At Amerequip, our 100-year legacy is built on providing world-class custom equipment and OEM solutions with unmatched speed and precision. As we continue to grow, the volume of data—thousands of drawings, BOMs, and customer specifications—has grown with us.
To maintain our competitive edge and accelerate speed-to-market for our partners, we’ve recently reimagined how we handle our engineering and quality workflows. By moving away from siloed tribal knowledge and toward a centralized one-search system, we’re making faster, smarter decisions than ever before.
The Challenge: Navigating a Century of Engineering Data
In complex manufacturing environments, information is only as valuable as the speed at which it can be accessed. Previously, our team often had to navigate multiple systems to answer critical questions:
- ERP Systems: Checking cross-references for customer part numbers.
- Drawing Servers: Manually searching for the latest prints.
- Shared Drives: Hunting for historical context on legacy assemblies.
All of the data existed, but the system hopping required to find it created friction. Our goal was to eliminate that friction so we could focus on what we do best: Engineering and Manufacturing.
Real-World Impact: Efficiency in Action
By implementing CADDi Drawer, we’ve streamlined our internal processes in three key areas:
1. Simplified Part Cross-Referencing
Mismatched part numbers between customer systems and our internal database used to require manual validation. Now, a single search of a customer’s part number surfaces the relevant drawings and internal references immediately.
2. Enhanced Assembly Visibility
During quality reviews or nonconformance assessments, understanding a component’s application is vital. We can now see:
- The specific part drawing.
- All assemblies that reference that part.
- Embedded specifications and related metadata.
3. Reducing Redundancy and Cost
By using keyword searches and flexible matching, our engineering team can now identify existing components that might’ve been overlooked in the past. This prevents the creation of duplicate part numbers and unnecessary purchase orders, driving better part standardization across our entire inventory.
A Future-Forward Workflow
As Tim Dorn, our VP of Engineering, notes: “Ultimately, our effectiveness depends on how quickly we turn data into decisions.” This digital transformation isn’t just about a new software tool; it’s about a behavioral shift. By centralizing our “engineering knowledge layer,” we are reducing hesitation, encouraging earlier validation, and ensuring that our team has the tools they need to support our customers’ success.
Learn More About Our Digital Transformation
We’re proud of the progress we’ve made in partnership with the CADDi team. For a deeper dive into the technical details of this implementation and to see the full results of our efficiency gains, read the full case study.