Trak Pro, they were able to position their company for substantial growth.
Cardinal MetalWorks expanded their company from 20 employees to 60 employees, and more than quadrupled their annual sales—from $2 million dollars to $10 million dollars. “We would never have gotten this far without MIE Trak Pro. We’d be only selling $2 million a year or be out of business. Anybody that doesn’t automate their business is asking for a real bad result,” said Isaacson.
Before starting with MIE Trak Pro, we were doing $2 million with 20 employees. Now, we’re doing $10 Million with over 60 employees, and that’s because we invested in automation.
Larry Isaacson
General Manager