Two Areas Where ERP Systems Improve Make-to-Stock Manufacturing

Make-to-Stock (MTS) manufacturing is where producers make their items based solely on expected customer demand. Rather than a pre-planned production cycle, manufacturers predict the amount of orders based on individual products.

To better anticipate what customers want requires a strong tool to determine important trends. Similarly, managing the complexities of your workplace requires a system that keeps things simple. Here, we’ll discuss two areas where ERP systems can improve Make-to-Stock manufacturing.  

1) Demand Forecasting

For Make-to-Stock manufacturing, forecasting demand is critical to financial well-being. Without this, any decision you undertake will be severely constrained by a lack of information. You need to know which products to focus on to create the best outcomes.

One common problem for manufacturers is that their existing systems, particularly legacy ERPs, tend to isolate data. Sales information, product performance and other core items are only found in key departments, creating a disorganized mess for employees. As a result, accessing key information to forecast future demand becomes much more stressful.

A modern ERP system can cut through the disorder and unify your firm by offering data transparency. By providing easy access to information for forecasting, you’ll see which products are well-positioned to be successful in the market and what you should plan to produce moving forward. If your existing software doesn’t support your business needs, look to Datix. As ERP experts with 25 years’ experience, we offer our clients a business-first approach by learning about their specific challenges so we can offer them comprehensive solutions. Expand your competitive advantage by working with Datix.

2) Inventory Management

In addition to production responsibilities, an ERP system supports maintaining your available items. Most firms employ some form of inventory management software to organize their products. Yet, these systems do not always allow you to quickly adapt to changes.  

Let’s take an example of a hardware supplies manufacturer who uses a system reliant on manual entry. One day, upon receiving an order for 200 screwdrivers, the manufacturer discovers that the items out of stock and nothing alerted you. The result is a lost sale, a potentially lost client and senseless aggravation.

An ERP allows users to create alerts that correspond to the products in their inventories. For each item, you can craft them to trigger for shortages and inform you when to restock. Instead of dealing with a mismanaged inventory, you can smoothly release products consistently to meet order deadlines. To improve your inventory management system, look to an ERP expert like Datix. After thousands of software solutions, we have the expertise to offer nonbiased advice for choosing and implementing software to transform your organization. From start to finish, our team will support you every step of the way.   

Risk Control

Risk control allows manufacturers to mitigate risk to an acceptable level, but not all options are as effective as others. Consider risk control choices in order of priority:

1. Inherent safety by design
2. Protective measures in the actual medical device and/or manufacturing process
3. Information for safety, such as labeling and instructions for use

These priority levels are based on levels of effectiveness. No matter how many warning labels are added to a device, safe product design will always be a better strategy for minimizing risk. However, it is important to remember that redesigning a product to reduce one risk could result in adding new risks, so you must evaluate risk after every product redesign.

Wrap Up

This is only two of the many areas an ERP solution can help improve your Make-to-Stock business.

Find out How to Manage Inventory for Multiple Locations

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