Can’t handle your stock, making times, and item checks? An ERP system could fix that.
ERP (short for Enterprise Resource Planning) systems make work smooth by linking stock handling, making plans, and item checks in one place. Here’s why midsize makers need ERP and how to find and set up the right one:
- Main Pluses:
- Cut down stock costs by up to 75%.
- Make work run better by 30%.
- See into what’s being made and stock at any time.
- Picking the Right ERP:
- Look at perks like live updates, plan making, and AI tools.
- Go for cloud setups to grow easily and save money.
- Make sure it fits with U.S. rules (e.g., batch follows and checks on stuff).
- Tips on Setting Up:
- Start simple with key parts like stock and make plans.
- Teach your group well for good use.
- Track KPIs like stock use and make speed to see wins.
| Plan | Best For | Key Features | Downside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Small makers | Live tracking, stock alerts | Only one site |
| Professional | Bigger firms | Many sites, plan making | Few links to others |
| Enterprise | Big makers | Deep data, full change options | Costs more, needs IT help |
Smart Tip: Start with key jobs, then grow slow. Use things like Procuzy‘s screens to watch how it goes and keep up with rules.
ERP setups do more than solve stuff – they are key for midsize makers who want to grow big and stay in the game.
How to Pick the Best ERP Software for Making Things
Choosing the right ERP software is key for any factory-based firm. With most of these plans failing to meet their aims, the choice is super vital. The best system must fit what you need now and grow with your firm.
Main Features and Need for Growth
Making stuff is tough, so your ERP system must do many jobs well. Start by listing your top needs – plan making and keeping track of stock are usually first.
For mid-sized makers, seeing things happen live is a must. You need to watch what happens on the work floor, keep an eye on stuff during making, and get quick updates on how much you have. Good tools for plan and timing can fix work flows, more if you have lots of things to make and want to leave old lists or lone systems behind.
Seeing all steps is a big deal too. This lets you watch everything from raw bits to finished items and shipping. It also makes fixing quality mess-ups fast and well.
Modern ERP systems often use AI and data tools that show hidden trends in making, make guessing needs better, spot jams, and guess when kit might break.
Cloud-based systems are now more usual, with most firms set to use them by 2028. Cloud ERPs can grow with you, are easy to update, and cost less up front than old at-place systems.
Lastly, all pieces must work well together. Your ERP should mix without a hitch with your old tools, whether that’s money software, CRM systems, or special factory gear. Good mix stops info gaps and makes sure data moves well in your firm.
These parts not only make work smoother but also help stick to U.S. rules.
U.S. Rules and Needs to Meet Them
U.S. makers face hard rules, with new laws popping up every week since 1981. Your ERP should make sticking to rules simpler, not harder.
Look for systems that fit U.S. needs, like MM/DD/YYYY date styles, dollar signs ($), and U.S. units. These bits may look small, but they are key when making reports for control people or working with supply folks.
Auto docs and seeing all steps are priceless for checks and cutting rule risk. This is key for fields like drugs and chemicals, with tough checks.
Your ERP should check quality at every step. This includes checks for safe products, sticking to eco rules, and strong checks for good quality. Built-in rule tools cut down on hand work that can miss big problems.
Going back and forth in time tracing is often a must by law. If you need to call back a product or fix a safety mess, you need to quickly spot which batches and where they went. A strong ERP system does this auto, cutting the need to look through old papers.
| Plan | Cost | Main Points | Who Uses It | Downsides |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Ask Sales for price | Tracks items real time, sets auto stock alerts, predicts needs, tracks batches | Small makers new to ERP systems | Just one place |
| Professional | Ask Sales for price | Everything in Basic + works in many places, plans production, checks quality | Businesses growing into more places | Few ways to mix with others |
| Enterprise | Ask Sales for price | Everything in Professional + top data tools, custom setups, all integrations | Big groups who want to tailor everything | None |
The Basic plan is a great start for small factories needing to track and manage items. If you run more than one place or plan to grow, the Professional plan gives you help for many sites and extra bits you will need.
For firms with tricky steps or special tech needs, the Enterprise plan lets you make changes to fit your exact needs. This plan works best for firms with their own IT staff and the need for special factory tools or unique software.
All plans mean you must talk to sales to find out the price, which lets you get a plan cut just for your firm’s own needs and size. This custom way works better for bigger firms than the usual all-in-one price plans.
How to Set Up ERP Features for Making Stuff
Fitting your ERP system to match your making work can make every day work go easy. It all starts with good plan and care for your own needs.
Picking Parts for Making Work
Your ERP should make your making work simple and better. Start by finding the big problems in your work and look at ERP parts that solve these problems.
For example, a machine plan part can help you handle when tools are free, work lines, and how long tasks take. This cuts down on wild guesses and keeps you on time.
If you check quality in your work, set up quality watch parts to match your check steps. Rather than stick to a tough plan, make points that fit with your real quality checks.
Another good add is smart care. By making alerts based on real tool use, you can cut down not working time and keep away from big fix costs.
Start with the main things, adding parts for key tasks first. When the system works well, add more complex parts to keep from overloading your team. Procuzy’s custom tools can help you tweak these parts to fit your work just right.
Using Procuzy‘s Custom Tools
Procuzy has many tools to change its ERP to fit your own needs:
- Good need plan (MRP): Change this to show your real wait times by putting in real delivery times from suppliers and setting safe stock based on your real data.
- Okay fast: Make buying simple by letting small orders go through easy (like, under $1,000) while big buys need a boss’s okay. This keeps small orders moving fast without losing watch on bigger costs.
- Work smart boards: Focus on the stats that matter most to your team, like how much is made, not enough stuff, or when things need to be sent, to help make smart choices.
- Alerts on stock: Set alerts right for different item types. For instance, items that move fast can set off alerts soon, while special items might have different points based on how they are used.
By using Procuzy’s custom tools, you can make work run smooth while making sure the system fits your own work way.
Hitting Industry Rules and Norms
Once your ERP fits your tasks, it’s key to set it for rule follow. This makes sure you meet industry rules without extra hard steps.
Batch follow is key in many fields. Set your ERP to auto write batch numbers, make dates, and end dates. This makes it easy to trace items back to certain batches if issues come up.
For more right info, put in barcoding to hold all needed industry info. This cuts down on slips and helps with rules.
In fields like drugs, Procuzy’s auto batch files makes the paper work needed by folks who check. Each step of making is written right without needing to write it by hand.
Auto wrong watch is another good tool. It keeps an eye on making things – like heat or cycle times – and shows any moves from okay ranges. This lets you fix things fast before they grow big.
"Pharmaceutical manufacturing software is a specialized solution which helps manufacturers maintain regulatory compliance, optimize production processes, and ensure product traceability." – Procuzy
Use ready-to-go audit reports to make checks easy. These reports are made on their own to fit rules, so your papers are always set for checks.
To make your ERP change work well, go slow. Begin with the parts that fix your now problems, then slowly add more tools. The aim is to build a setup that makes your work easy, not hard.
How to Mix ERP and Handle Change
After setting up your ERP to fit making goods, the next task is to blend it with tools you use now and handle the shifts it starts. This step needs a good plan to make sure data moves well between the setups while keeping your team ready and okay with the change.
Linking ERP with Current Tools
Your ERP should mesh well with your current software and ways, like keeping track of stock or planning making stuff. Here are three often-used methods to do this:
- Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) Integration: Best for big jobs, ESB can take on many links and grow with your business. Though it gives strong control, it calls for tech know-how to set up and keep up.
- Cloud-Based Integration (iPaaS): iPaaS has ready-made links that make it easy to start, fitting for mid-sized makers. It cuts down on the need for custom work and finds a middle ground in how it works and its ease.
- Custom API Integration: If your setups have special needs, custom API puts together what fits you. Still, this way uses more stuff and costs more.
Start by looking at how data travels in your work, finding slow spots, or twice-done tasks. Aim to mix key setups, like planning making stuff, before other less needed tools. Move only data you must have and clear up any mistakes before to make sure your ERP works well from the start.
Once the mix is done, focus on getting your team set for the new setup.
Training Users for Better Use
Mixing your ERP is just part of it – good use rests on right training made for your team’s roles. Each part, from the ones who manage making to those who check stock, has different needs, so you must shape the training for each. Letting training happen over time lets users gain trust and skill.
Studies tell that 55%–75% of ERP tasks fail, often as users don’t really take up the setup. To dodge this, mix training ways, like in-person events, online shows, and courses on their own time. Choose ERP leaders in each part to help during and after the training time. Get thoughts all through to better your method and make sure the system really aids your team’s daily tasks.
Step-by-Step Set-Up for Budget Keeping
Once your ERP is mixed and your team is set, putting it in bit by bit can help you handle money and lower risks. Putting out the system in parts lets you fix problems early without using up your money. Start with key parts – like managing stock and planning making – before adding more features.
Here’s how a step-by-step start might look:
- Phase 1: Start main works, like managing stock and simple planning for making.
- Phase 2: Put in tools like keeping track of quality or planning for upkeeps.
- Phase 3: Bring in special parts, like deep checks or rules tools, that use data from past steps.
| How To Do It | Good For | Time Needed | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| All At Once | Easy tasks, little firms | 3–6 months | High |
| Step By Step | Not too hard, many makers | 6–18 months | Medium |
| Test Run | Try it in some parts first | 12–24 months | Low |
Set aside 20%–30% extra time for surprises when moving data and testing. Make clear goals for each step to spot problems soon and cheer each win as you move forward. Tough tests – like using the new ERP with the old one for a few weeks – can find join issues early on.
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How to Check If You’re Doing Well and Get Better
When your ERP tool is all set, the next job is to watch how it does and fix things when you need to. The real test of doing well is how well the tool fits and helps your business goals. By always checking how it’s doing with clear KPIs, you lay a strong base for better work over time.
Watching Key Performance Marks (KPIs)
It’s very important to pick KPIs early to judge if you’re succeeding and see where you can do better. These should be ready by the end of your plan time, as every step of putting in your ERP will have its own ups and downs.
Main Types of KPIs to Keep an Eye On:
KPIs can fall into three big groups:
- Project Management KPIs: These are numbers like how well the schedule is kept, how budget is checked, how scope is watched, how key points are hit, and how resources are used.
- Organizational Change Management KPIs: These look at things like readiness for change, how well people talk to each other, how well training works, and how many users take to the new system.
- Business Improvement KPIs: These are about big wins and real success parts that affect your money right away.
For makers, clear KPIs like inventory turnover (how fast items are sold at a time) and project margins (money made after paying for stuff, work, and other costs) show important info. Numbers like demand guessing right and making schedule work well check how good you guess needs and if things are made on time.
Also, things like how happy employees are, work numbers (like how things go slow or gear stops working), and getting better at serving customers (like making things faster and right order giving) are key signs of doing well.
For example, a company dealing with distribution wanted to make 10% more money. To do this, they looked to better their quote win rates by 6%, which would mean an extra $500,000 in money. By making their steps smoother to give instant prices and know what’s in stock, they made it so orders were okayed within 20 minutes of asking for a quote.
"Projects that perform best are those that spread clearly defined responsibilities and accountabilities across the organization." – Pemeco
Keeping an eye on both short and long-term KPIs is key to hitting your big goals. Use live data to keep a sharp, steady eye on how things are going.
Using Procuzy’s Business Smart Boards
Procuzy’s smart boards make hard-to-read output data easy to use, giving live tips. These tools watch over outputs, use, fills, and costs, making sure choices in production are based on good data.
In-built tools in these boards make it easy to find out why problems crop up in making goods, using auto reports. For example, you can keep an eye on waste in production and get heads-up if use jumps above what is usual. These boards help you make quick, smart choices.
Good Results with Procuzy:
- mCaffeine: Made its supply parts work as one, which raised profits by 15%.
- STAS Chem: Got better grip, view, and how things run through its making cycle.
"With Procuzy, we automated our entire process flow and gained a single tool for tracking all operations, significantly improving efficiency and visibility."
- Arpit, Shivanika Foods
Procuzy dashboards let you track how things are made, find slow spots, and see where you can save power by looking at energy use all over. Makers using Procuzy’s cloud ERP say they get things like 30% faster buying times, costs of keeping stock down by 20%, and fill orders on time 98% of the time.
Dashboards show hard facts, but what users say gives the deep views you need to make things better all around.
Make Your System Better Using What Users Say
Data matters, but what users say is just as key to make your ERP system the best it can be. Getting their thoughts right when you start – and as you go – spots problems and shows ways to make things better.
Getting Early Thoughts:
At the start, what users say gives you a close look at daily jobs, how staff work together, and any bumps they run into. After you start, keeping up with feedback is even more key to fix issues and push upgrades.
Writing down feedback means you can fix issues fast and keep users into it. Having clear ways to tell and fix system troubles helps keep users happy and on board.
Making a Cycle of Always Getting Better:
Teaching and help often make sure staff get the most from your ERP system. By always checking how it’s doing, hearing what users think, and keeping up with what’s new in your field, you can tune up and boost how well things work.
"Procuzy has been a lifesaver for my manufacturing business. The software has helped me to streamline my operations, improve efficiency, and reduce costs."
- Alabhya, Verified reviewer, Business Supplies and Equipment
Staying committed to ongoing betterment makes sure your ERP system stays good and in line with your changing business needs.
Ending Words
For medium-sized makers, putting in ERP tech needs a clear plan with real effort. You start by picking a system that fits your needs – like live stock checks, plan making, and room for more growth. Choosing a system that meets your needs will set you up for a win.
When the right system is ready, making it fit well and talk to other tech is key. Making work often has special steps like batch checks and keeping quality which need custom fixes. Data from the industry shows that these changes boost work speed and how right they are.
Starting slow with key parts and then adding more can help handle the hard parts while keeping trouble low. Also, full training and good data are key for easy use and value over time.
After putting it in, keeping an eye on how it works is key to making the most of it. Checking how things are going, hearing what users think, and using live data all help keep and make the system better. Firms using cloud ERP like Procuzy have seen real gains, like 30% quicker buying times, 20% cheaper stock costs, and 98% of orders done on time.
For mid-sized makers, using ERP as part of a bigger tech change plan not only makes today’s work better but also sets the business up for later growth. With 94% of makers saying tech change is key for the future, each step – from choosing the system to making it work well and keeping it up – helps in reaching top work quality.
