What does it take to successfully operate and grow a manufacturing business in today’s climate? You could ask this question of any manufacturing business, and in all likelihood, they would give you a list of common drivers that ring true across the industry - growing revenue, controlling costs, providing customers with better products and services, to name a few.
But when it comes down to it, what does this really mean and how are these high-level objectives achievable? There’s no single answer to the question, but there are some essential technological foundations that you can put in place to support your growth initiatives, such as deploying an integrated cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) suite. With the right manufacturing ERP features, this type of platform delivers a long list of benefits, including reduced costs, improved efficiencies, and better planning and visibility.
In this article, we’ll explore the essential features to look for when investing in a new ERP system for your manufacturing business, and how these capabilities are tied to growth. So without further ado, here are the top 10 manufacturing ERP features that you can’t afford to live without.
Inventory management
An ERP solution should have the capabilities to translate greater visibility into improved inventory management. For example, every single point in the build process from requisitions to finished goods should be represented in the system as a single item. Even better, look for ERPs that allow manufacturers to carry less inventory while avoiding stock-outs by monitoring stock levels, creating automated restocking alerts and auto-generating reordering forms.
Bill of materials
Another manufacturing ERP feature related to inventory is the Bill of Materials or BOM. This is your product recipe - a listing of all the materials, components and steps required to manufacture or repair a product. A well-defined and managed BOM is fundamental to multiple manufacturing and supply chain processes. However, manually preparing and managing BOMs is an unwieldy and error-laden process. ERP solutions can not only ensure all these items and components are available for production, but they can also automate the tracking of changes to BOMs and identify any discrepancies that may occur. To minimise BOM-related inventory inaccuracies and production delays, look for an inventory management system with sophisticated inventory control, tracking and optimisation.
Manufacturers can reduce costs, waste and time in the production cycle with an effective ERP supply chain management system that includes the following capabilities:
- Automation – Look for ERP solutions that will bolster distribution resource planning by automatically suggesting and generating purchase orders, work orders and transfer orders across multiple locations.
- Integrated demand planning forecasts - Some ERPs leverage historical data, sales forecasts, average trends and seasonal fluctuations to support planning efforts, giving you an edge over your competitors.
- Advanced reporting – Ensure your solution offers real-time, detailed visibility into key metrics such as spend, inventory and supply chain management.
Sales processes
ERPs can give manufacturing businesses greater access to information to support their salespeople to provide effective customer relationship management. Naturally, this leads to increased sales, productivity, revenue optimisation and customer satisfaction. Keep an eye out for ERP vendors that allow you to:
- Create campaigns, expedite estimating and quoting, and manage sales opportunities.
- Convert quotes into approved sales orders before routing them to finance for invoicing and revenue recognition.
- Provide on-the-go access to key information such as sales orders and customer records.
Customer/vendor experience
A manufacturing ERP with the right features will enable you to improve customer and vendor experience. Look for platforms with self-service capabilities that allow you to give customers and vendors the ability to self-manage quotes, purchase orders and inventory levels. This not only improves their experience - it also saves you money, directly improving your bottom line.
Production engineering
Manufacturers can benefit from ERPs’ rich functionality in production-related processes. Capabilities include engineering task management, blueprint drafting and drawing, configuration, bill of materials generation and change control, though this is by no means an exhaustive list. Make sure to also check for integration with CAD applications to support the import of BOMs to simplify your costing process.
Procure-to-pay purchasing
Manufacturers can improve their procurement process by leveraging an ERP to better control spending, simplify requests for goods and services, and access real-time visibility end-to-end. For example, intelligent workflows, such as purchase order automation, can streamline inventory reports, receiving and warehouse management.
Multi-factory, warehouse and subsidiary management
Manufacturers rarely operate within a single site or even subsidiary. The right ERP will recognise these challenges and offer solutions to support the management of multiple manufacturing, warehouse and distribution facilities, multiple local or global subsidiaries and legal entities, and even multiple languages and laws. While a manufacturer may not require this level of capability yet, moving to an ERP with these options will future-proof your operational systems and enable faster business growth down the track.
Shop floor control
Quickly accessing information from production facilities, no matter their location, is vital to short and long-term execution and strategic planning. This is not just about accessing information remotely. A well-integrated ERP will also allow the use of barcoding and RFID technologies that can be read with a mobile phone on the warehouse floor. This supports rapid, real-time data retrieval from the manufacturing process that can be used to accurately schedule work.
Quality management
High-quality products are not produced by accident. They require workflows and systems to help detect and resolve product deficiencies. A manufacturing ERP with the right features will offer integrated quality management and advanced data collection capabilities to track production results in near real-time and ensure the highest quality products at all times.
Choosing the right manufacturing ERP
ERPs are making it possible to manage your entire manufacturing business with one integrated application - but only if it has all the capabilities you need. Choose the right system and you will gain real-time, actionable visibility into sales, customers, inventory and production to improve your operations and your ability to make data-driven business decisions that feed business growth.
Learn how Netsuite’s manufacturing ERP features can help your business drive competitive growth by speaking with a Netsuite consultant today.
Annexa is a leading NetSuite partner with extensive experience designing and implementing comprehensive and customised business systems, including payroll solutions, financial management, warehouse management and ecommerce solutions.
