Case StudyFlexi-Coil began as a family-owned business in Saskatoon in 1952; their first product was a coil packer used in the seeding process. Since then, Flexi-Coil has established itself as an industry leader in seeding, tillage, and spraying equipment, employing more than 1,200 workers. As Canada’s largest farm machinery manufacturer, Flexi-Coil is now part of CNH, a conglomerate of distinguished names in agricultural equipment that includes Case, New Holland, and International Harvester. The company’s journey from a small family-owned business into an industry leader presented many challenges and opportunities.
Flexi-Coil’s operation relied on a VAX 4000 model 500, which was at full system capacity. The VAX was running MANMAN ERP software to manage shop floor operations, and the system’s CPU, memory, and I/O were at peak demand. With the VAX struggling to keep up, weekend batch runs were also a problem, as a full run took 30 hours to complete. It was clear that an alternative solution was needed quickly. Blair Simister, Flexi-Coil’s information systems manager, approached Stromasys seeking ways to improve the performance of the VAX.