eresource ERP for Manufacturing is a Global Business : Speed of information flow has made manufacturing a global business. Coupled with advertising, the ability to move information at the speed of light has opened up all corners of the globe to makers of all products. The computer has changed the way we conduct our businesses. It has also allowed small companies to become giants in their industries by giving them the greatest. Mid-sized companies have access to the same quality of information as the giants in their fields. The question is no longer, where can I get the information I need? The question is now, what do I do with all the information I have? There are many computer programs designed to convert data into information, usually for a specific purpose or function. Shop floor workers need one level of information, in real-time, about the process or production; executives need a different view of that data for long-range planning and short-term deployment. Same data; different information. Data mining and data warehousing applications involve this aspect of information development. Databases are becoming larger and larger as companies find more and more data to store. Answering that call, software developers have looked for ways to bring many divergent requirements under a single, if huge, umbrella program called enterprise resource planning or ERP. What ERP strives to do is combine the needed functions of every application a company requires to do its job and integrate them all together. Also Read – Best Trading ERP Software ERP allows companies to balance customer demands impacted by multiple interrelated items and multiple plant locations. ERP adds applications for financials, supply chain, and distribution and requirements planning for multiple sites. It facilitates intelligent resource planning in the face of rapidly changing constraints such as materials availability, market readiness, plant capacities, personnel certification and business costs per location. In short ERP systems will allow decision makers to champion ‘an intelligent, agile and responsive organization in the global marketplace of the next century.’ In modern manufacturing operations, information starts at the top and the bottom simultaneously. Data originates at the machines, the process and the workers. It indicates what is being made, how and where, when it will be done, and why it won’t be on time. ERP also can make a difference at the shipping and distribution end of a company. Shipments can go direct, and are therefore smaller and cheaper. In addition, there’s no need to stock materials or finished units, so stocks don’t become obsolete and have to be written off. Even before the manufacturing operation gets involved, information is necessary, such as in the sales effort. As the pace of the typical sales cycle increases and the ability to access more information increases, information systems must be able to keep pace and even improve the process. The most valuable information to our overseas people is product and customer information. It is exceedingly important for all sales people to have a complete view of all activity that occurs with a customer. This would typically include sales history, but now must include trouble calls, service requests, repairs and any other activity from general questions to product inquiries. ERP is not confined within the walls of a single entity. With the web-enabled ERP such as eresource ERP, data flows go out to suppliers and vendors, customers and prospects. What you find out can be shared with another person or even millions of people at the same time you learn it yourself. Design and product development can be a collaborative process without barriers of space and time. Groupware, data management and communications combine to allow everyone to sit in the same office, regardless of where they are physically located. eresource Infotech’s web-based ERP and its e-mail alert capabilities have exploded onto the scene as mandatory business requirements. It has helped even the playing field to a point where the size of a company is far less apparent and in some cases unimportant. The Web-based ERP offers a great resource and network capability that allows to puts more product information and customer service information in the hands of customer. The organization can also offer direct ordering of products and services and traditional order management services through the Web-based ERP Software Solution and improve the customer interaction. This should ultimately lessen the cost per order and allows the organization to focus more on customer grievances and less on traditional tasks. Thanks to the emergence of cutting-edge global IT solutions such as ERP, manufacturers have a better-than-ever chance of keeping up with the increasing demands their customers are putting on them. Also Read – ERP for Plastic Manufacturing Industry
Adopt global best business practices Best practice is the process of finding and using ideas and strategies from other companies and industries to improve performance in any given area. Business has used best practice bench marking over the decades and realized billions in savings and revenues in all areas of business operations and sales. ‘As-Is’ best practice addresses or includes the present practice followed by the specific company which is planning to implement the changes required to keep itself in the league of other top companies in the industry. This is done in all functional areas like HR, Operations, Finance, and Maintenance. etc. ‘To be’ best business practices are generally the best practices which exist in the industry and have been refined over a period of time. Companies should aim at adopting their industry specific best practices for their future benefit. Preventive maintenance, activity-based costing etc. are considered as best practices. ‘To be’ best practice includes some of the practices which are already adopted globally and are taken as industry standards for swiftly operating businesses in a competitive global scenario. Also Read – Significant changes in business after using cloud ERP software Some of the best practices that can be adopted are as follows: Information Liquidity Much like cash liquidity, the liquidity of information is a measure of business success. In a successful company, data flows smoothly and information is transformed into economic value. Information liquidity is obtained by integration of processes and systems at all levels. Integration should be the driving force behind design, methodology, development and deployment of all IT systems. Availability As most companies become more and more dependent on IT, it is very important to ensure the maximum availability of the eservices. This does not mean that all IT systems have to be absolutely flawless and foolproof, but good through has to be given to what could be the consequences for the company if all or part of the IT services are temporarily unavailable, and what can be done to minimize these consequences. Also Read – Best ERP Software in India Agility Market changes constantly and so does legislation and technology. It is said that the product life cycles and their time to reach the market are getting shorter and shorter. As a consequence, IT systems have to be built for maximum agility. Cross-compatibility, reuse and lightweight functionality are the ideas to be considered. Costs Especially in times of economic slowdown, the costs of IT are under constant scrutiny. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to quantify the benefits of IT in terms of money and it is relatively meaningless to approach IT investments singularly from an accountant’s point of view. These costs also have to be related to non-quantifiable benefits for the company. Also Read – How ERP software is beneficial for pipe manufacturing industry
ERP Application for Business Growth The latest reports shows that majority of the midsize organizations are using ERP to support a variety of business issues, including globalization, lean manufacturing, conducting e-business, consolidation, shared services, collaborating with suppliers and meeting the requirements of new customers. Further studies reveal that very few midsize companies that don’t already have an ERP implemented are facing numerous problems in their production and sales departments. For those businesses, the reasons to take a leap into ERP, which is largely considered necessary infrastructure for midsize companies, are many and compelling. Many midsize companies cited the availability of low-cost options; pressure from the parent company, suppliers or customers; “explosive” growth; compliance with regulatory requirements; and a “disastrous event” as factors convincing them of the value of ERP. Just implementing an ERP system alone wont’ do any miracles. To get the most benefits from an ERP application, an organization has to use it to its fullest capabilities. But surprisingly this is not happening with every case. Considering the expense of acquiring and deploying an ERP package, in most of the cases it is being underutilized. As per the available survey reports from the market, the average midsize company uses only about 11 out of 24 generic ERP modules, or approximately 72 % of the available functionality. Today the ERP market is sufficiently occupied with some effective and efficient ERP products apart from the more popular Oracle and SAP, that are dominating the market among large global companies. But it’s not an easy fight – several vendors that cater to the midmarket are entrenched, including Infor, Lawson Software, Epicor Software, QAD, Sage Software and Microsoft apart many others. On the other hand some of underplaying mid-market ERP vendors offers their business-management applications on a modular basis, so they usually can be deployed individually and integrated as more ERP modules are phased in. What is more important is the investment in ERP solution which should be planned efficiently. ERP is somewhat expensive, and the cost is highly variable depending on the organization. Company size, number of ERP users, the depth and breadth of purchased functionality, and the business benefits gained from the ERP deployment all contribute to the TCO (total cost of ownership) of an ERP package. As midmarket companies extend their reach into markets around the world, they require increasingly sophisticated systems to support and run their business. With ERP, they can use enterprise-grade technology as a competitive weapon, managing costs, introducing efficiencies throughout the supply chain and manufacturing processes, and streamlining and automating business processes across the organization. For some companies, ERP can mean the difference between success and failure. Also Read – Benefits of ERP Software in the pharma sector
ERP Selection How to select the ERP brand perhaps becomes difficult today. Most of the time budget was the main criteria for elimination round and then companies used to see the live customer list of ERP vendor. We can very well say that the ERP buying decision is like any other procurement decision. For example, when a buyer purchases bearing, normally he analyzes quality, cost, service and response time to choose the particular vendor. All these parameters were applied in ERP buying also. In fact, a few ERP vendors have come up with industry specific solutions, which, in the true sense, Is more of a marketing strategy than an operations specificity. Secondly, because of the very competitive environment and market saturation, ERP vendors have decreased their prices and hence the SME segment is also aspiring for such world-class solutions. While selecting the ERP brand, the focus should be the availability of the best practices or the world-class practices in the software. If we examine closely, we find various ERP products are strong in various functional modules. This strength could be in terms of availability of various planning opinions, tight control on orphan processes, excellent functions flow, easy and user-friendly reporting, graphical presentation, automatic routing through world-class valued added processes. The problem is how to know which ERP is strong where and how that will synergize the client’s business results. To solve the first question, to some extent, we can refer literature in the form of reports and articles. The commercial presentation of the ERP vendor and later discussions may help further. The commercial presentation of ERP vendor and later discussions may help further. The main question is which strength one should look for. This problem has to be handled with a detailed case study of the organization. From the strategic point of view, the organization has to understand the vital processes for the revenue impact as well as the bottom-line. Thus efforts should be directed to find the thrust area with proper reasoning. Accordingly, one can match the requirement with the strengths of ERP to proceed further. It is also observed that some clients go for multiple ERP products to get equipped with all the strengths available. ERP packages have different architectures, concepts and sets of functionality and they are designed to address a variety of user requirement. The marketing literature from ERP vendors will no doubt give the impression that their tool is just as good as any other. Such literature is valuable for giving the reader an overview of functionality and a glimpse at the differentiator for that vendor’s offering. But, if you compare the literature or listen to a vendor’s presentation, it would be very difficult to evaluate which package is the best or which would be most suitable for your organization. So if you go by what is written in the product brochure or what the salespeople say, you will find it very difficult to make a decision and might end up with the wrong choice. So ERP package selection is something that should be done on a systematic and scientific manner. While studying the history of ERP packages and finds out how each package evolved, it becomes evident that every ERP package grew out of the experience or opportunity of a group of people working in a specific business who created systems that could deal with certain business segments. It is generally accepted that most ERP packages are stronger in certain areas than in others and each one is trying hard to add functionality in areas where they have been lacking. So after the decision to go for an ERP package is taken, the company needs to develop the ERP selection criteria that will permit evaluation of all the available packages on the same scale. To choose the best system, the company should identify the system that meets the business needs, matches the business profile and identifies with the business practices of the company. It is impossible to get a system that will perform, exactly as the company does business, but the aim should be to get the system that has the least number of differences. Also Read – Best ERP Software In India
eresource ERP for Manufacturing is a Global Business : Speed of information flow has made manufacturing a global business. Coupled with advertising, the ability to move information at the speed of light has opened up all corners of the globe to makers of all products. The computer has changed the way we conduct our businesses. It has also allowed small companies to become giants in their industries by giving them the greatest. Mid-sized companies have access to the same quality of information as the giants in their fields. The question is no longer, where can I get the information I need? The question is now, what do I do with all the information I have? There are many computer programs designed to convert data into information, usually for a specific purpose or function. Shop floor workers need one level of information, in real-time, about the process or production; executives need a different view of that data for long-range planning and short-term deployment. Same data; different information. Data mining and data warehousing applications involve this aspect of information development. Databases are becoming larger and larger as companies find more and more data to store. Answering that call, software developers have looked for ways to bring many divergent requirements under a single, if huge, umbrella program called enterprise resource planning or ERP. What ERP strives to do is combine the needed functions of every application a company requires to do its job and integrate them all together. Also Read – Best Trading ERP Software ERP allows companies to balance customer demands impacted by multiple interrelated items and multiple plant locations. ERP adds applications for financials, supply chain, and distribution and requirements planning for multiple sites. It facilitates intelligent resource planning in the face of rapidly changing constraints such as materials availability, market readiness, plant capacities, personnel certification and business costs per location. In short ERP systems will allow decision makers to champion ‘an intelligent, agile and responsive organization in the global marketplace of the next century.’ In modern manufacturing operations, information starts at the top and the bottom simultaneously. Data originates at the machines, the process and the workers. It indicates what is being made, how and where, when it will be done, and why it won’t be on time. ERP also can make a difference at the shipping and distribution end of a company. Shipments can go direct, and are therefore smaller and cheaper. In addition, there’s no need to stock materials or finished units, so stocks don’t become obsolete and have to be written off. Even before the manufacturing operation gets involved, information is necessary, such as in the sales effort. As the pace of the typical sales cycle increases and the ability to access more information increases, information systems must be able to keep pace and even improve the process. The most valuable information to our overseas people is product and customer information. It is exceedingly important for all sales people to have a complete view of all activity that occurs with a customer. This would typically include sales history, but now must include trouble calls, service requests, repairs and any other activity from general questions to product inquiries. ERP is not confined within the walls of a single entity. With the web-enabled ERP such as eresource ERP, data flows go out to suppliers and vendors, customers and prospects. What you find out can be shared with another person or even millions of people at the same time you learn it yourself. Design and product development can be a collaborative process without barriers of space and time. Groupware, data management and communications combine to allow everyone to sit in the same office, regardless of where they are physically located. eresource Infotech’s web-based ERP and its e-mail alert capabilities have exploded onto the scene as mandatory business requirements. It has helped even the playing field to a point where the size of a company is far less apparent and in some cases unimportant. The Web-based ERP offers a great resource and network capability that allows to puts more product information and customer service information in the hands of customer. The organization can also offer direct ordering of products and services and traditional order management services through the Web-based ERP Software Solution and improve the customer interaction. This should ultimately lessen the cost per order and allows the organization to focus more on customer grievances and less on traditional tasks. Thanks to the emergence of cutting-edge global IT solutions such as ERP, manufacturers have a better-than-ever chance of keeping up with the increasing demands their customers are putting on them. Also Read – ERP for Plastic Manufacturing Industry