Exotic Metals Forming, a division of Parker Aerospace, specializes in designing and manufacturing advanced sheet metal fabrications for the aerospace industry. With a strong focus on engineering innovation, Exotic Metals Forming delivers complex, high-performance solutions tailored to the demands of modern aerospace applications.
Exotic Metals Forming operates out of three facilities: its headquarters in Kent, Washington, which focuses on metal forming, fabrication, and repairs; Airway Heights, Washington, which handles metal fabrication, joints, and ducting; and Phoenix, Arizona, which specializes in metal fabrication.
As the company grew, so did the challenges in managing complex configurations and data. Exotic Metals Forming embarked on a journey to revitalize its product lifecycle management (PLM) system and ensure future business success.
The PLM challenge
To stay ahead of its growing operational requirements, Exotic Metals Forming introduced Teamcenter PLM to bring stability and efficiency to its processes. However, the initial implementation, conducted by an outside consultant, was filled with challenges.
The infrastructure of Windows servers supporting Teamcenter was flawed and caused Exotic Metals Forming to face frequent system crashes, slow response times, and instability. Users often joked about the system’s unreliability, leading to frustration across the organization.
“Our users were typically experiencing crashes once every couple of days at random times during the working day,” Brian Loeffler, CAD Project Engineer at the time, said. “These crashes could include individual sessions where connections to the server were lost, or a system-wide crash would occur, and the server would need to be rebooted.”
The flawed Teamcenter implementation and limited consulting expertise left critical issues unaddressed. It became clear that something needed to change.
The solution: Applied CAx partnership
Recognizing the critical need for change, Exotic Metals Forming sought out a partnership with Applied CAx to address these pressing issues. Working closely with Exotic Metals Forming’s new IT department, Applied CAx identified and addressed the system’s fundamental issues.
“Applied CAx leveraged their expertise and guided our company in establishing a robust platform that stabilized the Teamcenter installation and got our company on the right path for developing Teamcenter as more of a fundamental building block for our future business processes,” Loeffler said.
What once was a system that frequently crashed and frustrated users became a trusted tool integral for day-to-day operations.
Empowering growth and efficiency
The stability of the Teamcenter platform provided by Applied CAx allowed Exotic Metals Forming to focus on growth and business process improvements. Applied CAx’s guidance and expertise were critical during major platform upgrades.
As a result, Exotic Metals Forming was able to leverage its PLM system for initiatives like enabling cross-communication between Teamcenter and the company’s ERP system and replacing paper-based processes with electronic workflows. These efforts led to more efficient operations and reduced errors inherent in manual processes.
Loeffler highlighted the transformation, stating, “After our partnership with Applied CAx, the stability of our Teamcenter platform has increased to the high level our company would expect, where users actually want to use the software.”
Looking ahead
The partnership between Exotic Metals Forming and Applied CAx is a testament to the power of a well-executed PLM strategy. This partnership “was critical in transforming what Teamcenter means to our company,” Loeffler said.
With a solid PLM foundation, Exotic Metals Forming is well-equipped to continue pushing the boundaries of innovation and efficiency in the aerospace industry.