The challenge
The ERP-CAD data integration project was part of Kimberley Kampers' Visi-Flow initiative, a broad, enterprise-wide effort to make possible the visualization of what parts, Kanbans, and services are needed by everyone to build customer orders on schedule. The purpose of Agni Link was to cut costs and reducing turnaround time by:
• Eliminating the need for manual transcription of CAD Bills of Materials into the ERP system
• Reducing losses on the shop by improving BoM accuracy 

The benefits
The system implementation brought, among others, the following benefits:

• Synchronization of CAD Designs, drawing numbers, revision levels with Production Bills Of Materials (at Kimberley Kampers, they shorten this to PBOM)
• Use of PBOM to deduct those parts from inventory as they build and invoice completed units
• Link an up-to-date PBOM with each Model, Options, Kanbans and parts they build. The drawing version number (generally a letter code) is synchronized and is part of the order to the supplier
• The thumbnail in the SolidWorks documents is automatically transferred by Agni Link as part of the ERP database, together with 20 other core data blocks from the design drawing.
• Allows design engineers to see the current supplier price of any component.
• The supplier has to verify that they have the drawing number or the part specification on file to supply against
• Allow comparison of multiple suppliers of the same part with visible competitive pricing
• From the future orders, automatically schedule the parts and kanbans needed with lead time to order to meet the backlog of orders scheduled.
• Record inventory movements and levels with inventory parts automatically synchronised with the Production Bill of Materials.
• Integrate all of the above systems together with the ERP system (Microsoft Dynamics NAV)

In an increasingly competitive, global environment, Agni Link helped Kimberley Kampers obtain a definite edge through dramatic cost reductions, by taking the fat off the creation and maintenance of Bill of Materials data, while greatly reducing costly errors on the factory floor.

The scope of Agni Link's benefits spans across many distinct enterprise functions, such as:

• Engineering (e.g. making ERP data available to them online, at all times, on an as-required basis
• Production (e.g. ensuring that up-to-date BoM data is available at all times on the factory floor
• Accounting (e.g. by providing timely Bills of Materials information ensuring that up-to-date BoM data is available at all times on the factory floor)
• Executive (e.g. by making a wealth of product data available in a more timely fashion)

The Return on Investment
The recovery period of the investment in Agni Link was 72 days. Here is the ROI calculation, based solely on the time saved by eliminating manual BoM data transcription:

Total investment (includes software, implementation support, 1st year maintenance, etc.)	$6,716
Number of hours per week spent on manual CAD-ERP BoM transcription	20
Average fully burdened hourly labor cost (per user)	$35
Number of average work weeks per year	49
Total recurring yearly savings	$34,300
Approximate Payback Period	2.4 months