Influence QAD’s Automotive Vertical Direction by Participating in the Automotive Development Group (ADG)

Since its inception in 1997, the Automotive Development Group (ADG) has been a vehicle for QAD automotive customers to influence the vertical's direction. The ADG is a customer-funded development group that enables its members to share knowledge and experience to build better solutions for QAD automotive customers.

Key benefits of ADG membership are:

• Early receipt of ADG-funded projects
• Avoidance or elimination of costly customizations
• Networking with peers

Current ADG members are Dura, Lear, TRW, Freudenberg and Faurecia.

Two ADG projects are highlighted here: QAD Production Scheduler and Shipper-ASN Validation.

QAD Production Scheduler
The QAD Production Scheduler solution leverages QAD MFG/PRO Base System demand, supply and MRP data and, through the use of visual alerts, provides visibility to capacity and item availability problem areas. QAD Production Scheduler version 1.0 supports the repetitive scheduling process and was introduced in December 2005. QAD Production Scheduler version 2.0 adds capabilities to manage discrete work orders and was introduced as of mid-August 2006. Following are quotes from QAD customers using the tool:

“I have cut my weekly scheduling time by 65 percent, I now have time to concentrate on the more important things.” – Ronnie Campbell, Materials Supervisor, TRW Automotive

“ My scheduling effort per day reduced from three hours to only 20 minutes when I started using the QAD Production Scheduler. ” – Mike Ferrusquia, Director of Manufacturing, AJ Antunes

The QAD Production Scheduler solution is compatible with QAD MFG/PRO versions eB, eB2 and eB2.1.

Shipper-ASN Validation
In industries such as automotive, suppliers often have a limited time frame to get an Advanced Ship Notice (ASN) to the customer once the shipment leaves their docks (typically 15-30 minutes). If an ASN with the correct data does not get to the customer on time, the supplier's rating is impacted. The main purpose of this project is to enhance the QAD MFG/PRO Base System shipper process by providing users with capabilities to set up field-by-field validations as well as define additional non-system fields on the shipper as required by the customer. Since validation happens early on in the shipper process, the chance that incorrect data ends up on the ASN and needs to be corrected will be reduced drastically. This project is currently in-process.

For information on other ADG projects listed, please visit the ADG page on QAD ServiceLinQ.

If you are interested in learning more about QAD's customer-funded development groups, please visit the QAD Development Group page.