Of course, it wasn’t always like that when Lisa started with the company back in her college years. Like many shops, it was a sea of hand-written notes, spreadsheets and multiple systems that never really worked hand-in-hand. “To answer project status questions back then, we had to go out on the floor, find the order, talk to multiple employees — it was time consuming, to say the least.”
As for the growth of the company, Lisa believes along with investments in equipment, implementing E2 back in 2004 was a key factor in their success. “Pre-2004, if we had a good month, it was when we had 120 orders,” remembers Lisa. “Now, if we don’t have at least 240 orders, it’s not a good month.”
The company is currently doing work with the TV show Arrow on The CW network. And while Lisa and her team value the current E2 software, they are looking forward to implementing the E2 Shop System Hosted version. “I’ve heard that the search feature in the cloud version is even better and quicker, so we are excited to see what that does for our operations and those daily customer inquiries.”
Creating massive steel projects like the doors to Professor Xavier’s special mind machine, Cerebro, KSM also works with fine artists and businesses as well. “Many of our customers’ projects have small parts and pieces and we still like having a paper that travels with that part as it makes it less susceptible to loss,” said Lisa. “It’s nice that E2 is flexible and can adapt to some of the ‘old ways’ when necessary.”
Whether they’re creating blockbuster movie set pieces or an intricate metal puzzle, KSM has found a way to adapt to the unique customers they serve and the impossible time lines they are given.
