Goldray Industries: DIRTT Glass Vendor uses ICE and loves it
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DIRTT Environmental Solutions
DIRTT Environmental Solutions is a modular wall manufacturer in Calgary, Alberta. Their acronym DIRTT stands for Doing It Right This Time, a reflection of the fact that past business ventures - although immensely successful by traditional measures – left much room for improvement. One of their primary requirements as defined at inception was that for a software capable of providing a single, seamless experience from intial client Concept at Point of Sale through to Manufacture and Delivery. While bulky ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) type systems claim to provide such solutions, past experience had proven quite the opposite; in fact the elimination of a requirement for ERP was forefront on the criteria for DIRTT.
As the solution for DIRTT, the ICE software platform has met and exceeded their criteria, and is acknowledged as perhaps the most essential factor in the success of the company to date. “DIRTT product flexibility is limitless,” says Mogens Smed, founder and CEO of DIRTT, “we allow complete customization in design - to the point that we could not even specify the product properly without ICE, let alone manufacture it. DIRTT could not possibly be where we are today without ICE.” With their infinitely variable product offering – and in upholding their ‘green first’ initiatives - DIRTT does not even have printed product catalogs (the norm in the industry), but rather uses only ICE and its output documents to communicate the available solutions.
Design to Sales to Order
Today, over 90 DIRTT distribution partners and countless other Architect and Design firms working with DIRTT use ICE in their every day work, from visual sales tool and product design to complete specification and order. ICE is so easy to use, the salespeople actually design layouts in front of the client, who always feels engaged and empowered. While the design is created and updated in 2D and/ or 3D, the customer sees the DIRTT solution in a virtual reality simulation of their workspace, and their price is always right there in front of them. The instant visual validation of the design and ease of change - combined with continual price ramification information - allows the exploration of multiple variations without the time gap of conventional solutions, in which response time between alternative proposals can be days or weeks. With the ICE solution for DIRTT, an empowered client can actually come to a decision in a single sitting; more than once this has been the deciding factor resulting in DIRTT contract win.
Once the order has been secured, the ICE file – which contains all of the information required to invoice and manufacture the project – is sent to DIRTT head office, where once again the benefits of ICE help to streamline the process. As all of the project information is captured in a single file and single dataset, there is no audit process required to make sure the drawings match the price quote or the 2D matches the 3D – everything is always in sync, and ICE integrates directly with the DIRTT financial system. Even the project drawings are created automatically by ICE at the distribution partner level, so the CAD functions are virtually non-existent at DIRTT. In a similar manufacturing company operated prior to the launching of DIRTT, more than 70 CAD people were required to perform the duties that one person now performs at DIRTT. The automation of drawings and elimination of the auditing process are but two of the reasons DIRTT can provide the fastest delivery to install in their industry. Four weeks from order to delivery is a very maintainable standard for DIRTT, and when time constraints require it faster, they have been known to deliver in days; this speed to delivery has also resulted in the winning of many contracts for DIRTT.
Order to Manufacture
In order to truly Do It Right This Time, DIRTT also insisted their solution be capable of driving the manufacturing process, in order to speed production and eliminate human error. In order to accomplish this, DIRTT manufacturing rules, constraints and specific manufacturing knowledge was integrated into the ‘ICE for DIRTT’ solution, in order to automate the processes not only within the company internally, but with vendors as well. The same ICE file provides information and parameters directly to the machine software creating the parts, eliminating any human error that could occur from transposition of numbers or information inherent with the manual transfer of information. XML files are sent to vendors allowing the same automation for the creation of externally manufactured components such as glass tiles. This automation and error reduction again result in shorter time to delivery, faster move-in dates due to elimination of deficiencies and ultimately happier customers with ensuing increased sales.
For DIRTT, the ICE platform represents a new paradigm in manufacturing, as this company manufactures directly from the live ICE file information, rather than from the manipulation and re-use of static legacy records such as standard drawings and BOMs (Bills of Materials). In fact, most DIRTT components do not even have part numbers, but are rather tracked with a bar-code unique to that specific part; it is actually much faster and more accurate to manufacture directly from the ICE file than to dig up a single drawing from a component previously made. This also means that DIRTT has no need for a bulky PDM (Product Data Management) system to manage and maintain thousands of drawings and BOMs. Engineering change is instant and without compromise, as there is only a need to make the change in one place, ICE.
Manufacture to Installation
The power of ICE in elimination of manual steps and interpretation through the entire process also means that the product arrives correct, is as expected and the same information that was used at the start of the design cycle is connected to the installation documentation. This full circle of connection is redefining what the goal of front to back integration truly means.
In just three years of marketing their product, DIRTT has leapt to the forefront of their industry and is recognized as the unqualified champion from a design and delivery standpoint, due in no small part to Ice Edge Business Solutions. For more information on DIRTT, visit their website at www.dirtt.net.
