To compete globally and prioritize safety for employees and customers, Accuride uses lean manufacturing principles in the precision wheel, wheel-end, and brake components it designs and builds. That same commitment to concision also fuels the automotive supplier’s approach to operations. Its business philosophy is designed around precision; preventing errors; and aligning with like-minded, high-quality corporate partners—an approach that stretches back to its genesis with Firestone in the early 1900s.
That philosophy played a big part in its decision to choose Workday Extend when it needed to design human capital management (HCM) and financial apps. Accuride wanted a solution that aligned its management processes with its manufacturing principles. Workday Extend was a machine-tooled fit as it enabled the company to create cost-reducing business apps, respond to unplanned needs, and steer growth by addressing unique business challenges.
Accuride leaders have built apps to make the auditing process easier and more efficient, and organize data so it’s automated and seamless. One app enhances security protocols by storing that data in one centrally managed location.
Some of Accuride’s latest Workday Extend apps optimize safety audits, store all metrics in a single location, and enable global users to view data, forms, and other communications in their preferred language. But Accuride is just getting warmed up. “You can manage your business any way you want with Workday Extend,” says Paul Wright, president of Accuride Wheel-End Solutions and CIO. Below is a closer look at three apps Accuride built with Workday Extend to accelerate the company’s growth and success.
With workers on factory floors operating heavy equipment, such as forklifts, or performing other potentially risky duties, Accuride is constantly focused on the health and safety of its employees.
Before, managers had to print safety audit forms that documented incidents. They also manually entered related data into multiple spreadsheets—a time-consuming task. Accuride’s layered harm elimination and training approvals (HEART) observations application has streamlined and automated that process. The app now includes the ability to schedule audits with built-in reminders that notify managers on the same smartphones they use to complete the audits. Managers don’t have to switch their device when the alert comes up and can easily add attachments and include photographs with an audit. The data is then automatically aggregated and stored with Workday Prism Analytics. The app also gives managers a schedule overview to see how many audits should be assigned and when.
Managers can now complete audits on their computer or phone instead of recording those manually on the shop floor.
President of Accuride Wheel-End Solutions and CIO
Accuride has numerous metrics to track, such as safety, quality, delivery, cost, and trends. The company had relied on different departments to store these metrics in various ways, including spreadsheets. “We had difficulty aligning action plans with metrics,” Wright says. Accuride built a manufacturing metrics app that houses all results globally in a single location. It also features a translation function that lets managers track the same data across multiple locations in multiple languages.
Additionally, they can set goals as part of a monthly scorecard. “A status indicator reflects whether we’re within our tolerance for that metric,” Wright says. Managers can create action plans that identify root causes, changes needed, and lessons learned. The app answers questions such as when changes were planned or completed versus when those steps actually took place. “That’s how we generally track our corrective actions in the organization today,” Wright says.
With 3,600 employees across the globe, Accuride needed a more efficient and standardized way to access metrics and other company information in multiple languages.
“Until now, there wasn’t a native translation functionality available,” Wright says. “I’m very pleased to see we have this in place.”
Accuride developed a translation app that can be used in numerous countries and with different languages. Employees simply enter fields using drop-down menus to translate one language to another as part of a message or a report.
Like a customizable spell-check, the app enables users to make the language experience better for a teammate. “For instance, if we call something a forklift and someone else calls it a hi-lo, we can update to the normal term used in that location,” Wright says. “We have a separate translation glossary where that info is entered. It’s flexible.”
We think that Workday Extend can be used with anything that touches either your people or your financial data.
President of Accuride Wheel-End Solutions and CIO
Wright expects the development of new apps to meet the company’s evolving and growing needs. “Later this year, we’re going to develop one about cost changes,” Wright says. “We get a lot of requests to preview future price adjustments. Helping our stakeholders get that information seamlessly will build trust.
“We’ll always be coming up with innovative approaches to use Workday Extend to help our company and our employees grow and thrive,” Wright adds.
Accuride is reviewing Workday Extend AI capabilities as well. Workday Extend is opening the power of AI through the Workday AI Gateway, giving developers access to Workday AI services such as skills and sentiment analysis, document intelligence, and forecaster capabilities. “We are excited about the ability to leverage Workday AI capabilities,” Wright says.
Wright stresses Workday Extend can be a good fit for your company, no matter its size. “Don’t be intimidated if your organization is small,” Wright says. “I’ve got a small team, but with Workday Extend, we can punch above our weight.”
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