Metal Parts Fabricator wins Microsoft Manufacturing Industry Leadership

BTD Manufacturing, Inc., one of the largest non-automotive metal parts fabrication shops in the U.S., wanted to create a stable foundation for growth while significantly reducing costs and increasing productivity. With 450 employees across four manufacturing plants in Minnesota, the company needed a planning and execution system that would provide for its continued growth.

Like many companies, BTD was concerned about the rapid consolidation in the ERP software industry. The company required an ERP solution that would meet its near-term business objectives but would be flexible enough to help them prepare for future growth.

"In the past, we struggled with limited data visibility and navigation requiring employees to spend extra time looking for information," said Marty Kiebke, Vice President of Materials & Systems at BTD. "Taking the 'noise' out of the system was exactly what we needed."

The company partnered with global IT consultancy Avanade to implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution built on Microsoft Dynamics AX platform. According to Kiebke, this move has helped BTD streamline business operations over the last three years by empowering employees with customized tools that decrease the time spent on production, scheduling and planning."We can now gain more visibility into data, customize experiences by user role and provide a stable technology with which we can expand our business."

BTD was recently honored with the Microsoft Convergence 2008 Customer Excellence Award in the Manufacturing Industry Leadership Category. The award recognizes a manufacturing firm whose innovative use of technology in its business delivers measurable benefits to its organization. Customer Excellence Awards recognize, honor and celebrate customers who have achieved outstanding success with their Microsoft solutions, as well as Microsoft partners' solutions.