Posted by Daniele Fresca on Wed, Jun 09, 2010 @ 02:48 PM
Purchasing and implementing a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system can be a daunting prospect for many. Even more so than the decision itself of WHY to purchase, many companies are confounded by the question of WHEN to purchase. The economy is still questionable. Some companies are seeing a rebound and others are merely seeing the hope of a rebound. If this is true then why should a company decide to purchase a new ERP system now, when there is no guarantee that a profitability rebound is on the horizon? Given that there is probably no perfect time to purchase ERP the question then is why should I buy now? Below are three of the top reasons why buying now is the right choice.
First, and most importantly, think about where you want to be in a year, two years, or more. If your business isn't at optimal capacity now but your plan is to get there within a year or even two, now is the time to buy. If you purchase now, you can strategically plan your implementation and take more time to be meticulous about data conversion, data transfer, and possible changes to processes or procedures. You can also allocate the proper resources and time to the implementation. Having the appropriate people involved from the beginning and with the ability to commit the time to the project is by far the biggest hurdle with any implementation - regardless of the chosen system. By the completion of "go live," chances are very good that the steps you took during the implementation will make your company more efficient and more aptly able to handle the increase in business that is anticipated.
Second is the fact that ERP companies are also still looking to make sales (read deals!) and are offering more tailored, industry-specific packages. The rapid consolidation of companies that we saw a couple of years ago has, for the most part, subsided. The result of the consolidation is that ERP system capabilities are more defined and it is easier to find ERP that more adeptly handles your company needs. While one company might have multiple packages to choose from, overall choices of ERP systems that truly match your company's manufacturing type have diminished. Thus, you have a field of less than 10 ERP systems, instead of 30 plus, from which to choose. While less options doesn't seem like an advantage, think of it as weeding out a significant number of systems that wouldn't have been close to a good fit anyway. The time saved in the beginning search process is significant.
Lastly, the information available, via a multitude of resources, is more abundant than ever before. From basic internet searches to social media sites (i.e. Facebook and Twitter) to non-biased ERP comparison sites - all avenues provide a vast amount of information for any ERP consumer. Never before has the power of the internet become such an ally for research and development. A quick search of ERP companies can yield a list of top award winners, top customer comments, valuable reviews, and priceless notifications of pending lawsuits. The information age has pushed the data available out of monthly print publications and into our daily lives. By utilizing the information available, consumers are better equipped to ask the right questions, compare the answers to known information, and gain knowledge via other users out there in the World Wide Web.
So when thinking about your company and how you will rebound, think about ERP as a foundation for everything you do and a springboard to make you stronger in the future. Your quality commitment, your goals for success, your ideas for strength as the economy rebounds - all of these can be achieved with a solid ERP system in place. If you don't have that solid foundation now, then perhaps you should be thinking about getting it in place now.
Posted by Diane Ramaglia on Wed, May 12, 2010 @ 03:13 PM
I have been in the manufacturing business for over 18 years. When I first started I was working in accounting and then moved over to operations. It was all about dollars and cents and what we could improve to be more profitable. The plant manager was a great teacher and focused on continuous improvement. He would have us look at the root cause of an issue and tell us to "fix it or else." We all knew that "or else" meant having a job the next day or not so we took this suggestion seriously.
First, we started to look at our plant utilization based on the production reports that were being entered into our ERP system. We started to review our downtime reports to track what truly was keeping our machines from running. We found that setups were not being started when they were supposed to due to a lack of labor and machines were sitting idle due to a lack of material or machine operators.
Next, we started to evaluate why we didn't have enough labor for machine setups. One reason found was that the scheduler was scheduling multiple jobs to be setup at the same time. We started to look at minimizing the number of setups within a shift. We decided to put two people on a setup which allowed the setup to take half the time that it would normally take. So far, so good. But soon reality showed that there were times we truly did need additional setup technicians due to the demand coming in from the customers. After reviewing the cost of the machine sitting down due to setups, we found that it was costing us more than hiring a new setup/process technician. So we hired a couple of setup technicians to keep our shop running.
Our next step was to look at why we didn't have operators to run the jobs. We established that there had been a cut back in the number of operators per shift because of the previously mentioned setup issues coupled with wanting to eliminate having operators being paid to just sit around. Since we fixed the setup issues, we could better utilize our labor capacity reports to determine how many operators we needed for each shift. While we still maintained a minimal direct labor force, we also hired temporary employees as needed for certain machines/jobs to backfill labor where it was truly needed.
Lastly, we tackled the issue of raw material. We found that the machine monitoring system was accounting for cycles that the production report but our actual people were not. This was an eye-opening gap in material consumption and inventory management that would not have been identified without our ERP software. It was discovered that during the setup of certain jobs, more scrap was being produced than what was originally accounted for in the creation of BOM's. There were two things we reviewed: how to cut back on the scrap being produced and should we update the BOM's to more accurately reflect the setup process. Depending on the part being produced we modified our records accordingly and the gains were significant.
To see the changes we had made using the information from the system was great. I still use this information today when assisting other companies with their internal issues.
To view another success utiliation story, we invite you to read about Donnelly Custom Manufacturing.
Posted by Daniele Fresca on Thu, Apr 29, 2010 @ 01:02 PM
We have all done it. We've all said something was "good enough." It isn't great, it isn't bad; it's just okay. Whether it is your house, your car, your job, etc.... we often find that settling for things is easier than pursuing another option. And we are right, it is often easier. But is it the best way to go about evaluation and decision making. No it isn't.
The same holds true with ERP software. When asked, leaders of many manufacturing companies I recently talked with tell me that their ERP software is "just okay." They know that it doesn't meet a majority of their needs but they aren't compelled enough to change. The reasons vary as infinitely as the companies themselves. For some, not changing is due to cash flow - or lack there of. For others, business is slowing down and committing to a new ERP system isn't a top priority. For a different group, the opposite is true; business is picking up speed again and now there is no time to put effort into a change. Still others feel the pain from their last ERP implementation many years ago and assume that doing nothing is simply easier than changing.
Whatever your reason is to settle for "just okay" think of this: in other aspects of your manufacturing facility is settling an option? If product rolled off your machines, conveyors, or assembly tables that was obviously flawed, would you still send them to your client? If an employee was consistently late or offered little value would you still employ them? The truth is we put more stock in the quality of our products and employees than we do in investing in the proper tools to assist in the process. ERP is one of those important tools that is often neglected and it shouldn't be.
ERP systems should make the job of running a manufacturing company easier by accurately meeting your business process and manufacturing needs. Your ERP system should allow you to do more with less! It should help identify areas within your processes where time and money can be saved. It should increase communication across all departments within the company. A great ERP should also automate information obtained from the shop floor and eliminate redundant data entry.
But it is more than just basic ERP functionality. An ERP system should also be able to provide relevant information to its users in a timely manner, with valid data. If a facility manager can't get information like "total down time and its main reason for the last 30 days" or "most profitable and least profitable produced part - based on actual costing - within the last 2 weeks" then the ERP system isn't doing enough for you. Your ERP system should tell you when tools/dies/machines are up for maintenance based on actual usage before they require repair, rather than after they fail. A good ERP system should be an enhancement to the manufacturing process, not a hindrance. By obtaining valuable and accurate information in a timely manner, ERP should help manufacturers produce better product because it identifies areas of improvement or success.
So, I invite you to take a few minutes and think about how your ERP system is helping your company and how it might help your become more competitive. Evaluate your ERP and ask is it "good enough" and then decide to demand great!
Want more information on how a great ERP can help your facility? Download our whitepaper "How The Small Get Mighty"
Posted by Daniele Fresca on Thu, Apr 08, 2010 @ 06:41 AM
This is the year! You have decided you are going to evaluate your existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system or make the leap to buy a new one. Congratulations.
Now where do you begin? There are many tools available to help (internet sites, downloadable ERP questionaires, consultants) to evaluate and narrow the field of suitable suppliers. However, I would suggest that one of the best decisions will be to make "industry specific" a key determining factor in the overall evaluation.
In the first stages of vendor selection, often times immediate features, functions, databases, and cost are on the top of the list for review. They should be. But whether or not an ERP system is designed with your company business and manufacturing processes in mind should also be among your top criteria. Why? Because a highly effective ERP system cannot be eveything to everybody and still have the depth to meet the needs of specific industries. An ERP system that speaks the same language as your processes, your employees, and your business culture provide a competitive edge over ERP systems that don't. This criteria also gives you insight into what other companies in your industry are using their systems for. By this I mean that ERP systems that are industry specific have development driven by other companies in the same industry.
For example, in the medical industry does the ERP understand and handle complaint tracking? Do the ERP salespeople say "yes" because you can pick up the phone, take a complaint, and type it as a note somewhere in the software or is there a specific module for complaint tracking? What about the automotive industry? Does part of their electronic data interchange (EDI) process include any manual entry or is it completely automated? How about plastic injection molding? Does a family tool bill of material (BOM) require more than one BOM or more than one machine to schedule?
Industry specificity also translates to quicker ROI because implementation and training times are reduced. Choosing an ERP system that understands the industry you are part of makes it easier when comparing your needs to the software. The ability of a software to identify the subtle nuances associated to your industry make data transfer, data import, and the roadmap of implementation more concise. In addition, customer driven requirements that are inherent in your industry are known and therefore manufacturers don't have to hassle with "workarounds." Instead of modifying all the manufacturing processes to fit the software, it is simply the other way around.
So when you decide to evaluate whether your existing software fits your needs or an upcoming purchase, looking at industry specific ERP will give you a competitive edge.
Posted by Liz Alflen on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 @ 03:40 PM
As we all know, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...
Unless you are a manufacturing ERP professional attending the IQMS User Group Meeting, in which case you will want to take back to your manufacturing facility all you've learned about new EnterpriseIQ ERP and Manufacturing System functionality (plus all the neat promotional items you'll pick up - way better than just a hangover!).
IQMS is planning the most fun and informative event you will attend this year. In order to build the most valuable experience for you, we need to harness the collective wisdom and power of the user community. Tell us what you want for content and format so we can structure the event to best benefit you and your company's attendees.
The IQMS User Group 2010 will be open to all manufacturing industry professionals, providing an open forum for education and discussion. We want to share ways to make all our lives easier and make more money, and make connections with other industry colleagues with the same objectives. Past attendees have enjoyed open sessions about new development, breakout sessions on popular modules, customer applications and special presentations by vendors and partners. This is also the best opportunity to meet with the IQMS development team, management staff and industry peers to discuss features, functionality and best practices.
What would you most be interested in learning about and discussing? What format do you like?
- More focus on manufacturing?
- Brighter spotlight on technology?
- More general ("all play") sessions?
- More specialized breakout sessions?
- Did you like the overview sessions which debuted at our last event?
- More about new development?
- Customer applications?
- Training and education?
- Roundtable discussions?
- Networking luncheons?
Since we introduced the IQMS Online Community Server last spring, we are using that forum for IQMS customers and staff to collaborate on software modules and change requests. This means we can make the most of our time together at this fall's event on new content.
More information is available on the User Group page our website (http://www.iqms.com/); make your plans now as space will be limited. Please complete the on-line survey and post your additional comments here.
We're looking forward to seeing you there! Thanks!
P.S. We're also interested in building a better breakfast buffet for our attendees. Please also let us know what you would like in the morning to ease the transition from those late evenings...