Pixel Velocity switched from Excel to Arena to gain efficiencies in BOM management and reduce risk
Excel-Based Bill of Materials Management
Pixel Velocity started as a virtual company whose founders all had “day jobs” and worked remotely with each other and one major supplier. Since the beginning, all of the product development information, including bill of materials, was organized in Excel spreadsheets, and transmitted via spreadsheet and saved in an online storage service.
The company has quickly grown from having one supplier to having dozens of suppliers with whom they must collaborate and source hundreds of components. Product offerings have grown, and business has become more complex, making each decision — and each mistake — more impactful. Along the way, the capability of the company’s Excel-based bill of materials system was overwhelmed. Using Excel had become a liability.
Moving to the next level in the development process of their business, Pixel Velocity knew changes had to be made. Their intellectual property — engineering documents, vendor and supplier information, manufacturing data and bill of materials — was among both their most valuable assets and their biggest liabilities. The company finally decided that using a dedicated collaborative bill of materials (BOM) and change management solution was its smartest choice. Modern bill of materials and change management software would provide the company a cost-effective solution that could overcome the flaws and risks inherent in continuing to use Excel.
Leaving Excel-Based Bill of Materials Management Behind
Pixel Velocity selected Arena early in the company’s development, as soon as it became clear it would need to move away from Excel to improve document control, outsourcing management and help them track engineering changes through the entire product development process, all of which were difficult, at best, using Excel.
Pixel Velocity was quick to recognize that its operations professionals hold a critical role in the success of the company and management clearly understood that supporting them with the right tools, especially in a challenging economy, is a business imperative. Pixel Velocity saw the company’s acquisition of Arena BOM and change management software as a strategic step in its long term growth.
Matt McAmmond is the director of manufacturing for Pixel Velocity: “I am responsible for releasing information to our suppliers and managing our change process. Excel is fine software, but it became frustrating using it to manage all of our product information. It just didn’t have the kind of control we need. As our business and our products became more complex, and our decisions got more critical, Excel started to fail us. When we had one supplier, Excel wasn’t so bad, not now that we have dozens of suppliers; we need the kind of control Arena provides”
To learn more, download the Pixel Velocity Case Study.
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