In June’s issue, we opened the topic of MES/ERP systems by discussing what they are and how they are used in today’s business climate. The majority of forge companies today continue to discuss the need to establish information integration that is coordinated and summarized among their various departments.

In this first of two articles, the definitions and differences between enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and manufacturing execution systems (MES) are considered.

Forging companies are often faced with the decision about whether to add services to offer their customers. The investment in and addition of, for example, heat treating or machining service departments to your operation are viable growth strategies.

Cost of quality (CoQ) is a hot topic right now. There have even been committees formed in various trade groups to take a closer look at CoQ. You probably have had internal discussions about the CoQ in your company and how those costs compare to other like manufacturers.