Ryobi Die Casting Adding Furnaces, ERP

Ryobi Die Casting Inc. (USA) has ordered a new, 80,000-lb. capacity radiant-roof furnace for melting aluminum from The Schaefer Group Inc. The new reverberatory chamber will be delivered to Ryobi’s plant in Irapuato, Mexico, in November. Separately, Schaefer will deliver three, 6,800-lb. electric immersion holding furnaces to Ryobi Die Casting’s plant in Shelbyville, IN, plant. The two orders were among a numerous placements announced by Schaefer Group Inc., which designs and builds various different types of gas furnaces for melting and treating aluminum. The company stated it is “excited about this highly valued partnership with Ryobi Die Casting, one of the premier diecasters in North America.” Ryobi Die Casting produces high-pressure aluminum diecastings for automotive transmission cases and housings, engine blocks and other engine components, steering housings, and structural parts. It has two diecasting plants and a machine shop in Shelbyville, and a combined diecasting and machining operation at Irapuato, in Mexico’s Guanajuato state. Its parent company, Ryobi Ltd., operates diecasting plants in Japan, China, and Northern Ireland, too. Also recently, Solarsoft Business Systems announced that Ryobi Die Casting would implement Solarsoft’s iVP ERP system for all three plants in Indiana and the Mexican operation. The new platform will replace an existing ERP system for the Tier One automotive supplier. "I had used Solarsoft at a previous job and was familiar with the system, the company, and its people," stated Ryobi’s IT manager Randy Burket. Solarsoft iVP is a program tailored to the needs of discrete manufacturing processes, and is designed to help eliminate shipping errors, tighten inventory accuracy, and strengthen enterprise-wide control and supplier management in “intensive supply chains.” Burket said the new ERP was chosen for its functionality (it covers financials, sales orders, inventory, production planning and control) which will mean the diecaster will not have to develop its own features, and he added it will help the company move away from manual data entry and reporting.