Let's Play "ERP Operation" & Dissect the Perfect ERP Solution

Many people call a company’s ERP system its “backbone”. It certainly is the backbone, but it’s also the heart, soul and lifeblood of a company.

Here are some of the core elements of a Manufacturing ERP System:

Like your brain, your ERP system is the memory and consciousness of your company. It stores history of every customer and supplier interaction, as well as what happened on the shop floor. It knows where all your inventory is, and it knows when orders are due to ship. Whether you decide to run your ERP on premise or in the cloud, you need a central location for knowledge.

Integrated reporting and KPIs are like your company’s eyes. They show you which processes are working and which are out of kilter. Tracking performance is the first step in improving performance.

We take nourishment from food, and your ERP system runs on data. Look for one that makes it easy to import data from other sources so you can nourish your entire business.

CRM is the ear of your organization, helping you to understand what your customers need and want. Maybe that’s why 69 percent of leading manufacturers use both CRM and ERP.

MRP is the heart of every ERP system, helping to keep materials flowing smoothly so your operation runs efficiently.

Using bar codes or other data colleaction tools, you can automate the planning and scheduling of materials. Materials management is like the hands of your company, helping you to shape the most efficient processes.

Discrete manufacturers generate about 44 percent of their revenue from new products. Without a way to manage ECOs, your organization doesn’t have a leg to stand on. An effective ECO system helps by keeping the flow of information in sync with the flow of materials to reduce rework and control costs of new product introduction.

Keep recalls and warranty costs from turning toxic with automated controls that provide a layer of protection over your entire organization. When the scope of recalls is minimized and controlled with access to the necessary information, you protect your brand and keep the costs manageable.

Take a stroll through your production facility and see how smoothly everything flows when you have the tools to generate efficient schedules. Having the right procedures in place and available to workers helps ensure better quality and less rework. Maybe that’s why leading manufacturers are almost twice as likely to have standardized procedures for production planning than laggards do.

Regulatory compliance can be costly and time consuming if you try to track all that information manually. Eliminate paper and ensure accurate records with integrated document management that helps ensure you never misfile a crucial piece of information. Automated workflows send information for approvals and signoffs directly to the responsible party, so you never miss a required signature. Put down your pen and let your ERP system manage your compliance paperwork.

Your body needs exercise to stay healthy, and your company needs its employees to be on the move as well. Whether they are on the road at a customer site, at a conference or even at home, you need them to be able to access your ERP system at any time, using any device to keep the business healthy.

As you can see, when you dissect your ERP system, it’s clear that every part of your business needs ERP to run effectively.