Custom manufacturing can be challenging, especially when it comes to productivity. Business owners need to satisfy demanding clients, produce custom products, take care of employees’ engagement and keep an eye on all processes. Custom manufacturing can become pretty messy if you handle all your processes using different solutions. The data gets lost, the real productivity level is hard to track, and everything is located in different places which stops you from making great data-driven decisions. So is there anything that can turn custom manufacturing to a whole new level? The answer is – yes, and it is erp development. ERP systems still remain very underestimated which is totally wrong. So it is time to discover the true power of custom Top ERP Features for manufacturing and must-have features it should have to become a game changer.
Benefits of ERP for manufacturing
These days many custom manufacturing companies consider digital transformation. If you look at the statistics provided by IBM, you will see that 67% of manufacturers have invested their time and money in custom software development. On top of that, they are mainly focused on operability, supply chain visibility, customer satisfaction, and cost savings. And this is exactly what the ERP system helps to achieve.
Apart from this, ERP has way more other benefits. For example, an ERP system can help you introduce custom order making and assist in comparing actual project cost vs estimated one. Here are some other advantages you should be aware of:
- Thanks to ERP order and bill of materials management can be streamlined;
- You can delegate all manual processes to advanced technologies;
- Every process will be visible, flexible and easy to manage;
- The forecasting and data analytics will be precise, and all data will be stored in one place;
- The data can be analyzed, processed and visualized so that you can make the most out of it;
- The employee management and productivity tracking will be seamless.
As you can see the number of advantages is pretty solid. However, ERP has its flows too. It’s development is quite costly, time consuming and challenging. Also there can be some complications with ERP integration and connection with other systems you use in your company. However, all those issues can be successfully avoided if you delegate the job to a reliable and experienced development team.
Must-have features to implement into ERP- Top ERP Features
Now when you know what advantages ERP can offer, it is time to speak about its feature set. There are some standard options like admin panel, order management, employee profile and others that we are not going to cover. We would like to speak about industry-specific options that you should definitely add to your custom ERP. The list of Top ERP Features includes but is not limited to:
- A QR and barcode scanner that helps employees generate and add special codes to the system and then track production stages or manually add some information about a project, spare part, manufactured piece or else.
- Templates creator able to automate order management. Let’s say you produce spare parts for specific equipment or vehicles. Chances are you may need to produce the same custom pieces once again. So why complete all steps when you can create a template and speed up the production process. Templates creator should also have advanced search to make it easier to find a certain order or project.
- Advanced scheduler to balance employee workload and preserve set deadlines. Scheduler can help you even set up the work time for your machinery and always keep an eye on them.
- Tools for job management so that you can assign the jobs, track progress and productivity of each separate employee. Job management options also can help you add crucial comments to each order, estimate the duration of work, edit and filter all created jobs according to different criteria.
- Role-based permissions that will help you ensure the necessary level of data security and provide access to certain options only to the managers or head employees.
- GPS tracking mode will be very helpful if you also offer your clients a delivery option. Thanks to this feature you will be able to create an optimal route, monitor vehicles location in real time, and always deliver your manufactured goods or projects in time.
- Finance and account management tools can help you handle all finance-related issues and generate holistic reports to see your income and expenses per month, year and any required period of time. This is very helpful since you will be able to get a 360 degree view of how your manufacturing business is doing at the moment.
Although the feature set means a lot, you should also take care of ERP usability. The design should be visually appealing and yet intuitive and user-friendly. Every option, button or else should be easy to find. Also it is highly recommended to ensure a high security level and add two-factor authentication, preserve industry standards and compliances. The impeccable combination of functionality, safety and design is what really makes a great ERP for custom manufacturing.
To summarize
Although ERP development is a costly venture, it always pays itself off. Custom manufacturers need this digital tool to optimize all processes, manage the workforce properly, streamline order processing, and become a result-oriented company.
Custom ERP should be a feature rich solution so that it can bring real value to your business. So in case you’ve seriously considered its development, make sure you hire real professionals like GBKSOFT team to get an impeccable ERP system that will grow together with your company.