Esker, a worldwide leader in document process automation solutions and pioneer in cloud computing, today announced it has been selected by Esterline’s Kirkhill-TA facility in Valencia, CA, a leading manufacturer of clamping systems for civilian and military aviation, to streamline order management using Esker’s Order Processing automation solution.

With increasing competitive pressures in the aerospace industry forcing companies to do more with less, and Esterline’s ongoing commitment to “lean” practices, Esterline’s Kirkhill-TA facility focused on improving its order management process. Instead of printing out and handling incoming purchase order documents and manually routing the documents for audit and scanning, Esker has allowed Esterline’s Kirkhill-TA facility to completely eliminate paper from the process with automated scan, file and archiving capabilities. The initiative has allowed the company to reduce waste, improve efficiency and process an increasing volume of incoming orders while maintaining current staffing levels.

“Even though order storage was already digitized, we were still moving a lot of paper around when it came to document retrieval, printing, delivery and scanning,” said Larry Levey, Customer Service Manager at Esterline’s Kirkhill-TA facility. “Our organization is very dedicated to ‘lean’ practices so it made sense to pursue a solution for improving order management.”

For Levey, one of the biggest factors in choosing Esker was the Esker Americas User Conference (EAUC). “It became clear very quickly that Esker was far and away superior to any other solution we looked into — particularly in terms of functionality and ease of use,” said Levey. “EAUC was a great learning opportunity, and even led to an onsite visit to Applied Medical to see what Esker did for them.”

Project Benefits

Since solution delivery, Esterline’s Kirkhill-TA facility has achieved a number of benefits including:

  • Faster processing: Based on its own internal studies of processing time, Esterline’s Kirkhill-TA facility is saving 4-5 minutes per order with Esker (a savings of 800-1,000 hours annually).
  • Improved productivity: Fewer manual processing tasks allow employees to focus more time on meeting the aerospace industry’s stringent compliance requirements.
  • Business scalability:Esterline’s Kirkhill-TA facility has been able to maintain the same number of employees for order processing, even with order activity on the rise.
  • Future improvements: With Esker’s flexibility, Esterline’s Kirkhill-TA facility can extend its use of document automation to other areas of business as needed while maintaining business continuity.

Esterline’s Kirkhill-TA facility plans to expand the use of Esker to its Brea facility, which has a similar order process flow to Valencia with larger order volumes (20,000-25,000 orders annually). Levey added, “Esker delivered everything we wanted and more the first round, and we’re expecting no less moving forward. We’re excited to expand our lean practices and maximize order processing efficiency.”

About Esterline

Esterline Corporation is a leading worldwide supplier to the aerospace and defense industry, specializing in three core areas: Avionics & Controls, Sensors & Systems, and Advanced Materials. Operations within the Avionics & Controls segment focus on high-technology electronics products for military and commercial aircraft and land- and sea-based military vehicles, secure communications receivers, systems and components, specialized medical equipment, and other industrial applications. The Sensors & Systems segment includes operations that produce high-precision temperature and pressure sensors, electrical power distribution equipment, harsh-environment connectors and other related systems principally for aerospace and defense customers. Operations within the Advanced Materials segment focus on technologies including high-temperature resistant materials and components used for a wide range of military and commercial aerospace purposes and combustible ordnance and electronic warfare countermeasure products.

About Esker

Esker is a worldwide leader in document process automation solutions. Addressing all types of business processes, from accounts payable and accounts receivable to order processing and procurement, Esker cloud computing solutions enable companies to automate the reception, processing and sending of any business document with one platform. Esker helps over 80,000 companies around the world to reduce the use of paper and eliminate manual processes while improving their productivity, efficiency and environmental impact.

With 41.1 million euros in sales revenue in 2013, Esker operates in North America, Latin America Europe and Asia Pacific with global headquarters in Lyon, France, and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. Esker is listed on the NYSE Alternext in Paris (Code ISIN FR0000035818). For more information, visit www.esker.com. Follow Esker on Twitter at twitter.com/eskerinc and join the conversation on the Esker blog at www.quitpaper.com.