About Advanced PMC
Advanced PMC has a rich history of supplying CNC machined components for aerospace, oil & gas, defense, food processing and plastic distribution. Originally founded in 1979 in Owasso, Oklahoma, Advanced PMC has cultivated a trusted reputation for precision problem solving. They excel at providing industrial grade solutions and unmatched quality assurance in manufacturing.
When the company was founded, Advanced PMC specialized in selling manufactured plastics in distribution across the United States. Proactively responding to shifting customer demands, they transitioned from distributing materials to manufacturing finished parts. Today, they’re known as one of the leading Aerospace, Defense and Energy build to print manufacturers in northeast Oklahoma.
Their areas of expertise include 3,4 and 5-axis machining, 5-axis waterjet, plastic welding, multi-tasking equipment, 3 & 5 axis routers, CMM-metrology, and plastic fabrication. With a dedicated team of machine operating experts, Advanced PMC fully lives up to their brand name. They guarantee precision, reliability, and an endless pursuit of perfection.
The Challenge: Disconnected, Unsustainable Systems
Randel Hamilton is Director of Operations at Advanced PMC. Having joined Advanced PMC while they used a previous ERP to manage shop floor operations, Randel experienced the limitations of that platform first-hand.
“So, our previous ERP provider was E2, and we were using numerous spreadsheets to manage our shop floor. We found many, let’s say, quirks and struggles with the platform, which forced us to go outside the ERP to complete tasks. We were heavily relying on spreadsheets and other disconnected systems, creating consistent problems as we tried to run the day-to-day business.”
Trying to manage operating data for multiple business units in disconnected systems eventually became unsustainable. Advanced PMC works hard to achieve their brand pledge of guaranteed precision and reliability. It’s this reputation that has successfully forged valuable partnerships with vendors, suppliers, and customers alike.
Lacking a more encapsulated system to manage data, they struggled to adapt to industry changes and continue exceeding customer expectations. Randel and his team sought a more beneficial ERP system. They wanted something that could help assemble aerospace, defense, food, and oil and gas products at the highest industry standards.
The Solution: Reliable Resources, Empowered Teams
Searching for a more reliable ERP that could scale with their growing business, Randel and his team learned about ProShop. They were intrigued by the platform’s ability to centralize all data from the shop floor, with capacity for multiple business units alongside front office data. Randel suspected that ProShop was the perfect solution to support Advanced PMC’s growing business.
“One of my favorite ProShop features is that it’s so easy to enter PO data. We’re able to get every one of our POs entered into the system between 24 to 48 hours. That’s been a huge time saver, giving us back hours of time we used to lose with our old ERP. We’re able to pay those savings forward by giving our customers faster, more reliable updates on order statuses.”
Part of what has given Advanced PMC more control over their PO submissions is ProShop’s customizable platform modules. Prepackaged, yet highly intuitive and easy-to-use, the Advanced PMC team has greater flexibility to adjust their workflows and customize to the specific needs of each PO.
Randel was especially happy with ProShop’s training programs. The platform training even taught the team to rethink their day-to-day operations. They quickly learned to love the newer, ProShop way of managing a shop floor.
“We used the scheduling module to create more structured processes for starting and finishing jobs on time. We lock down a schedule for the week so that every member of the team knows their weekly work schedule. The guys then review the data in ProShop and are encouraged to tell us that ‘hey, it makes more sense for me to run job one and then three instead of one, two, and then three, because I can see that we’ll save even more time doing it this way.’ It’s because of ProShop that we’ve become a more efficient, empowered workforce, and everybody loves it.”
The Results: Increased Margins In Just One Year
Before ProShop, profit margins at Advanced PMC were not where they hoped they would be coming out of 2023. In just one year as a ProShop client, Advanced PMC’s profit margins were rapidly increasing each month. Randel credits the rapid growth to the new processes they created with ProShop.
“A lot of our business is built on LTA work and contract work, so our calendar is pretty much planned out for the next 12 months. ProShop has given us the capacity to improve our processes so that we can guarantee every one of those contracts. We’re not losing any work or doing any less work, and it’s all because we’re way more efficient with how we do what we do.”
The Advocacy: Across the Board Changes
Randel has become such an avid ProShop fan that he actively recommends the platform to other machine shops in the community. Along with the rest of the Advanced PMC team, Randel frequently highlights ProShop’s ability to streamline time tracking, process checks, FAI reports, PO data entry, and everything in between — transforming legacy shops into thriving manufacturing businesses.
“Anytime we talk to other shops, I’m telling them, ‘well, if you had ProShop, you wouldn’t have to click around in multiple places.’ We just did our 16th AS9100 audit, and every time the auditor asked a question, I had the answer they were looking for with just two quick clicks in ProShop. It’s so user friendly and beneficial to our business that I will never stop selling ProShop’s value to anyone who will listen.”
The Future: Continuous Profitable Growth
As Randel and his team embark on the next chapter of their business, they’ll continue leveraging ProShop’s modules to streamline operations and boost Advanced PMC’s profitability. Between discovering new ways to use ProShop’s customizable modules to empowering his team as they improve their individual workflows, Randel is looking forward to what comes ahead with the ProShop partnership.
While incredibly proud of his shop’s transformation, and overly thrilled with higher profit margins, increased efficiency and newly available capacity, Randel is most grateful for the support from the ProShop team, which has played an invaluable role in helping grow their business.
“My experience with ProShop has been extremely positive. I speak for myself, but some people that come from older systems don’t adapt well to change. There weren’t any challenges implementing ProShop. We all jumped right into it, and the support we received from the ProShop training team was incredibly helpful. Anytime we have questions about quality inspections, job costing, or any of the modules, ProShop is right there to show us how to use the platform that’s completely unique to our business. ProShop’s been awesome!”
Interested in achieving similar success for your machine shop? Book a call with our experts to discuss how to become the next Advanced PMC case study and success story.