AXIS - A Consona Enterprise Resource Management Software for the Metals, Wire and Cable Industries

AXIOM® is an enterprise resource management system designed specifically for the metals, wire and cable industries. It helps producers, manufacturers and service centers successfully compete in today's global markets by providing the tools and technology to:

• Streamline operations
• Improve productivity
• Reduce costs
• Decrease lead times
• Improve customer service
• Improve profitability
• Support growth without adding resources

AXIOM integrates the entire business around a single, highly accessible base of information. It is a comprehensive metals software solution encompassing all key aspects of the business, including sales, scheduling, production, quality and financial management. It also includes integrated capabilities for web-based customer service, advanced planning and scheduling, and decision support.

Most Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is designed to support discrete manufacturing environments where product characteristics, units of measure, and other attributes are defined in advance and easily managed with standard part numbers. Some software is designed to support continuous process environments like production of food or chemicals where products are based on recipes, and where tracking and costing of individual customer orders is the exception rather than the rule. Neither of these approaches fully supports metals production, metals processing, or wire and cable manufacturing - all of which have characteristics of both process and discrete environments.

While some packages have been modified over time to work around these fundamental design principles, none have been built specifically for the needs of the metals, wire and cable industries. Because of this, many companies in these industries have resorted to developing their own systems internally or have significantly modified standard packages. In either case, the cost of implementing and maintaining these solutions has been high, while the results have often been disappointing. But now there is AXIOM.

AXIOM is not like typical Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. AXIOM metals ERP software is the only enterprise-wide management solution built from the ground up to support the unique operational requirements of companies that transform material through melting, casting, rolling, forging, drawing, annealing, slitting, extruding, stranding, or cabling to produce product.

The real world issues discussed in the Industry Insights section highlight some of the characteristics that set these industries apart, and some of the special needs AXIOM has been built to support. In addition, AXIOM is the only enterprise-wide system that is continually refined and expanded based on input from leading metals, wire and cable companies.

For example, AXIOM Dynamic Order Fulfillment eliminates the need to maintain unique product masters, process routings, pricing information, and descriptions for every possible product or processing variation. By automating much of the quoting, entry, production planning, and documentation of orders, AXIOM helps metals companies dramatically reduce time, effort, cost, and errors across a number of key business processes.

What this means to you is that AXIOM already fits your business and will continue to be optimized to your needs over time. The bottom line is:

• You can deploy AXIOM almost immediately without the need for major customization.
• You can be confident that AXIOM will continue to evolve to support industry best practices.
• Your overall cost of ownership will be lower than with just about any other alternative.

The primary components of the AXIOM Enterprise Resource Management System are:

• AXIOM ERP Capabilities - comprehensive applications for sales, production, quality, and financial management
• AXIOM e/Suite Customer Service - web-based customer service
• AXIOM Advanced Reporting – integrated financial and operational reporting tool with dashboard and ad-hoc reporting capabilities
• AXIOM Shop Floor Data Collection – collects inventory and data transactions directly on the shop floor using handheld wireless devices and bar coded tags
• AXIOM eCommerce – automates data exchange with customers and vendors