Nearly all businesses of any size can benefit from an ERP solution, manufacturing companies in particular. From sharing production-related data with internal employees, external vendors, suppliers, and distributors, ERPs can improve communication and coordination between key business partners.
To be most useful, a manufacturing ERP solution needs to be as flexible as your business model. But not all ERPs are the same—they can’t all accommodate the ever-changing demands of a busy manufacturing facility. Without the appropriate level of flexibility, your teams may resort back to manual data entry and reports with an ERP that only partially meets their needs.
Win at Manufacturing With Adaptability
Adaptability has always been the key to successful manufacturing. Slim margins, rising costs, and increasing customer demands for faster turnaround and lower prices force manufacturers to be creative when it comes to scheduling and workflow.
Many manufacturing ERP systems struggle to accommodate the ever-shifting nature of such a plan. Don’t let a rigid ERP system hold you back. Find one that takes a flexible approach to job estimation, workflow, and order management.
Easily Manage High or Low Volume With Acumatica
What exactly do we mean by “adaptability”? Take food manufacturing for an example. This industry typically sees high volume with low customization. A bottling plant produces bottled cola according to a set formula. Packaging, labeling, and ingredients are standard and formulaic. The only thing that might change is order volume and ingredient costs, which can be easily updated in a simple ERP system.
Compare that to a small-scale resin casting facility. This manufacturer might produce a low volume of items in batch runs of 50 to 100 at a time. Each run may be a different custom color. Job estimation software must account for special orders of color powders, time spent mixing the powders, and added time to stop the run, clean the rotational casting equipment, reset the machine, and start pouring again.
That same plant may also produce higher volume batch runs, depending on customer needs. Small manufacturing companies like the one described above must be flexible in order to win contracts and remain cost-effective choices for their customers. Recording each unique batch, keeping good records, and billing according to specialized requests takes a flexible ERP manufacturing software that doesn’t require deep IT knowledge and training to adjust to your company’s needs.
Process Manufacturing and Hard Goods
It’s not just low/high volume situations that require customization. Discrete and process manufacturing also require completely different approaches to billing, order taking, and more.
The above example also works to highlight the differences between discrete and process manufacturing. Discrete manufacturers use BOMs (bill of materials) with fixed costs to prepare invoices. Process manufacturers like the resin company manufacture products with ever-changing formulas, such as the various types of resin or the colors added to each batch.
Some manufacturing plants might switch between discrete and process manufacturing in one facility. Flexibility becomes a big issue. Many companies are now embracing “made to order” clients who need both high volume, low customization, and process manufacturing. In these situations, an ERP system must be flexible and adaptable. If it’s too rigid, it will hold you back from achieving the sales and profits you need to grow.
Acumatica: Just as Flexible as Your Business
If you’re in the market for a new manufacturing ERP, be sure you find one that meets not only today’s needs, but tomorrow’s as well. Take a look at one of the most flexible manufacturing ERP software systems on the market: Acumatica.
Acumatica cloud ERP is the leading enterprise resource planning system for mid-sized businesses. With built-in project management, accounting, financial, customer management and distribution suites, Acumatica offers manufacturers an excellent base package of products that can propel business growth.
With Accounting Systems, Inc., you’ll have access not only to Acumatica ERP software, but also software partners who can help get your new manufacturing ERP connected to all the necessary systems to run a scalable solution. Let us focus on your technology so you can focus on your success. Talk to one of our ASI Acumatica experts now.