United States Brass & Copper: A Metals ERP Success Story

At a glance

See how Crowe helped United States Brass & Copper, a family-owned metals service center since 1925, implement a metals-specific enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.

Our specialists helped United States Brass & Copper replace outdated software with a metals-specific ERP solution in just six months, which improved visibility, reporting, invoicing, inventory, and production planning and enabled remote work and customer growth during COVID-19 lockdowns.

Client

For more than a century, United States Brass & Copper has earned a reputation as a leader in the metals industry through customer service, quality, and competitive pricing by offering a large and varied inventory of aluminum, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, copper, and stainless steel products.

Related offering

Crowe Materials Accelerator

20% increase in new customers

In October 2021, United States Brass & Copper reported a 20% increase in new customers, supported by a metals-specific ERP that improved real-time visibility and inventory management.

Improved accuracy in reporting

The Crowe team provided United States Brass & Copper with accurate real-time and historical data across every area of the business.

Streamlined delivery variables

Crowe helped the company simplify working with different units of measurement, types of metals, pricing by unit, and metals production planning.

Remote access and business continuity

United States Brass & Copper kept operations moving remotely during challenging COVID-19 lockdowns, thanks in large part to how the ERP facilitated remote work.

Warehouse employee scans copper inventory using an ERP system to improve supply chain visibility and customer service.

By working with Crowe and investing in the right technology at the right time, United States Brass & Copper can now respond to the many supply chain challenges our industry is experiencing today. The new system is working extremely well, and it is benefiting our company and our valued customers.

D.J. Kavanaugh

Vice President, United States Brass & Copper

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Challenge details

Outdated systems, complicated workarounds, and increased paperwork were hurting efficiency and productivity. They also were creating a painful barrier to growth and issues in crucial areas, including:

Inefficient processes. Workflows centered on paperwork.
Unreliable reporting. Manual data entry was slow and uneven.
Delayed invoicing. Cash flow was inconsistent and difficult to predict.
Inaccurate inventory. Material purchasing was hindered by unreliable inventory data.
Ineffective material test report (MTR) tracking. Users encountered significant process inefficiencies when tracking MTRs in the legacy system.
Limited production visibility. Getting updates involved a series of emails and phone calls.
Gaps in metals-specific functionality. Industry-specific processes were difficult to manage within an ERP built for general business use.

While United States Brass & Copper was already facing internal efficiency barriers, COVID-19 created a new urgency. The business needed a more flexible system that could support remote work, fast decisions, and ongoing customer service through disruption.

How Crowe helped

In just six months, United States Brass & Copper went from using an outdated system to implementing an out-of-the-box, metals-specific ERP tailored specifically to its business. The new system went live on March 2, 2020, just two weeks before COVID-19 lockdowns pushed many teams into remote work. Because the ERP was based in the cloud, United States Brass & Copper could continue operations remotely in ways the company’s previous system would not have supported.

Crowe helped the company ramp up just in time to manage the strategic, economic, and operational challenges of COVID-19 lockdowns with a seven-phase process:

ERP discovery
Data structure
Conference room pilot
User acceptance testing
Cutover rehearsal
End-user training
Go-live support and remote delivery

Business outcomes

With Crowe Materials Accelerator (formerly Crowe Metals Accelerator) and Microsoft Dynamics 365™ software, United States Brass & Copper gained an ERP built for the metals industry. The new system helped the company support remote access, improve real-time visibility, streamline invoicing, increase confidence in inventory and MTR tracking, and simplify production planning for metals-specific variables such as units of measurement, metal types, and pricing by unit.

The result was more than operational efficiency. United States Brass & Copper responded to supply chain challenges, served customers more effectively, and built a stronger foundation for sustainable growth.

The Crowe team was both constructive and collaborative. They said the things we needed to hear and guided us in important decisions to make the solution successful. In addition, they took time to teach and empower us to solve problems on our own.

D.J. Kavanaugh

Vice President, United States Brass & Copper

Work with us

Crowe understands the metals industry and the operational pressure of changing market conditions. Learn how a metals-specific ERP can help your business respond to demand and build a more sustainable foundation for growth.