Manufacturing organizations with multiple plants often face challenges managing production runs and formulations efficiently across sites. Disparate processes, inconsistent governance, and limited visibility hinder operational agility, accuracy, and decision-making.
At ESW Company, we helped a polyurethane foam manufacturer streamline daily workflows, strengthen governance controls, and provide clear reporting across multiple plants. This modernization initiative leverages Azure SQL, Copilot, Azure, Excel reporting, and a forward-looking migration to web technologies and Microsoft Copilot AI to drive faster, more reliable operations.
Challenges with Multi-Plant Manufacturing Management
- Slow and crash-prone workflows with inconsistent formulations and run management processes
- Poor visibility into equipment calibrations, production runs, and product property tracking
- Gaps in permissions, auditability, and data consistency reducing confidence and traceability
These issues impacted production efficiency, data accuracy, and operational governance at scale.
The ESW Solution: Centralized, Role-Based Multi-User System with Modernization Roadmap
Working closely with the client, ESW designed and implemented:
- A centralized multi-user system backed by Azure SQL with role-based access and plant-level controls to ensure secure and flexible operations
- Guided run management workflows featuring queues and runsheet tracking, plus calibration enforcement and validations to improve accuracy and reduce interruptions
- A comprehensive reporting catalog delivering filterable insights on usage, yields, exceptions, and historical data across plants
- A modernization roadmap transitioning from Access and Excel reporting to a scalable web architecture using ASP.NET API and React UI integrated with Azure SQL / Copilot and Excel
This phased approach ensures minimal disruption today with a clear plan for enhanced user experience and scalability tomorrow.
Business Impact and Benefits
- Accelerated daily workflows for pourline and lab teams with fewer crashes and interruptions
- Improved data accuracy and compliance through enforced validations and calibration tracking
- Enhanced decision-making with structured, filterable reporting across multiple plants
- Strengthened governance with role-based permissions and audit trails providing full traceability
This solution empowers manufacturing teams to operate faster, smarter, and with greater confidence in their data.
How ESW Company Can Help Modernize Your Manufacturing Operations
If you’re looking to streamline multi-plant operations or modernize your manufacturing data systems, ESW Company offers expert Microsoft consulting and development services:
- Azure SQL Management and Cloud Solutions for scalable, centralized data platforms (Microsoft Azure management services)
- Microsoft Access consulting and migrations to optimize or modernize existing database applications (Microsoft Access consulting and programming services)
- Power Apps and Copilot consulting to build intelligent, low-code apps that integrate AI-driven workflows for better productivity (Microsoft Power Apps consulting services, Microsoft Copilot and AI agents)
- Excel-integrated reporting and automation to augment your data insights and simplify user experiences (Microsoft Excel consulting and development)
- Office 365 support and governance to ensure your environment remains secure, compliant, and efficient (Microsoft Office 365 support services)
Our U.S.-based Microsoft experts partner with manufacturers to build flexible, scalable solutions that meet the unique demands of complex, multi-site production environments.
Ready to modernize your multi-plant formulation and run management processes with reliability and AI-powered insights?
Contact ESW Company to explore how we can build a tailored modernization roadmap for your manufacturing operations.