At the risk of sounding like a broken record: Reata puts customers first.
Even our behind-the-scenes decisions about software are made with customers in mind.
We’ve invested significantly in our software these past few months, including upgrading our scheduling system to Fulcrum Pro and investing in Tableau, an analytics platform dedicated to empowering customers.
In the short term, these investments will streamline our precision machining shop operations and enhance customer experiences. In the long term, we’re shooting for unparalleled transparency with a customer-facing dashboard for tracking order progress.
At Reata, we pride ourselves on our dedication to innovation and transparency. Our recent software upgrades reflect that dedication and will bring our contract manufacturing services to a never-before-seen level of excellence.
Benefits of Our New Software
Our new scheduling system, Fulcrum Pro, benefits employees and customers. We’re able to view the entire precision machining shop floor at a glance, enabling us to make informed decisions and provide instant answers to customer inquiries.
Precise quotes and lead times
Fulcrum Pro provides a real-time look at our production line. With this new software, we can base our lead times on real, live data—say goodbye to estimates. We can give customers a precise timeframe for when their product will be ready, allowing them to plan ahead with confidence.
Real-time decisions
With Fulcrum Pro, we’re able to see a comprehensive, real-time picture of our contract manufacturing processes. This insight into material lead times, outside processing, machine set-ups, and run times helps us be proactive and avoid setbacks.
For example, we can make real-time decisions to ensure orders arrive on time. If an external process is taking too long, our engineers can decide to expedite the order or make modifications to meet the deadline.
Efficient communication
Fulcrum Pro acts as a central hub for our precision machining operations. Gone are the days of manually chasing down updates and running across the shop floor to get the status of a job. We can see an overview of each job in one streamlined place, from what’s happening across the shop to the quantities being processed.
This capability significantly enhances our response time to customer inquiries. When customers call us to check on their orders, we can provide instant, comprehensive updates instead of engaging in multiple back-and-forth calls as we hunt down information across the shop.
Fulcrum Pro consolidates information for all our contract manufacturing processes, ensuring customers always feel valued and informed.
Proactive Precision Machining
While Fulcrum Pro manages day-to-day operations, Tableau helps us see the bigger picture. Our recent investment in this powerful data analytics system underscores our commitment to staying at the forefront of technology.
Microsoft Power BI might have the capability to analyze big data, but our transition to Tableau was motivated by its superior ability to integrate multiple software programs. We can use the most up-to-date data points across the shop and deliver faster, more accurate analytics to our customers.
Another precision machining shop might have made do with Microsoft Power BI and saved some money. But when it comes to serving our customers, we only want the best.
The biggest advantage of Tableau is our ability to be proactive instead of reactive. With Tableau’s predictive analytics, we can address issues before they occur. This means less downtime, faster issue resolution, and keeping every promise we make to our customers.
Unparalleled Transparency
What makes us most excited about FulcrumPro is its potential to provide customer-facing dashboards. While we’re not quite ready to roll out this capability, it will be a game-changer in the near future.
Customers will be able to check on their orders in real-time, even seeing where their parts are in the manufacturing process. Current lead times and on-time rates will be readily available—a radical transparency unheard of in the contract manufacturing industry.
To other shops, this might seem absurd. After all, what happens if we fall behind on an order?
Well, at Reata, we don’t compromise on customer trust for a “what if.” We believe in giving customers the confidence and transparency they deserve.
Because we put customers first.
Choose Reata to be your contract manufacturing partner. Request a quote today.