A Railcar Manufacturer Gains Speed In Supplier Management Processes With Adlib

Background

A prominent player in the railcar pooling industry is known for its commitment to innovation and efficiency in building and maintaining railroad cars. Working with a myriad of suppliers, the manufacturer faced significant challenges in handling the diverse formats of documents received from various sources. These documents, critical to the development and maintenance of railcars, included specifications, designs, and other vital information.

Challenges

The primary challenge for the organization was the inefficiency and manual effort required in processing documents and custom metadata provided by multiple suppliers and manufacturing vendors. Different suppliers provided data in various file formats, often incompatible with the company's custom internal systems. This resulted in several issues:

1. Inconsistent Document Formats: The inability to open and extract information from unsupported file formats led to delays.
2. Manual Data Capture Effort: Staff had to request suppliers to resend information in compatible formats, consuming valuable time and resources.
3. Slow Data Processing: The manual effort required to convert documents into usable formats slowed down the entire process, affecting downstream activities.
4. Limited Data Accessibility: Without a unified, searchable format, extracting maximum value from the content was challenging, impacting timely access to critical information.

These challenges not only delayed the development of new railcars but also increased operational costs and reduced overall efficiency.

"Sometimes we have drawing packages from the people building rail cars for us that are 300, 400, 500 drawings at a time... Adlib allows [our broad maintenance network] to see that information in PDF format, in a structured and a controlled way." - Supervisor of Technical Services

Adlib Solution

This railcar manufacturer adopted Adlib's advanced document transformation and automation solution. Adlib provided a robust platform capable of:

1. Automated Document Transformation: Adlib’s technology automatically converted incoming documents from various formats into searchable PDFs, ensuring uniformity and accessibility.
2. Enhanced Data Extraction: By making documents searchable, Adlib enabled the organization to categorize and group information efficiently, ensuring the right people had access to the right content at the right time.
3. Streamlined Processes: The automation of document processing reduced the need for manual intervention, speeding up data capture and processing.

Outcomes

The implementation of Adlib’s solution resulted in significant improvements in the company's operations:

1. Increased Speed: The ability to automatically transform and process documents reduced the time required to handle supplier data, accelerating downstream processes.
2. Improved Efficiency: Automated data capture minimized manual effort, allowing staff to focus on more strategic tasks.
3. Cost Savings: Faster processing and improved efficiency lowered operational costs, contributing to the overall profitability of the company.
4. Better Data Utilization: Enhanced data extraction allowed the company to maximize the value of their content, ensuring timely and accurate information flow.

By adopting Adlib’s document transformation solution, this manufacturer streamlined its document and data processing enabling their maintenance staff across the country to access critical information in the field. This strategic move positioned the company to maintain its competitive edge in the railcar pooling industry.