Eaton Cutler-Hammer Radley/QAD Alliance Proves Successful for Eaton Cutler-Hammer

QAD Strategic Partner, Radley Corporation, is a Michigan-based software developer focused exclusively on EDI and barcode data collection. Radley’s products are closely integrated with QAD’s enterprise solution, QAD MFG/PRO, meaning that QAD customers who choose Radley’s Bar Code Data Collection package can benefit from a rapid installation and implementation, even when their QAD MFG/PRO installation has been customized.

An example of a Radley installation that was implemented in short order despite QAD MFG/PRO customization was Eaton’s Cutler-Hammer division in Watertown, Wisconsin. In fact, if Radley gave a Rapid Achiever Award for expeditious implementations, as QAD does at its annual Explore users conference, it would award one to Eaton/Cutler-Hammer.

Eaton’s Cutler-Hammer division is one of the world’s leading suppliers of electrical control products-such as motor starters, variable speed drives, photoelectric and proximity sensors-and power distribution equipment, such as circuit breakers and voltage assemblies.

In January 2000, with the Y2K threat behind them, the Eaton/Cutler-Hammer division made a final vendor evaluation and chose Radley Corporation as its integrated data collection solution provider.

During the implementation, a system analysis conducted by Radley engineers during the first week of February revealed that of the five QAD MFG/PRO transactions desired in the first phase of Cutler-Hammer’s data collection effort, four had been customized to some degree. Nevertheless, Radley agreed to have these transactions up and running by the end of February, and did not disappoint. Cutler-Hammer went live with the desired transactions the week of February 28, due in large part to a coordinated effort between Radley and Cutler-Hammer associates, and because of Radley’s technical expertise, solid architecture, and close relationship with QAD.

Even though Eaton’s QAD MFG/PRO transactions were customized, Radley’s Portable Client Manager allowed for extremely fast and efficient development of the client programs used on Cutler-Hammer’s shop floor devices. The implementation linked shop floor devices with Radley’s client-server-based Portable Client data collection software and flexible, user-definable tables contained within QAD MFG/PRO. Because of this integrated architecture, there was minimal impact on the host processor and very little drive space consumed. Furthermore, no intrusion was made into the QAD MFG/PRO database table or application source code.

Julie Guenterberg, IT manager at Cutler-Hammer’s Watertown facility, is pleased both with the solution and the relationship her company has developed with Radley. “The architecture is solid and works well. It uses minimal processing resources, and when something is that solid, you just turn it on and forget about it. The solution is flexible, users are pleased with the transactions deployed on the shop floor, and Radley’s Customer Support group is always available should we need to lean on them for anything.”

In fact, as additional phases are defined and rolled out, Cutler-Hammer simply schedules conference calls with Radley’s Customer Support Manager to answer any questions about implementation.

Because of Radley’s strong relationship with QAD, its products continue to be tightly integrated with new QAD MFG/PRO and QAD MFG/PRO eB releases. Radley offers shop floor data collection support for all QAD MFG/PRO transactions, and its solution supports a variety of end-user devices, including PCs, scales, PLCs, touch screens, RFID, Web-enabled devices, and open as well as proprietary, hardware. Additionally, Radley has seamlessly integrated an enterprise labeling solution and offers Intellilabel features for discreet license plating and tracking of products through a variety of QAD MFG/PRO processes.

For example, as items are received into finished goods, Intellilabels containing item numbers, lot numbers, quantities, and other information are generated. These can then be utilized at shipping, incorporating a single scan to populate appropriate fields within several associated transactions, simplifying and streamlining the entire shipping process.

Eaton appreciates that, along with QAD MFG/PRO, Radley’s solution is written in Progress, giving it the same “look and feel.” In both Unix and NT environments, it offers client-server capabilities, allowing for off-line data collection to continue should the network or host go down. With three levels of validation and a unique transaction sequencing routine, data collected off-line is queued, sequenced, and ultimately posted to QAD.

The ease of the Radley implementation and the facility of its operation with QAD MFG/PRO has convinced Guenterberg that even employees who soon will be expected to perform data collection for the first time will experience no difficulties. “Employees currently using the devices like them and the way the transactions work for them. As Radley’s solution is solid and user-friendly, the new users will pick right up on it.”

With the QAD MFG/PRO and Radley data collection team working closely together, Cutler-hammer has made an equally solid investment in its future.