SinterMet

Reducing Customizations & Modernizing Operations with Cloud ERP

For over 50 years, SinterMet has been a leading manufacturer of tungsten carbide rolls, rotary knives, and other products for bar, rod, and wire rolling mills worldwide. Based in Kittanning, PA, the company is known for its Shur-Clad and Shur-Lock composite rolls and tungsten carbide rodmill rolls. Its customer-centric culture is built on high quality standards, continuous product innovation, dedicated customer support, and employee empowerment.

Infor SyteLine ERP has supported SinterMet’s operations for decades. In 2022, the company took a closer look at its processes to boost efficiency, reduce complexity, and sharpen its competitive edge. Following this assessment, SinterMet partnered with Decision Resources to modernize their ERP from SyteLine version 8 on-premise to Infor CloudSuite Industrial SaaS.

Leaving Legacy Challenges Behind

SinterMet’s primary motivations for moving to the cloud were (1) reduce technical debt by decreasing customizations and (2) extract more value from their system by adopting new functionality. Like many organizations, SinterMet added customizations over the years to support evolving operational needs. While customizations are beneficial in the short term, they also make testing and upgrading systems more challenging, often reducing agility and slowing the adoption of new capabilities.

By 2022, SinterMet’s system included more than 200 customizations. More often than not, these customizations limited efficiency instead of improving it. Decisions made years prior were still dictating how SinterMet employees worked in the present. For example, custom reports built 15 years ago restricted how employees could access information. Data was available, but not always actionable, so teams often worked outside the system to get what they needed.

For SinterMet, reducing customizations wasn’t about taking away what made their ERP useful. It was about removing the barriers preventing full use of the system.

At the same time, the company sought to take advantage of the expanded functionality available in Infor CloudSuite Industrial. SinterMet was specifically interested in incorporating new shop floor operations, reporting, and document management functionality. By adopting these integrated capabilities, SinterMet could modernize key business processes, reduce reliance on customizations, and provide users with enhanced tools to support day-to-day operations.

“We have decades of valuable information in SyteLine, but we needed to become more agile in how we accessed and used that data. Upgrading to the cloud and cutting back on customizations was the key for SinterMet.”

– Brad Hasek
Vice President of Technology and Product

The Countdown to Go-Live

SinterMet began their Infor CloudSuite Industrial (CSI) implementation in May 2023 with the following
project goals:

1. Provide a single source of truth and solid foundation for business growth.
2. Stay current with the latest ERP features and take advantage of cloud-exclusive functionality.
3. Minimize customizations and rethink how current business requirements can be better addressed.
4. Provide better access to data, dashboards, and KPIs to enable concise, reliable reporting and better
   decision-making.

Decision Resources’ roadmap and documentation helped guide a structured evaluation of existing customizations. SinterMet engaged super users and department experts to map business processes and drive strong internal alignment. This exercise uncovered previously untapped ways for SinterMet to better leverage their ERP.

Many areas of the project were more straightforward than initially anticipated. SinterMet previously relied on hyperlinks within SyteLine to manage documents instead of a centralized document management system. While the company had expected the transition to Infor Document Management to be complex, the migration was seamlessly executed over the course of a weekend.

Ten months later, SinterMet achieved a successful go-live with minimal disruption

Business Impact

Moving to the cloud helped SinterMet improve day-to-day productivity and stay current with the latest
capabilities. Key outcomes include:

A Modern and Unified ERP

CloudSuite Industrial enabled SinterMet to replace third-party shop floor and calibration tracking programs with integrated ERP functionality using Factory Track and the Quality module, increasing value from their investment and providing a platform for long-term growth.

Moving to the cloud also means upgrades are no longer a burden on the business. With all patches tested and applied by Infor, SinterMet benefits from continuous access to the latest features without any future upgrade disruption.

Dynamic, Self-Service Reporting

While on-premise, SinterMet relied on standard, pre-built reports covering areas such as inventory, labor tracking, purchase order status, and variances. However, these reports offered limited flexibility, making it difficult for users to easily filter or analyze data.

User-defined workspaces, DataViews, and widgets allow day-to-day users to create custom reports without involving IT. Employees can access live data on demand, strengthening efficiency, communication, and collaboration across the organization.

75% Fewer Customizations

By critically examining which modifications still served the business, their 200 customizations were reduced to under 50, providing a cleaner, more standardized foundation to support the business long-term.

50% Shorter Month-End Close and Greater Companywide Efficiency

Prior to implementing CloudSuite Industrial, SinterMet’s month-end close process required significant manual effort for postings and approvals. After implementation, the company reduced its month-end close time by 50%.

Other departments experienced improved productivity after integrating Infor Document Management (IDM) into their Items form, enabling employees easy access to relevant documents without tab switching or scavenger hunts.

The Future of SinterMet

While on SyteLine version 8, system inflexibility and bugs discouraged employees from investigating additional capabilities within their ERP. Since moving to CSI, teams have actively explored new modules to further improve their workflows. With a modern ERP, SinterMet can continue building on its core strengths: delivering a strong customer experience, upholding high standards, driving solution development, and uplifting its workforce.

“Our users are always looking for ways to take advantage of more functionality in CloudSuite Industrial, driven by the gains we’ve seen in the first two years in the cloud. As SinterMet continues to evolve and grow, we feel confident CloudSuite Industrial will be able to handle our new challenges.”

– Brad Hasek
Vice President of Technology and Product