Improving Operations

Vancouver, B.C.-based Adion Systems has established ProShop USA, Inc. in Bellingham, Washington as a U.S. subsidiary to facilitate sales and support of its ProShop manufacturing enterprise software to its growing U.S. customer base. ProShop software is a comprehensive web-based, paperless shop management system engineered to benefit small- to medium-sized manufacturing companies.

ProShop software provides an integrated, comprehensive set of modules for managing a shop’s ERP (enterprise resource planning) operations as well as MES (manufacturing execution system) and QMS (quality management system) functions. The software recently earned a June 2018 Top “Frontrunner” ranking from the consulting, research and software evaluation firm Software Advice.

A Background in Racing

The founders of Adion Systems and ProShop met in 1993 at the Vehicle Research Institute of Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington while designing and building Formula SAE racing cars. The team later formed a subcontract manufacturing company, Pro CNC, and developed an ERP system to improve the operations and efficiency of their shop. Their ProShop system handled shop scheduling, floor control, quality management, CMMS, equipment calibration and other functions.

Although ProShop software was originally developed for internal use, positive input from customers, vendors, and auditors prompted the team to research the ERP market and decide to commercialize ProShop software to help smaller manufacturers become globally competitive. In 2014, the team sold Pro CNC to an international manufacturing enterprise and established Adion Systems to continually improve, sell and support ProShop software.

Benefits for Manufacturers

ProShop software is a comprehensive web-based shop management system engineered to benefit small- to medium-size manufacturing companies. As a paperless ERP/MES and QMS software, it offers multiple benefits for machine shops, fabricators, job shops, contract manufacturers and others in regulated industries that require tight process controls and exacting and desire timely information to support profitable manufacturing business decisions.

“ProShop software represents a Digital Manufacturing Ecosystem or ERP 4.0,” said Paul Van Metre, Adion Systems co-founder and vice president of sales, and president of ProShop USA. “It enables smaller shops to easily manage their business with a big data, manufacturing-analytics approach, including shop floor monitoring of part quality inspection, work instructions and tool management.”

According to Van Metre, most conventional ERP systems are accounting-based with minimal functionality for managing and controlling the shop floor environment. On the other hand, systems focused on manufacturing monitoring do not provide the full scope of information needed to guide optimal business strategies.

Making Informed Choices

Accordingly, in addition to typical ERP segments dealing with estimating, quoting and purchasing, ProShop includes MES and QMS control, monitoring and collection capabilities. The MES function tracks machine usage, cutting tool management, work instructions, part inspection data and more. QMS functions include all the modules needed to manage a company’s ISO 9000, AS9100, API and ISO 13485 certifications, covering all the tasks required to comply with a worksite’s different quality systems. Data regarding standards, procedures, equipment, users, training, audit reports, non-conformance reports, corrective actions and more are included. ProShop may be hosted in the cloud or on-site, depending on the user’s preference.

ProShop software can often replace five to six separate software packages that may not communicate well with each other,” Van Metre said, adding that use of ProShop can positively impact profitability and throughput. Examples include moving overhead labor to billable functions, opening capabilities for more complicated jobs, improving on-time delivery performance and accurately estimating profit margins on each project. Implementation of ProShop enables more informed and conscious choices surrounding all business decisions.