Case Studies

Pragmatix Helps Nissan Brake Connect with its Suppliers

Nissin Brake, the U.S. division of Nissin Kogyo Co., Ltd, is an Ohio-based brake manufacturer for cars, motorcycles and ATVs. The Company supplies brake systems to Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Harley-Davidson and others.

Business Issue

• Increase operational efficiencies with suppliers
• Develop a secure, cost-efficient data and communication tool
• Establish order tracking and recordkeeping
• Integrate existing systems seamlessly

Business Results

• Central information repository that improves work flow
• Easy to use and manage tools
• Secure data
• Supports multiple business tasks

As a lean manufacturing company that operates with a just in time (JIT) manufacturing strategy, Nissin Brake requires close coordination with its suppliers to meet customer orders and keep their parts inventory levels low. To do this, information must flow seamlessly - securely and reliably - to and from suppliers to ensure a streamlined operation. But, the current business process was highly fragmented without tracking or recordkeeping capabilities. Orders and shipping details, primarily sent by email, were stored in several repositories without a clear link to each other. The system was inefficient and resulted in costly errors. The Company needed to establish a secure tool that would serve as an information and communication hub for suppliers and Nissin Brake.

Pragmatix created a supplier portal, a secure website where the entire lifecycle of an order takes place. All communication passes through the portal and includes weekly purchasing forecasts; purchase orders; shipping details; order error reports (wrong number of items, incorrect color, quality issues, etc.). Changes or updates to any of these items (forecasts, orders, shipments) trigger a notification to either Nissin Brake or the supplier as appropriate.

In building the portal, Pragmatix made it possible for Nissin Brake to connect its existing systems allowing the Company to push and pull information as needed. Pragmatix manages the application for Nissin Brake, freeing up its IT staff so it can focus on other pressing issues.