Epicor ERP Creates a Modern Work Environment

Good news: Manufacturing is expected to continue expanding this year. The bad news? As many people in the manufacturing workforce are reaching retirement age, manufacturers are struggling to fill positions and are having even more trouble attracting young candidates. This issue results from manufacturing’s image problem. Many people lack awareness of manufacturing’s growing output and envision the shop floor as a dingy, dirty environment rather than an efficient, technology-driven workplace. This false impression of manufacturing deters millennials who have higher expectations for their work environment than previous generations.

These expectations are largely driven by digital innovation. Millennials are the generation of shared information. They are the generation of the open source movement and the generation that helped launch shared property services such as Lyft and Airbnb. The emphasis on shared information in our modern technology and business climate creates a desire for transparency and collaboration in the workplace from the young workforce. Additionally, the continuous improvement of mobile devices has driven interest for a more flexible work environment.

How can manufacturers incorporate millennial values into their business processes to draw in a new generation of employees? With Epicor ERP, manufacturers can bring their operations up to date to not only recruit younger workers but also drive growth and productivity throughout their enterprise.

Transparency and Communication

Millennials expect wide-spread transparency and collaboration among departments. This generation values the sharing of ideas and wants to understand business processes and how their roles fit into the rest of the company. Without a fully connected enterprise software system, the younger workforce will become frustrated with the lack of transparency and inability to dive into what’s really going on.

But the benefits of connectivity and visibility extend far beyond attracting young applicants. A connected enterprise positions manufacturers to be more proactive in a changing market driven by social interaction. Adopting an enterprise culture that shares data across silos and allows for greater collaboration between departments can have a dramatic impact on the business. It can improve processes, eliminate repetitive tasks and enhance overall operations.

However, full transparency proves difficult as datasets expand at a rapid rate. Still, even in this age of big data, Epicor ERP includes robust functionality and social applications to provide end-to-end insight and encourage communication. Epicor connects a wide array of ERP modules into a streamlined system in order to grant departments across the enterprise a 360-degree view of business processes. In addition, Epicor Social Enterprise (ESE) improves collaboration and efficiency. It resembles a social media platform, enabling users to communicate progress and receive instant notifications about workflows, transactions, the product lifecycle and more in one interactive stream. 

Mobility

Without support for mobile devices, transparency and communication can only go so far. When ERP functions are made available across digital platforms, users gain insight and stay in contact with coworkers while on the go. Mobility also enables a more flexible work environment, and millennials value flexible work structures more than any previous generation. But mobility isn’t just for young people. The ability to access and enter crucial data from any location empowers users to balance their work and personal lives as they can perform business tasks without missing weddings or canceling doctor appointments. Plus, more and more workers require the ability to work on tablets and cellphones because of frequent travel.

Epicor constructed their features to be as usable on mobile devices as on desktops. Users can update work orders, track materials and inventory and perform other crucial tasks while receiving real-time data from their phones. Even without an internet connection, users can enter data and just sync that information to the cloud once they regain service. The user-friendly mobile interface empowers productivity and offers business insight from any location.

Wrap Up

With our rapidly evolving technological landscape, it’s no wonder that younger generations are adopting different expectations of their work environments. Staying on top of these changes to appeal to millennials requires manufacturers to implement tools that support transparency, communication and mobility. Epicor ERP continuously innovates to drive progress and modernize manufacturing processes.

An Epicor Gold Partner, Datix is also committed to innovation. In addition to our expertise in all things ERP, Datix specializes in enterprise software integrations. Unity, our landmark integration platform, connects Epicor ERP with a myriad of software systems to facilitate even greater transparency, communication and mobility throughout your enterprise.

To learn how to transform your manufacturing processes, reach out to Datix today!

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