Factory picks System/34

Press, 7 June 1983, Page 31

Factory picks System/34

As New Zealand’s only manufacturer of drills and one of the two makers of hacksaw and bandsaw blades, Patience and Nicholson, of Kaiapoi, might be supposed to have a “safe” market.

But not so, says the financial director, Mr John Nuthall. “We’re in a more precarious position (than manufacturers in a hotly contested area). We have to satisfy virtually the country’s entire demand. At the same time, we are moving into the export market.”

Complications such as an increasing range of goods,

and a network of distributors less willing to hold large stocks, have left Patience and Nicholson with a critical need to balance its inventory and manufacturing resources carefully against varying demand, without itself sinking too much money into “safety” stock.

The changing market picture was an important factor leading to the decision to install an IBM System/34 small business computer with accounting and manufacturing control software.

The company has relied largely on IBM standard

packages, taking its sales and private ledger from the IMAS (integrated management and accounting system) suite and modules, from MAPICS (manufacturing accounting and production information control system) to handle product data and inventory management, production control and costing- „

Full materials requirements planning will go on the machine by the end of the year, to streamline further Patience and Nicholson’s control over its manufacturing processes. With the help of the System/34, a virtually minute-

by-minute check can be kept on current order levels and stock in hand.

Usually, daily reports are sufficient to keep a finger on the current position, but immediate on-line inquiry is available should the company suspect that the situation has changed materially since the last report Scheduling of manufacturing activity can then be based more closely on fluctuating market requirements.

Increase in the size of the market through the rise of export business is welcome, but it magnifies the fluctuations.

Patience and Nicholson, part of an Australian group, has to plan to spread the manufacturing load more evenly between Australian and New Zealand factories.

This has meant a significantly increased volume of exports for the Kaiapoi company, not only to Australia, but also to Canada, Singapore, and the Philippines. “As much as 30 per cent of our business is now export,” says Mr Nuthall. But the cutting-tool industry internationally is overcrowded with production capacity. “There is a worldwide shakeout happening already,” says Mr Nuthall, “and the most efficient companies with the best control of their operations will naturally be the survivors.

“In our own corner of the world, CER, with its consequent changes in the import situation, carried its own risks.

“The computer system and the control it provided over the business would help the company weather the coming storm,” he said. In search of improved control for its business through streamlined information processing, Patience and Nicholson chose a “packaged” program strategy.

The Patience and Nicholson installation is run by Mr Nuthall, the DP manager, Mr Robin Livermore, and the users.

Two visual display terminals and a printer are sited in the “manufacturing control centre.”

The Canterbury Public Library recently showed off its on-line search service, named Libraryline. Ms Ainslie Dewe, an assistant librarian in the commerce, science and technology division of the library is shown demonstrating an actual, search.

Using a terminal located in the new library building, library staff can access databases of information held

on computers in New Zealand, the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Over 150 databases can be accessed from the terminal, covering subject areas from aesthetics to zoology. Three main database hosts are used — Dialog, SDCOrbit and European Space Agency-IRS. When an on-iine search is appropriate the library will charge a $lO search fee,

plus the telecommunications and access costs involved. An average search will cost about $7O, according to the library. The results of the search may contain the actual information which is required (for example, names of companies, statistics, addresses, etc.) or will be in the form of references to articles in magazines, journals or newspapers.