Mini Grant Program Helps Company Align Shipping Processes for Efficiencies.

The history of Marsh Bellofram provides a look into the history of American manufacturing in the 20th century, and how it adapted to prepare for the needs and challenges of the 21st and beyond.  Headquartered in Newell, the Marsh Bellofram Group of Companies is a leading global manufacturer of high-performance OEM, industrial and process control instrumentation, including timers and counters, digital controllers and panel meters, RTDs and thermocouples, FRLs, cylinders, natural gas and propane pressure regulators, air pressure regulators and transducers, tank and liquid level measurement systems, pump and motor protection switches and alternating relays, as well as sensors, industrial diaphragms, and specialty silicones.

To remain a global leader, Marsh Bellofram needed to update its shipping and receiving system to streamline internal processes and increase market share in the energy industries served. This included the addition of cycle count, inventory movement functions, and purchase order receiving functionality updates within Fourth Shift, Marsh Bellofram’s existing ERP system. Development and integration of these scripts into Fourth Shift would allow Marsh Bellofram to gain greater, real-time control of inventory and reduce non-value-added time associated with maintaining and processing payments for inventory.  

After an initial discussion to better understand Marsh Bellofram’s needs, the WVU Industrial Extension, part of the MEP National Network™. learned Marsh Bellofram had identified a resource to assist with this effort based on their familiarity with the Fourth Shift platform. Given Marsh Bellofram’s presence in the energy sector, the WVU Industrial Extension was able to leverage its participation in the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE) to assist Marsh Bellofram through the ARISE mini-grant program, helping to offset the cost of this effort. This allowed Marsh Bellofram to invest in additional improvement opportunities.