Customer satisfaction at Drillmasters improved by low-code ERP solution from Thinkwise


Apeldoorn, 6th august 2018 – Thinkwise, a supplier of low-code model-driven software has built an ERP solution for Drillmasters. This company specializes in the production and re-grinding of drills, milling cutters and special tools for the machining industry. Drillmasters opted for a low-code developed ERP solution from Thinkwise and they called it Drillmasters IMS. It records the entire process, from the collection of the blunt drills to the delivery of the re-ground drills. It means that the company can now work more efficiently and accurately and that it can provide a better service to its customers.

Drillmasters’ main business has always been the re-grinding of drills and milling cutters and it counts many aircraft builders, among its customers. With its own transport service, the company collects the drills on a weekly basis. These are then sorted, ground, packed and delivered back to the customers. This is the main artery of the process that Drillmasters specializes in. The company also purchases material for the production of new drills.

Replacement of Excel

Drillmasters wanted more structure in its business process and was looking for a new ERP solution as a replacement for the Excel system that they had developed themselves. Sorting and counting the drills form an important part of the process. Until recently, this was a complicated and inefficient process, using a user-unfriendly Excel application. Leon Moonen, Managing Director of Drillmasters: “Our people spent a lot of time typing lists of manually sorted drills into the AFAS Online accounting system, so that the invoices could be sent out.”

Thinkwise Test Drive is very convincing

Drillmasters decided to engage Thinkwise after the Test Drive had convinced them of the possibilities of the low-code platform. For this Test Drive, Thinkwise had made a demo with the global screen structure and the processing of the two different business processes at Drillmasters. This gave the employees of Drillmasters a good impression of the new system. Not only in terms of workflow, but also with regard to how detail information from various external files (such as re-grinding instructions from customers and machine setting data) are displayed at the correct places in the process. With the expertise of its consultants, Thinkwise succeeded in modernizing and replacing the existing Excel system with the Thinkwise platform within a few months.

ERP solution with supporting application

The modernization using the Thinkwise platform has resulted in a new ERP solution. This solution supports all the key processes within the company’s operations. For instance, product data including drawings are recorded, sales calculations carried out, sales and productions orders produced and materials purchased. The resulting information is used to manage the inventory and then finally for invoicing. The invoice is automatically sent to AFAS Online for the financial accounting.

Improved customer satisfaction

The collection of information during the sorting and counting of the drills and milling cutters  is an important part of the business process and forms the basis for the invoice that is ultimately sent to the customer. Moreover, the results from the counts are entered and processed directly on a tablet using a supporting Thinkwise application. The process-based operation of this tablet app is structured in such a way that the employees only need to perform a minimal number of actions to register a count result for a sales/production order.

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