Best ERP software for your manufacturing business
Best ERP software for your manufacturing business
You need ERP software customized to the manufacturing industry to manage your daily manufacturing operations. This software must have the following modules:
- Inventory management
- Supplier management
- Human resources management
- Customer relationship management
- Order management
- Planning and scheduling
- Analytics and Reporting
- Finance and Accounting
These modules help you coordinate amongst different business functions, allowing you to manage all operational aspects with complete visibility. It makes your manufacturing processes seamless, giving you control over the operations.
Let’s understand why manufacturing businesses need ERP software. The article also highlights the features of manufacturing ERP software for your business.
Is manufacturing ERP software different from standard ERP software?
Manufacturing ERP software is a customized solution, having critical features and functionalities required by the manufacturing industry.
On the other hand, a standard ERP solution is a one-size-fits-all solution. It is a generic system with all the features and functionalities as per a standard business’s needs. It cannot meet the unique requirements of a manufacturing business due to its standard capabilities.
Why do you need customized manufacturing ERP software?
- Is it difficult to share information with other departments in your business?
- Facing difficulties in managing production schedules?
- Is decision-making a challenge for you?
- Are you burdened with high operational costs?
- Is your sales suffering?
- Do you need help improving your product quality?
- Have your operations stalled due to equipment breakdown?
You need an ERP software system if it is a ‘YES’ to any of the above questions. But to improve your business performance and productivity, use a manufacturing ERP system. Such a solution will automate your processes, reducing costs and increasing output.
You need customized manufacturing ERP software when:
Collection and proper management of the data
You must have a solution that automates the data collection process of items procured, finished goods produced, work-in-progress, inventory on hand, etc. You must be able to store each data point about an item, making it easy to find any product based on any criteria.
It’s more than just the data and information about product items. But you can also manage the data on customers. ERP software collects, stores, and manages customer data, such as demographics, likes, priorities, shopping behavior, etc. This data can predict demand and plan your production, inventory, and procurement.
You can also handle data on suppliers and streamline the ordering process. Manufacturing ERP software allows you to store data on employees, schedule their tasks, and track their performance.
Better understanding and control over the business operations
Without ERP software, you are unaware of what is going on in your business. Various business functions would be operating in isolation without effective exchange of data. In the absence of the entire operational data available in one place, it becomes difficult to measure the performance or status of the activities.
So, you need an ERP system that generates all the data about your processes’ status. It tracks the progress of every activity, sub-task, and task. It gives you complete visibility about manufacturing processes to track profitability.
Better workflow management
ERP software can be the perfect solution when your production priorities and workflow go wrong. It can help you schedule the tasks and sub-tasks to satisfy a particular production cycle or customer order fulfillment. You can allocate resources to each task and track every employee’s schedule. You can even prioritize the customers and production schedules basis the value of customers’ orders.
Cost control and effective time management
Using spreadsheets or manual effort to store and analyze data, and spending more time than usual, are the signs that your business needs an ERP solution.
Manufacturing ERP software automates your business processes. Such automation reduces your production timelines as there is a real-time exchange of information between various departments. Thus, you can generate more quality products in less time, saving costs and increasing productivity.
Informed business decisions in a quick time
Manufacturing ERP software is the answer to all your data needs. It collects, stores, and analyzes all information about customers, suppliers, inventory and procurement, production, and distribution processes. With analysis, you know your business and customers better.
Knowing your customers and their demands, the stages, and the status of your production processes on a real-time basis allows you to decide on the next steps to manage your operations efficiently. Availability of all the accurate business information with you aids in decision making. You don’t have to wait for reports from department heads; a quick look at the ERP software dashboard helps.
What are the necessary features in manufacturing ERP software?
You know you need an ERP solution that:
- Assist you in producing high-quality items,
- Manages your manufacturing and operational processes in the least time possible,
- And reduces your operational costs
Overall, it must make a massive difference to your manufacturing operations. You must select a manufacturing ERP software solution for your business with the following features:
Warehouse management
The warehouse management module of manufacturing ERP software helps you:
- Plan warehouse storage
- Manage inventory to ensure on-time deliveries
- Speed up order processing
- Reduce shipping errors
- Manage inward and outward process
- Track inventory in the warehouse
- Automate billing
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
The CRM module assists in nurturing your customer relationships to increase your sales. You can track customer data, segment them, and sell based on their preferences, creating real value. You can develop attractive marketing campaigns to gain new clients, engage with them, and improve customer loyalty.
Inventory management
With ERP software, you have a better idea about the inventory status in the store or warehouse. It enables you to minimize the chances of overstocking or outages. Thus, you can schedule the inventory better and ensure its proper inventory management.
It assists in the following:
- Entering stock information
- Configuring bins
- Batch tracking
- Reserving stocks
- Handling returns
- Monitoring batch expiry
- Tracking excess or shortage of stock
- Reordering levels
- Tracking orders in process
- Defining different attributes for inventory tracking
- Monitoring inventory movements
You can manage warehouses at many locations in different currencies and languages.
Supply chain management
ERP allows you to handle the procurement of raw materials, warehousing, production, logistics, and sales of your manufacturing operations. It makes management easier and smoother resulting in cost efficiencies. You can also manage your supplier relationships by collecting and analyzing their data.
Quality control
Your manufacturing ERP software’s quality control module helps with the following:
- Defining tests to check product quality
- Conducting these quality tests for quality control
- Comparing data with specified manufacturing standards
- Achieving quality requirements by automating processes
- Having complete visibility over the production stages
- Identifying loopholes and suggesting and making changes
Contract management
The contract management feature in your manufacturing ERP software allows you to handle the entire contract life cycle. You can map timelines, meet deadlines, reduce risks, ensure quality, and cut costs. It helps create a clear and comprehensive contract with well-defined deliverables, payment cycles, and T&Cs. You can manage it from quotation to billing, including generation, dispatch, SLAs, and invoicing.
Human resource management
The human resources management module of manufacturing ERP software lets you handle your personnel. It helps you manage and control:
- Recruitment and Onboarding
- Payroll
- Work allocation and performance measurement
- Attendance and Leaves tracking
It automates the processes of managing your human resources for improved productivity. It also enables effective communication and coordination between team members. Integration with other business functions helps you with personnel allocation as per the skills and project requirements.
Accounting and financial management
You can create separate accounts for each topic and business process for proper management. This module makes monitoring all financial transactions easier. You can properly manage your finances and accounts to comply with relevant regulations.
The ERP software helps you assign costs, calculate budgets, and prepare forecasts. This module is well-integrated with other business functions, ensuring real-time updates in the accounts and finances. It also generates customized, accurate, and timely financial statements.
Analytics and business intelligence
The analytics helps you analyze the collected data to aid in quick decision-making. You can also set metrics for your business and measure them to determine performance. You can create alerts for ordering products, inventory levels, incoming emails, etc.
Manufacturing ERP software’s analytics module helps you:
- Predict trends
- Create insightful reports
- Track defined KPIs
- Develop role-specific dashboards
- Capture real-time data for decision-making
Project management
You can manage your projects with the manufacturing ERP software’s project management feature. Be it costs, scheduling, activities, or resources – you can cover all aspects of the project, including the following:
- Provides complete visibility of the project status
- Creates quotation and contract based on the template
- Generates reports based on real-time data
- Tracks requirements to ensure a successful project run
- Monitors costs, timelines, and activity completion
Fixed assets management
Manufacturing businesses use a lot of fixed assets and equipment to manage production operations. Managing these assets and keeping track of their condition is critical. This module helps you properly utilize your fixed assets, factoring in their available capacity and lifecycle.
You can supervise using all fixed assets in different processes and make them more productive. You can generate alerts when equipment fails and prepare for the replacement to avoid operational delay. The module helps to maximize equipment performance at minimum cost while meeting all regulatory requirements.
Point of Sales (POS)
POS enables an interface between seller and buyer to facilitate smooth transactions. You can handle your retail operations with the POS module. Its customizable dashboards give you a better view of your operations, enabling higher control and better management. You can:
- Track your customers’ transactions
- Manage different membership options for customers
- Centralize your operations at several locations in one place
- Optimize store performance
- Enter product details and segregate them as per characteristics
- Analyze sales data and generate reports
- Track seasonal trends of customers’ buying
- Track payments based on payment applications
- Create product mixes for offers and discounts
Which is the best manufacturing ERP software for your business?
The business environments keep changing. So, businesses must have technologies and processes that quickly adjust to these changes. You must be better prepared for the future to avoid stalling your business processes. You must have technology solutions that adjust to the new settings and help you grow in uncertain times.
NetSuite’s Manufacturing ERP software is one such solution. It helps you handle all the facets of your manufacturing business proficiently. You can manage procurement, production, and delivery from one unified platform.
It adjusts to the changes according to the business needs to keep your processes aligned with your goals. NetSuite Manufacturing ERP software is customizable, easy to use, and has an intuitive user interface. It gives you complete visibility of your operations, aiding decision-making and managing changes.
Partner with Cloudiotech for enhanced ERP experience
Cloudiotech is a top-notch provider of NetSuite solutions and services in the UAE and the USA. Our services include implementation, integration, NetSuite customization, migration, and NetSuite training. We also provide post-implementation support services to ensure you use all the NetSuite solution’s features and create maximum value out of it.
Our team of NetSuite consultants understands your industry and business requirements. We customize the solution according to your unique requirements. We integrate more tools, applications, and modules to extend its capabilities.
Drive your manufacturing with NetSuite’s manufacturing ERP software.
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