Keihin IPT Mfg., Inc. (KIPT) iCARaS Radley Shipment Scanning

RADLEY ACTIONLINE CASE STUDY: KEIHIN IPT

North American automotive suppliers must continuously streamline their business operations to maximize responsiveness to their customers’ demands. One area which demands efficiency is EDI/release accounting. Quick and accurate processing of customer demand and schedule changes, plus just-in-time shipping functions are critical - and demand an EDI/release accounting system that meets today’s specifications and ensures compliance with future initiatives. Radley Corporation’s internet-enabled Computerized Automotive Release accounting System (iCARaS) meets the EDI challenges of today and tomorrow for Tier 1 suppliers like Keihin IPT Mfg., Inc. (KIPT).

Keihin IPT Mfg., Inc.’s location in Greenfield, Indiana, manufactures Air and Fuel Management Systems for every automobile produced by a major automotive OEM’s North American production facilities. Keihin IPT Mfg., Inc. is part of Keihin Corporation, an auto parts manufacturer headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with 8,000 employees and reported US sales of $1.7 Billion in 2000. Keihin IPT Mfg., Inc. relies on iCARaS from Radley Corporation to stay in lock-step with the OEM’s production scheduling demands and EDI processes.

At the time, the OEM’s suppliers processed inbound release schedules from the OEM, and returned ASNs and invoices to the OEM, along with shipping labels. Keihin IPT Mfg., Inc. implemented their integrated ERP & CARaS applications within a 90 day period. CARaS fed Keihin IPT Mfg., Inc.’s production system with the OEM’s EDI schedules, and automated Keihin IPT Mfg., Inc.’s ASN processing and label printing for each shipment to the OEM.

In late 1996, the OEM announced the EDI phase of its’ own systems initiative, which began as a new ERP implementation within the OEM. This EDI phase brought sweeping changes to the OEM’s EDI specifications, including expanding from four to 11 EDI transactions, plus new label requirements. In addition, the OEM would begin to require suppliers to scan their shipping labels for ASN verification.

Keihin IPT Mfg., Inc.’s selection of Radley and CARaS quickly proved a sound one, when Radley included the OEM’s EDI specifications within standard CARaS product maintenance. In fact, Radley was among the first eight OEM-approved EDI vendors in June, 1997, and today is one of only a few OEM-approved providers that delivers the EDI, labeling & scanning components from a single source. Radley also assisted Keihin IPT Mfg., Inc. in completing OEM’s rigorous Delta certification process. Later, Radley added compliance for subsequent OEM EDI initiatives, again as standard CARaS functionality.

In 2003, Keihin IPT Mfg., Inc. upgraded to Radley’s internet-enabled release, iCARaS, which provides a Web browser style user interface, combining increased ease of use with further business process automations, including a job scheduler and event-driven user notifications. According to Lisa Barnes, EDI Administrator at Keihin IPT Mfg., Inc., “Keihin IPT Mfg., Inc. has used Radley’s CARaS system to process all of our EDI, labeling and shipping functions for the past nine years. We are very pleased with the added functionality of the iCARaS Web browser user interface. We also use ODBC connectivity with our ERP system report writer to create Keihin IPT Mfg., Inc.-specific reports. Radley is always responsive to our needs, and helps us keep current with our customer’s demands in the ever-changing automotive market.”

Radley Corporation’s iCARaS system supports the EDI, labeling and scanning specifications of over 240 EDI trading partners in the passenger automotive, heavy truck, appliance industry, office furniture and related industries.