Plotting a Course for New ERP Software: Southwest Steel Casting has Developed a Basic Roadmap to Converting Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

Since 1993, Southwest Steel Casting Co., Longview, Texas, managed its production operations with a DOS-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system designed to manage the business needs of metalcasting facilities. By February 2002, however, management had growing concerns regarding the age of the server and the computers, data loss and technical support of the system. The business took the concerns to its corporate owners, American Railcar Industries (ARI), with recommendations on how to solve the issues, but a proper course of action was debated for years. The necessary financial backing for a change in ERP systems was not in place.