In manufacturing, customer demand for high quality at a low cost is an ever-present reality. Price pressure can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re facing global competitors. That’s why many companies like yours have embraced lean manufacturing as a business model – to help them do more with less.
With Lean methodology you focus on creating more value-add for customers with fewer resources. Or put another way, you work to cut out any activities that use resources but don’t add value.
To get the visibility and control you need to make those choices, and to understand what your customers actually want, you need robust business management software including the right Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform.
SYSPRO ERP Software enables you to move toward just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing, with tools that help to reduce manual work and automate business processes. In addition, SYSPRO helps you align your supply chain more closely with customer demand, so you can reduce inventory and other costs. With 360-degree visibility of what’s happening across your business, SYSPRO ERP empowers you to identify opportunities to slim down, improving your business health.
Want to know more? Here are just a few of the ways to achieve synergy across your ERP and Lean manufacturing initiatives.
Benefits: What you can do
Re-engineering traditional manufacturing methods through the use of lean concepts can help your business speed order turnaround, streamline deployment of resources, reduce waste, and build customer satisfaction and loyalty. All with an eye toward achieving the lean ideal of “perfection.”
5 ways to use ERP to achieve Lean manufacturing objectives.
Automate: Sales and service processes
- Use Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Document Flow Manager to automatically process transactions and other information
- Deploy alerts to help you identify and resolve customer issues before they affect loyalty
- Streamline accounting and other transaction processes through workflow automation
Automate: Product research and development
- Use Web-based modules to enable online collaboration with customers and suppliers
- Integrate with CAD/CAM systems to save you time and cost of double data entry and reduce errors
- Track and analyse R&D costs against budgets, by project, so you can identify at a micro level where you might be losing money
Automate: Supply chain and inventory processes
- Build stock to order more quickly based on “pull” demand – with more sophisticated forecasting
- Purchase only the materials and labour you need, avoiding waste and maximising cash flow
- Set up stock replenishment rules and real-time alerts to support just-in-time processes
- Reduce lead times associated with warehouse transfers, supplier orders and shipments
- Use advanced scheduling to manage work in progress and reduce labour costs
- Deploy barcoding and serial tracking to improve throughput and streamline shop floor operations
Automate: Quality control
- Enforce compliance with regulatory requirements through automation
- Streamline Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) processes and ensure items are fully tracked
- Manage recalls with fewer manual steps using lot and ingredient traceability
- Identify recurring problems that affect customer value
Automate: Business analytics reporting
- Gain visibility into productivity across the business
- Simplify decision-making with visual dashboards
- Eliminate manual steps in regulatory and financial reporting
- Improve your ability to conduct an accurate Value Stream Analysis
