In Asia, manufacturers are facing a growing number of challenges. Companies should look for the best ERP for manufacturing in their country to manage these challenges.
Manufacturing drivers
Many manufacturers want to improve and automate production or inventory operations to enhance efficiency and give them scope to expand.
Other companies are considering digital technologies to enhance flexibility and efficiency in manufacturing operations so they can reduce costs, boost productivity and cut waste.
In recent years, many manufacturers have been facing disruptive changes. These have ranged from supply chain interruptions, changing customer and market conditions, and the need for more cost-effective production methods to keep up with competitors.
A manufacturing ERP system provides businesses with control over manufacturing and business operations. It provides data to determine what components need to be brought in, and when these activities need to happen to meet demand.
How a manufacturing ERP system helps
An ERP system unifies data and processes across the enterprise. This means that departments don’t operate in their own separate silos and can collaborate to make the business work more efficiently.
Manufacturing operations
For core manufacturing, the ERP system can automate the management of Bill of Materials (BOM). Managing a BOM is often complex and difficult to do manually, especially as BOM hierarchies expand. The ERP for manufacturing can handle multi-level BOMs and allow for easy revisions and version control.
Another core manufacturing requirement is production scheduling and capacity planning. These are two interconnected aspects of managing production. Production scheduling enables the sequencing and timing of tasks to meet production goals and optimize efficiency. Capacity planning determines the maximum output that can be achieved with available resources (machines and people) and allows production staff to allocate capacity to meet demand.
The best ERP for manufacturing offers a Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) system to automate the processes and data throughout the manufacturing environment. This can optimize production operations and provide capabilities that can help increase productivity, reduce losses, and lower production costs. It enables electronic shop floor data control by tracking labor and machine time, and provides the single platform that manufacturers need to monitor and improve factory performance.
Quality control and traceability
Increasingly, manufacturers need to monitor the quality of the production process and goods that are finished, but also items received from suppliers. The need for monitoring may extend further back along the supply chain and forward through transportation to final customer delivery.
A quality control system helps businesses manage their quality control standards efficiently, reducing variability and costs. Both inbound and outbound processes can be managed to ensure quality conformance.
Traceability enables a manufacturer to trace, identify and report on every part of the supply chain, and in real time. A centralized traceability system provides businesses with the ability to minimize the impact of downstream product quality issues and handle recalls in a timely and efficient manner. The system also allows companies to create mock recalls, which are important to meet regulatory compliance requirements.
Inventory Management
Poorly managed inventory adds cost to the business. The best ERP for manufacturing provides real-time inventory tracking, including raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods. Inventory tracking can be done from a high level (warehouse), down to the detail level of a specific bin.
Using Material Requirements Planning (MRP) component, a manufacturer can optimize inventory levels to meet production schedules.
Supply chain management
In a world where effective supply chain management is becoming critical, manufacturers need capabilities to create an agile supply chain with end-to-end visibility and collaboration. This includes:
- demand forecasting and planning,
- purchasing, sourcing and supplier management,
- knowing the location of items along the supply chain,
- information about alternative supply sources.
Technical issues
The best manufacturing ERP is scalable, allowing the system to easily grow as the company expands.
The ability of the ERP system to integrate data from other systems, like CAD and e-commerce platforms, is important to centralize business data and create a single source of truth. As future technologies emerge, the ERP system needs to have an open architecture to cater for future integrations.
Training and support
Training and support is crucial for the success of an ERP project. An ERP vendor that understands the organizational, technological and human elements of the system, and can provide the necessary back-up, will ensure a successful implementation and its ongoing success.
