Case Studies Customer Success Story: Mesa Laboratories, Inc.

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	Customer Success Story: Mesa Laboratories, Inc.

Customer Success Story: Mesa Laboratories, Inc.

Technology Category	Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)
Applicable Industries	Food & Beverage Healthcare & Hospitals Pharmaceuticals
Applicable Functions	Business Operation Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Process Control & Optimization Regulatory Compliance Monitoring Remote Collaboration
Services	System Integration Training
Challenge	Mesa Labs realized that its legacy software systems could no longer support a growing business. Mesa labs relied on a manual system to manage the change control process. “We used ‘red folders’ containing all the change documents, and these were sent to the appropriate departments for approval. We also had to rely on timely updates to the ERP system. This led to ordering materials at the wrong revision level. It was also possible to have the same part number in different facilities for different items,” said Alcala. For any company regulated by the FDA and desiring to maintain ISO compliance, strict change control and adherence to documented procedures is paramount. “We had a couple of audits that were a cause for concern for FDA and ISO auditors. Management recognized that we needed to address this issue immediately.” Read More
About Customer	Mesa Laboratories, Inc. is a growing, highly profitable public company based in Denver, Colorado. Mesa develops, manufactures, and markets high-quality process validation and monitoring instruments, and consumables. From Fortune 500 companies to high tech start-ups, Mesa Lab’s products are used to assure product quality, control manufacturing processes, and to solve problems in niche markets in healthcare, industrial, pharmaceutical, medical, and food processing applications. Mesa Lab’s products are characterized by technical excellence and superior industry reputations. Read More
Solution	In October 2015, Mesa labs introduced Autodesk® Fusion Lifecycle PLM integrated with NetSuite® ERP to manage document and change order control more efficiently. Both systems operate in the Cloud and made use of Jitterbit software integration to break down communication barriers between normally-siloed functions. Mesa Labs undertook a six-month implementation process. “On Autodesk’s recommendation, we hired Razorleaf, a local implementation consulting company,” said Alcala. “The first step involved Razorleaf, mapping out our existing processes. This was invaluable in order that they could understand our business and our frustrations. Next, Razorleaf, mapped out a new workflow in Fusion Lifecycle. We documented our procedures and trained the users over a three-week period. In addition, we brought in an outside consultant to validate the system.” Mesa Labs transferred the BOMs and documentation from their old systems into Fusion Lifecycle. “After spending three weeks cleaning up the data, we went live with Fusion Lifecycle. We ran both systems in parallel for two months. Following this, we stopped using the ‘red folders’ completely. The reaction from the users has been very positive. A key factor was having a ‘super user’, a go-to person that became a Fusion Lifecycle expert.” Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)

Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)

Applicable Industries

Food & Beverage

Healthcare & Hospitals

Pharmaceuticals

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Process Control & Optimization

Regulatory Compliance Monitoring

Remote Collaboration

Services

System Integration

Training

Challenge

Mesa Labs realized that its legacy software systems could no longer support a growing business. Mesa labs relied on a manual system to manage the change control process. “We used ‘red folders’ containing all the change documents, and these were sent to the appropriate departments for approval. We also had to rely on timely updates to the ERP system. This led to ordering materials at the wrong revision level. It was also possible to have the same part number in different facilities for different items,” said Alcala. For any company regulated by the FDA and desiring to maintain ISO compliance, strict change control and adherence to documented procedures is paramount. “We had a couple of audits that were a cause for concern for FDA and ISO auditors. Management recognized that we needed to address this issue immediately.”

About Customer

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. is a growing, highly profitable public company based in Denver, Colorado. Mesa develops, manufactures, and markets high-quality process validation and monitoring instruments, and consumables. From Fortune 500 companies to high tech start-ups, Mesa Lab’s products are used to assure product quality, control manufacturing processes, and to solve problems in niche markets in healthcare, industrial, pharmaceutical, medical, and food processing applications. Mesa Lab’s products are characterized by technical excellence and superior industry reputations.

Solution

In October 2015, Mesa labs introduced Autodesk® Fusion Lifecycle PLM integrated with NetSuite® ERP to manage document and change order control more efficiently. Both systems operate in the Cloud and made use of Jitterbit software integration to break down communication barriers between normally-siloed functions. Mesa Labs undertook a six-month implementation process. “On Autodesk’s recommendation, we hired Razorleaf, a local implementation consulting company,” said Alcala. “The first step involved Razorleaf, mapping out our existing processes. This was invaluable in order that they could understand our business and our frustrations. Next, Razorleaf, mapped out a new workflow in Fusion Lifecycle. We documented our procedures and trained the users over a three-week period. In addition, we brought in an outside consultant to validate the system.” Mesa Labs transferred the BOMs and documentation from their old systems into Fusion Lifecycle. “After spending three weeks cleaning up the data, we went live with Fusion Lifecycle. We ran both systems in parallel for two months. Following this, we stopped using the ‘red folders’ completely. The reaction from the users has been very positive. A key factor was having a ‘super user’, a go-to person that became a Fusion Lifecycle expert.”

Impact #1	Mesa Labs has eliminated manual procedures, significantly reducing the time and cost to process a change order from two weeks to two days.
Impact #2	Fusion Lifecycle integrated with NetSuite ERP is now operational in four facilities across the USA with over 100 users.
Impact #3	The fact that Fusion Lifecycle is Cloud-based is another factor that has improved communication between departments and sped up the entire engineering change order process.

Impact #1

Mesa Labs has eliminated manual procedures, significantly reducing the time and cost to process a change order from two weeks to two days.

Impact #2

Fusion Lifecycle integrated with NetSuite ERP is now operational in four facilities across the USA with over 100 users.

Impact #3

The fact that Fusion Lifecycle is Cloud-based is another factor that has improved communication between departments and sped up the entire engineering change order process.

Benefit #1	The time taken to process a change order has been dramatically reduced from two weeks to two days.
Benefit #2	Mesa Labs processes 15 to 35 change orders a week, translating into significant savings.
Benefit #3	Versioning errors that used to occur 10% of the time and take 100’s of hours to resolve have been reduced.

Benefit #1

The time taken to process a change order has been dramatically reduced from two weeks to two days.

Benefit #2

Mesa Labs processes 15 to 35 change orders a week, translating into significant savings.

Benefit #3

Versioning errors that used to occur 10% of the time and take 100’s of hours to resolve have been reduced.

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Overview

Customer Success Story: Mesa Laboratories, Inc.

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit