How a US industrial equipment manufacturer reached a 93% clear-to-build rate in eight weeks
Facing a strong ramp-up in production, this leading US-based HVAC industrial equipment manufacturing group used Pelico’s Manufacturing Orchestration Platform to leverage its data. Within eight weeks, it reached a 93% clear-to-build rate, cut part shortages by 30%, and improved on-time delivery by 12%.
The starting point
Year-over-year compound annual growth rate
70%
Blocked in WIP
$119M
Past-due purchase orders
14.7%
On-time delivery
49%
Challenges
The challenges
Due to the success of its latest HVAC system, this industrial equipment group had to ramp up production. Part shortages, high overtime, a clear-to-build rate below expectations, and poor on-time delivery held it back.
On top of that came engineering to order: each order is customized, so the BOM can’t be anticipated more than seven weeks before the delivery date. And customers in renovation and building projects send daily requests to adjust shipping dates.
- Supply chain performance declined, with a clear-to-build rate below expectations and sub-optimal manpower management.
- Excessive time spent maintaining and updating spreadsheets pulled attention from more strategic tasks.
- The added complexity of engineering to order and daily early shipping requests strained teams and caused tension.
- Teams worked in constant firefighting mode, dealing with a double uncertainty (their customers’ and their plant’s) and high levels of stress.
Objectives
The objectives
The group wanted one up-to-date picture of its orders, so teams could spot part shortages earlier and keep their delivery commitments during the ramp-up.
- Centralize the data in one platform to improve factory operations and reduce time spent on low value-added tasks.
- Speed up routine completion to make collaboration across teams easier and improve overall operational performance.
- Ease the pressure of OTD commitments by giving teams access to up-to-date order status at any time.
- Extend the planning horizon by detecting part shortages earlier, to minimize firefighting.
The Fix
The fix
To make the transition smooth, Pelico’s team mapped the plant’s existing processes during on-site user shadowing sessions. Pelico’s Manufacturing Orchestration Platform was then implemented to support those routines. The group migrated its most structuring routines to the platform: identifying part shortages, the clear-to-build review, and the daily tiering meeting. Each team, from production control to supply and customer support, now works from the same information.
- Solution: Material coverage
- Scope: one pilot factory, then two additional factories
- Teams: production control first, then supply, customer support, engineering, and site management
- Timeline: results within eight weeks; rollout to three factories planned in under 4.5 months
The results
Clear-to-build rate
93%
Part shortages
-30%
On-time delivery
+12%
Overtime
-20%
Productivity
+80%
Faster decision-making
x5
Within just eight weeks, the factory achieved substantial improvements. Accurate data management allowed more work orders to proceed without delays, taking the clear-to-build rate to 93%.
Better insight into shortages led to smoother production flows, better planning led to more reliable delivery schedules, and improved processes reduced the need for overtime. Better data management and cross-team collaboration made accurate data a cornerstone for daily decisions and overall performance.
See what Pelico could do for you
Wondering how Pelico could help your operation? Read the full case study (PDF), or bring your operational reality to a demo.
