There are numerous advancements in technology these days that are taking place at a rapid pace. At present Manufacturing companies need to constantly innovate new methods and processes to cope the change in technology. According to the International Monetary Fund the output of manufacturing companies are expected to increase 3.4 % in 2017. Though industries are growing, they are also facing real challenges.
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Here are some actions that industries can adopt in 2017:
Better capacity utilization
In today’s uncertain business scenario, companies are focusing more on cutting the cost vigorously. Hence, huge investments in assets for scaling up their capacity would petrify them. An ERP solution can provide asset optimization in managing, planning, and optimizing their existing plant capacity which saves cost and improves utilization of current assets.
Save your working capital
According to PWC, over $1 trillion is blocked up in the working capital, which is equivalent to 7% of the revenue. So how can we overcome this issue? Companies should build trust and healthy relationship with their suppliers. If we optimize the supplier network, it will create an impact on the payables. Implementing an ERP solution will identify gaps in procure to pay cycle, that enables an efficient rating the suppliers based on their performance with respect to time and quality of delivery. An ERP for manufacturing industry also gives a clear visibility on the order to cash cycle. Analytics function helps in organizing orders, keeps a track on the damaged items and also gives accurate insights on how much AR is collected in 30 days and 60 days depending on company policies. According to PWC survey, companies that adopt digitalization have 3% increase in additional revenue and 3.6% in reduced cost per year.
Piling up of inventory will block cash invested on material. This will affect the cash flow. Manufacturing ERP systems not only give a solution for inventory management that leads to better working capital but also give a clear visibility on stock levels, receivables and payables. It also helps in forecasting the right cost of production.
Hungry for your share?
Manufacturing industries are forced to meet their demand no matter how tough the market is. Companies are facing huge challenges in innovating their products. Producing innovative solutions and value proposition to the products makes the company a market leader. This in return helps to acquire a greater part of the market share. An ERP for manufacturing industry can help to leverage this, with the help of inbuilt data analytics system. It can also detect the demand and purchase patterns, and throw out suggestions as to when to buy raw materials, when to stock and this also helps in planning for revisions of products.
Predictive maintenance – plan ahead & plan better
Integration of machines to a Manufacturing ERP system enables IOT within the plant and can help predict the maintenance timelines & down time. Sharing this data with the production floor simplifies production planning and scheduling process and enables managing fluctuations in demand better.
So, what is the future of manufacturing?
New era of sophisticated 3d printers can print anything from a plastic toy to human tissue. Additive manufacturing is the next form of manufacturing that can create products of different shapes and dimensions which a traditional manufacturing process can’t achieve. ERP’s such as EPICOR ERP 10 software for manufacturing can integrate with design software like CAD which helps in feeding designs to the machines.
Nice one