Stock car racing is complex and extremely competitive. Based on the readiness of the car and the experience and skill of the people that support it, race teams can lead, keep up, or fall behind. Preparation, precision and speed are required just to maintain position. Winning requires an edge.
Like other modern manufacturing companies, race teams rely on data for insights into operations. To put data to work for race preparation, race teams are adopting ERP solutions to deliver the data analytics, reporting, and dashboards they need to stay competitive.
Planning to Win
For stock car racing, it is all about getting to the green flag and ultimately past the checkered flag. Each team works towards a hard deadline: the green flag on race day. Success on the track requires that thousands of parts are tracked, inspected, and received in a timely manner for each of the season’s races. For race teams, knowing what to buy and when is central to success in building 38 cars for each race event throughout the year and in most cases multiple race teams for each organization. If a team doesn’t get what it needs on time, every time, of the right quality, it risks falling behind and not being prepared for the green flag.
That means parts logistics and inspections can make or break a race team. ERP must consolidate data and present it in a way that enables teams to make the smartest purchasing decisions to drive racing success. Without this information at their fingertips, race teams may not be able to adequately prepare a car. And if the team doesn’t race, it has no chance to win a championship. Meaningful data at the right time in the right format to the right people is critical for data driven decisions.
Each season, teams race on many different tracks. Some are oval. Some are road courses. Some have long straightaways. Each track has its own demands, which affects what is purchased and when.
Between races, each car is completely disassembled, each part is inspected. Cars are completely rebuilt for each race. Every part, no matter how small, is serialized and must be replaced after a fixed number of races. In addition, any part that fails inspection must be replaced. All these parts must be on the shelf. Otherwise, the team is in trouble.
Each build is scheduled months in advance. ERP helps teams ensure the right parts and tools are available at the right time.
High-performance ERP
With eight championship trophies, RFK Racing is one of the most successful stock car racing teams in history. The team recently adopted SYSPRO’s flexible ERP platform to digitally transform its operations and deliver the behind-the-scenes precision and speed needed to remain competitive, which directly impacts speed and performance on the track. Kevin Kidd, Director of Software and Analytics for RFK Racing, said, “In the end, what’s most important for us is that any technology we acquire helps make our cars faster on Sunday, including our ERP platform.”
The SYSPRO platform easily integrates with its existing software to provide team leaders with real-time data and drill-down dashboards to support manufacturing and finance operations, including automation for key financial processes.
RFK maintains its own supply chain data and supplements it with data from other teams through its racing league. By bringing this data together into a consolidated ERP, RFK can confidently predict its purchasing needs well in advance of the starting green flag. “Everything we do is about ‘getting to green’ while leading with technology,” said Brad Keselowski, two-time stock car champion and co-owner of RFK Racing.
Winning Races with People Through Technology
A winning edge requires more than technology. The people behind the technology also play an important role. Kidd said, “They say you win races with your people. In the end, we win races with our people through technology.” To implement the ERP solution, RFK leaned on SYSPRO’s deep understanding of manufacturing and supply chain challenges. “Partners like SYSPRO are engaged in our processes and really are part of the team,” said Kidd. When RFK wins, SYSPRO shares in the victory. If the team struggles, SYSPRO is with them in the struggle.
Whoever said “winning isn’t everything” didn’t work in racing or manufacturing. Supply chain logistics is too important to not make an informed choice on a winning ERP platform delivered by experienced supply chain professionals. That’s why it’s important to partner with an ERP supplier that knows how to lead in manufacturing—where every day is race day.
