Management in the absence of information is like a blind man trying to run a race. He may win, but in an unintended direction, sometimes in the completely opposite direction!
To keep the blind man in the right direction, with the right speed, while knowing what competition is up to, there is the need for a system which constantly monitors, reports, and in some cases even helps with course-correction. In the world of management, this is the perfect manufacturing management software, known by its acronym, the ERP.
A software for manufacturing companies, the ERP, or Enterprise Resource Planning, is a complete suite of software which considers the organization in its entirety and not as a sum of its parts or even in parts. In doing so. It creates the perfect environment for the evolution and growth of an enterprise. On how an ERP system helps manufacturing companies, there are quite a few ways including:
– Helping organizations focus on their goals, departmentally and activity-wise!
Manufacturing being an activity which is a sum-total of many activities, one can lose track of one’s goals or that of the organization as a whole. To keep these in perspective, day after day after day, and that too in a meaningful objective way, there is nothing quite like the manufacturing management software of today, also called the ERP. And the best part is that, it helps re-focus and change focus according to existing conditions- with the press of a mouse!
– Helping focus on ultimate goals
Each department in an organization, especially when it’s about manufacturing, has its role cut out clearly, and is tasked with keeping things focussed to that goal. But how does one know whether the individual goal(s) and those of departments is going towards fulfilling the ultimate goal of the organization. To link these two on a minute-to-minute basis, one needs a manufacturing planning software, the ERP
– Helping reduce overlapping of roles and activities
Procurements, as an example will highlight this point. With a good ERP which weeds out multiple procurements besides procuring slow or dead inventory, one does not get money stuck in things which either do not move or move very slowly. With monetary rotation being a much needed thing in industry, a manufacturing planning software like a ERP can very easily highlight gaps and overlaps in many departments and roles- even those like HR where there might be far more people than needed for the activity or those assigned to low-worth activity while leaving the door wide open for areas where there is a need but no worthwhile resource!
– Helping reduce wastage of most kinds
Waste is the direct result of being blind to certain activities. Where the right information does not go to the right set of people at the right time, wastes of various kinds develop. It gets highlighted in a manufacturing set-up where things have to be brought, stores and used. With so much riding on profitability, even the slightest oversight can result in wastes. What a manufacturing management software like an ERP does is that it connects every essential dot in real-time such that chances of generating wastes goes down to practically zero.
– Helping management keep track of essential activities across streams and departments
Where the focus of manufacturing is crystal clear, things fall in place pretty fast with unnecessary activities being left out completely. ERP implementation isn’t an easy exercise. In fact, it asks for a lot of detailing & documenting of existing activities. In doing so, things besides getting streamlined, also get judged on their worth. In the long-run, the implementation of ERP helps the management track essential activities and how best to enhance them while grading others on their relative worth.
– Helping management focus on managing from remote locations
ERPs or the Manufacturing Planning software of choice these days mostly mean cloud-ERP which besides being flexible to one’s needs, can also be accessed from anywhere on the planet, courtesy the internet. Be it management cadre, specialists or anyone else, everyone can access the right data right where they are. And take necessary corrective action!
– It helps management manage with better, faster and more detailed reporting
How do you manage if you don’t have the right information in the right format?? Simple! You DON’T! And in time, you either have a loss-making unit. Or, you have none. A manufacturing management software like the ERP which is one of the biggest single software takes care of every department and its working. Its reporting is extensive, comprehensive and all-encompassing. Nothing escapes its ambit for which reason reports generated by an ERP are considered the last word in data. Basis these, any decision taken is sure to bear fruits for any organization.