The partners, Mike Kienast and Tom McDonald, bring over 60 years experience in manufacturing systems. This experience helps MKA help its customers to improve business and realize successful projects.

Before starting MKA, Mike spent three years as a MAPICS user implementing remote plants around the country as part of a corporate “ERP implementation team.”

Mike has over 30 years experience with MAPICS and XA, and has worked with XA at single plant companies as well as at multi-national, multi-site companies with XA around the globe. He has done hundreds of implementations and conversions and is known as one of the best XA financial consultants in the world. Mike has been able to share his vast set of experiences and system knowledge with other MKA professionals and customers alike, thus adding value to countless system integration projects. Mike has a proven approach for solving business problems, whether it be in costing, financial management, planning, customer service/order entry, purchasing, inventory management, or other areas. Moreover, Mike (and MKA) gained valuable knowledge of the automotive industry, machine builders, stampers, plastics injection molding, make and configure-to-order businesses, tool and die, and other manufacturing specialties.

Before partnering with Mike in 1993, Tom spent 11 years at IBM working with small and mid-sized manufacturing and distribution companies in Michigan, most of these companies being MAPICS users. With a background at IBM in working with presidents and C-level executives at many manufacturing companies, as well as working with I/T Directors, CAD/CAM specialists, and IBM leaders in “Computer Integrating Manufacturing,” Tom helped to extend MKA’s ERP practice into other areas. Innovative MKA solutions consist mostly of specialized, web-based applications geared toward streamlining and automating business processes in unique areas like Quotation Management, Project and Program Management, Electronic Requisition/Workflow Approvals, Supplier RFQs, Engineering Change Management, and business areas not handled well by “canned” applications. Thus, MKA has the distinct ability to help XA customers link people, processes, tasks, XA, documents, workflows, e-mails, and “external” data … all into a time-managed process.