Opcenter (Preactor) APS

Williams & Co., a company based in Southampton, UK produce aerospace and nuclear components for companies such as Vickers, GKN Westland Helicopters, Boeing and the French Helicopter company, Aero Speciale.

As the customers of Williams aim to increase their world class positions it follows that they demand more from their suppliers.  Four day delivery windows are an industry standard (plus or minus 4 days) and suppliers of components are given a ‘vendor rating’ which reflects their competitiveness in terms of quality, price and ability to meet deadlines.

The company decided to look for a computerized system to enable them to meet the increasingly tight deadlines and thus secure the highest rating possible.

The search for suitable scheduling software led them through many production magazines and Williams & Co were worried that expensive bespoke software was the only solution.  Fortunately they came across Preactor which offered scheduling without any unnecessary invoicing or planning ‘add ons’.   The only alternative to Preactor was a European system which did not have back up or the required after sales care required for peace of mind.

Manufacturing has polarized into two types of production: continuous process and discrete parts. First time users of computerized systems are unlikely to find or be able to afford bespoke software to meet their particular production control needs.  A more timely and cost effective solution is to select a computerized system which can be configured to offer the closest fit and widest range of benefits to their current production.

Preactor was installed in two days and disruption was kept to a minimum.  Preactor suited the scheduling needs of Williams and gave a holistic picture of production, facilitating easy prioritization to meet urgent orders.

“We find that we get from Preactor what we put in,” said John Ball, Managing Director, “keeping the information up to date means the system serves us better”.