For aerospace purchasing and operations teams in the Carolinas
Still running aerospace purchasing around the limits of your ERP?
Sightsource built a supplier portal that connected B/E Aerospace's buyers, suppliers and ERP data. It eliminated more than $1M a year in PO printing and postage, and cut the time to a signed PO from about a week to about a day.
See how B/E Aerospace eliminated $1M+ in PO printing and postage
Book a 30-minute purchasing systems reviewSightsource · Winston-Salem, NC · Building business software since 2009
The ERP holds the data. The work happens in email, phone calls and spreadsheets.
In many aerospace purchasing teams, the ERP is the system of record, but much of the day-to-day work happens around it:
- POs go out as paper or PDFs, then someone chases the signature.
- Buyers re-type supplier confirmations from email into the ERP.
- Changes to quantities and dates are agreed in email threads and calls that no one else can see.
- Promise dates on critical parts are hard to trust, so production plans around guesses.
- Receiving spends time working out what arrived before it can go to the floor.
None of these show up as a line item. Together they slow purchasing, add cost and make delivery dates harder to rely on.
Case study: B/E Aerospace
B/E Aerospace had the same problem, at a much larger scale.
B/E Aerospace is a multinational aerospace manufacturer with about 7,000 employees, including three sites around Winston-Salem.
Before the project, POs were printed and mailed to suppliers for signature. Buyers re-entered supplier proposals from email into the ERP by hand. Negotiations happened over email and phone, with no shared record of what was agreed or when.
Receiving spent significant time identifying packages before parts could go to production. Delivery dates for critical parts were, in the team's words, “an art without consistency.”
The team had tried shared spreadsheets. They couldn't stay accurate, needed constant manual updates, and couldn't be shared with suppliers quickly or securely.
The hard costs alone, mostly printing and postage, came to more than $1M a year. The cost in staff time was a multiple of that.
What changed for B/E Aerospace
The system is still in daily use by hundreds of buyers and supplier representatives.
Estimates are based on the experience of the people who used and supported the system. They were not formally measured.
One shared portal between buyers, suppliers and the ERP
Sightsource connected B/E's internal ERP data with supplier input in real time, through a secure portal both sides use.
Digital POs and signatures
No printing, special forms or postage. Suppliers sign online, and the agreement is on record almost immediately.
Supplier-printed barcodes
Suppliers print the label before shipping. Receiving scans it and knows exactly what arrived.
Reliable delivery dates
Dates are calculated from each supplier's real track record and shipping method, so production can plan around them.
One shared record
Negotiations, comments and final agreements are visible to everyone authorized, not buried in one person's inbox.
Live changes to quantities and dates
Adjusting an order no longer means another round of mail and phone calls.
Mobile, rule-based approvals
Internal sign-offs follow rules by facility and commodity type, and approvers can act from a phone, with a full audit trail.
Simplified view of the PO process at B/E Aerospace.
It worked with the systems B/E already had
No ERP replacement
The portal integrated with B/E's existing ERP systems, including JD Edwards, SAP and Macola. It ran on B/E's own servers, with secure access for suppliers from outside the network.
Delivered in stages
Sightsource designed the first and largest module in about six weeks. Build and testing ran in parallel over about nine months, with B/E's subject matter experts testing each piece as it was delivered. Rollout started with a few suppliers at one facility, then expanded over about six months.
Checked independently
B/E also brought in Tata Consultancy Services to review the approach against market products. The review found it easier to use and far more cost-effective than more complicated alternatives.
B/E chose Sightsource after more than a dozen earlier projects together.
Signs your team may be facing the same problem
- Buyers re-type the same order details into more than one place.
- POs or changes still depend on email attachments, printouts or signatures by hand.
- Nobody can quickly see what a supplier agreed to, or when.
- Promise dates on critical parts are often wrong, and production pays for it.
- Receiving can't tell what arrived without opening boxes and checking paperwork.
- Spreadsheets are holding things together between your ERP and your suppliers.
If two or three of these sound familiar, a 30-minute conversation is a quick way to find out where the time and cost are going.
Purchasing is one example.
Sightsource builds custom software around the way your business actually works. That includes modernizing aging internal systems, connecting applications that don't talk to each other, replacing software that no longer fits, and adding AI where it creates practical value.
If another workflow is creating friction in your operation, we can look at that too.
Talk it through in a 30-minute review
Related: AI and process automation in aerospace manufacturing · Our portfolio
What happens in a 30-minute purchasing systems review
You'll talk with Ali Tahbaz, Sightsource's co-founder, who led the B/E Aerospace project.
We'll look at:
- How POs move between your ERP, your buyers and your suppliers
- Where people re-type, chase or work around the system
- Where dates, records or approvals get lost
You'll leave with a plain answer: whether there's a problem worth solving, and the options. If custom software isn't the right answer, we'll tell you.
We'll start with purchasing, since that's what we solved at B/E. If a different system or workflow is causing the bigger problem, we'll talk about that instead.
Talk through your own purchasing setup
Pick a 30-minute time that works for you, or send us a note about what you're looking at and we'll get back to you.
We'll only use your details to arrange and prepare for this conversation.
Common questions
Can you work with our existing ERP instead of replacing it?
Yes. At B/E Aerospace, the portal connected to the ERP systems already in place. Replacing the ERP was never part of the project.
Which ERP systems have you integrated with?
JD Edwards, JD Enterprise One, SAP, Macola and others
Do you work with companies outside Winston-Salem?
Yes. We're based in Winston-Salem but work with companies regardless of their physical location.
What does an engagement typically look like?
It starts with the 30-minute review. If there's a real problem worth solving, we map the workflow with your team, then design and deliver the fix in stages, starting with the piece that removes the most manual work. At B/E, the first module was designed in about six weeks.
How do you decide whether custom development is worth the investment?
We compare what the current process costs, in staff time, delays, errors and hard costs like printing and postage, against the cost of building and running a fix. Where off-the-shelf software would do the job, we'll say so.