Preactor highly rated for 'vendor rating' requirements

Preactor interactive electronic planning board is helping an aerospace and nuclear components manufacturer to meet the exacting 'vendor rating' requirements which its blue chip customers demand.

Williams & Co (Southampton) Limited makes components for companies such as Vickers and GKN Westland Helicopters. These are the type of company which have world class positions to defend and so are constantly demanding ever higher standards from suppliers.

For example, four-day (plus or minus) delivery windows are now an industry standard. And suppliers of components, like Williams & Co, are given a 'vendor rating' that reflects their competitiveness in terms of quality, price and ability to meet deadlines.

Williams & Co were understandably keen to secure the very highest 'vendor rating' possible. Consequently, they decided to look for a computerised system which, amongst other useful functions, would enable them to meet the increasingly tight deadlines they were now regularly being set.

They discovered Preactor, a PC-based graphical finite scheduling tool. Preactor has been developed to help manufacturers optimise the balance between demand and capacity, thereby giving them greater control of their manufacturing operations.

Improved visibility of future planning requirements is achieved, allowing earlier prioritisation to meet urgent orders. This in turn leads to increased customer satisfaction, of course, as deadlines are consistently met.

Williams & Co's Preactor system was supplied by CES (Computerised Engineering Services), who also provided a system for reliably predicting cycle times. "This latter system was ESTIM for Windows," reports Ian Burrows, Managing Director of CES. "Integrated with Preactor, the two provide an efficient planning and estimating tool for use on new or re-designed components and for cost-engineering the best manufacturing route. They complement each other to give control to pre-production engineering planning ' essential for price control and delivery certainty."