Light Composites is a San Diego–based manufacturer of high-performance carbon composite components, including patient positioning parts for medical applications and structural components for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Founded in 2016, the family-owned company is led by CEO Ryan Hosmer and General Manager Andy Hosmer.
Scaling beyond spreadsheets
Before implementing an ERP system, Light Composites lacked serial number traceability, inventory tracking, forecasting, and capacity visibility.
“We were doing everything on a paper system and Excel spreadsheets,” Andy says. “Somehow, we were able to hold it all together, but we couldn’t scale.”
Looking for a solution, Ryan and Andy then decided to revisit a software they came across years earlier – MRPeasy.
A system they could deploy themselves
One of the things Ryan and Andy liked most about MRPeasy was the ability to explore all its functionalities for free.
“What I loved was that I didn’t have to talk to a salesperson. I could log in, start a trial, and test it that night,” Ryan explains.
They used MRPeasy’s extensive self-help resources and AI chatbot to learn how the system worked. And after thorough evaluation, the choice to move ahead with MRPeasy was clear. Onboarding was also straightforward, and they credit MRPeasy’s support team for making the process manageable.
“Support was really responsive. It was a painless experience for us to onboard,” Ryan explains. “We didn’t need a consultant or have someone on-site for a month.”
Ryan and Andy chose to implement MRPeasy gradually. For nearly six months, they ran MRPeasy in parallel with their paper-based system, until they finally decided to completely go live.
No more Friday afternoon panic calls
One of the biggest benefits of using MRPeasy has been a reduction in stockouts.
“We used to have Friday afternoon phone calls to our vendors like, ‘Oh my gosh, we just ran out of this critical material,’” Ryan explains.
By reporting materials through MRPeasy, Ryan and Andy now have much better oversight of stock levels. Finished goods are tied to warehouse locations, and quantities are typically over 95% accurate.
“Those frantic, last-minute phone calls don’t happen anymore,” Ryan says. “Recently, we did an inventory check, and we were within 97 to 98% of what the system says we should have. Eliminating stockouts has been a godsend. Because if you have the order but can’t ship it, you’re not going to make money.”
Built-in compliance that auditors like
After switching to MRPeasy, serial number tracking is also much easier.
“Now, if we ship something to a customer and there’s an issue, they can reference the serial number or the lot, and we can immediately see who made it, when, and what materials went into it,” Andy says. “We have a high degree of confidence that the material it says went into it actually did, and that the labor recorded actually happened.”
As an ISO 9001 and AS9100 compliant manufacturer, Light Composites must uphold strict quality standards. With MRPeasy, quality management is now supported by real-time production data. Documentation is centralized, traceability is reliable, and potential quality issues can be identified early on.
“MRPeasy allows us to more easily administer our quality management and identify issues earlier on. Our auditors like it,” Andy explains.
Better visibility across operations
Forecasting used to require too much effort to be worthwhile, but now with MRPeasy, Ryan and Andy can easily make accurate projections.
“We can look at what the sales are, what the cost of goods and expenses are going to be,” Ryan explains. “Then we can make a projection about what the next three to six months will look like. Before MRPeasy, pulling all of that data together was almost impossible.”
Ryan and Andy have also uncovered capacity that was previously hidden, which has given them the confidence to take on additional work. The result is measurable growth.
“Right now, we’re also realizing some significant capacity gains that were kind of hidden because we just couldn’t see them,” Andy says. “By the end of 2025, we’re expecting to reach about 1.5 times last year’s revenue. And we couldn’t do that without making sure we’re not running out of material, knowing that capacity is available, and clearly communicating priorities to staff.”
For more information, visit www.MRPeasy.com.
