by Plex Systems, Inc. www.plex.com
We read with interest the recent Industry Week guest post offering 10 survival tips aimed at helping manufactures navigate through business challenges.
The Plex Systems team would agree that rising cost pressures and intense global competition challenge the overall health of many manufacturers – especially as we continue to grapple with the fallout of the financial meltdown.
2012 Road Map
The article makes the case that pressures to innovate and lower costs are immense.
The survival tips offer a good road map for manufacturers to follow in the year ahead.
6 Cloud Considerations
While each survival tip cited in the article is important, the following six considerations are of special interest to those manufacturers using Plex Online Cloud ERP.
In each case, we can point to a Plex Online customer putting the approach into practices
1) Maintain focus – As the Industry week article notes, smart manufacturers “keep their eye on the ball” and stick to what they do best – producing quality products in the most efficient way possible. A tier one automotive supplier embraces this approach. By using Cloud ERP, the company is no longer burdened with maintaining, upgrading and supporting complex IT systems. The company cut monthly operating costs by one-third and IT staff can focus on more strategic work.
2) Maximize productivity, increase speed – This tip is all about ramping up production without sending labor costs skyward. A metal fabricator provides an example of this approach. Since implementing a smarter approach to ERP tracking, the company reduced raw materials and work- in-process inventory costs, and improved our inventory turns by 50 percent. In fact, overall productivity increased to levels that beat the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) index.
3) Pay attention to your supply chain – Effective supply chain management is a crucial consideration in today’s ever-increasing complex manufacturing environment. One automotive supplier puts effective supply chain management into practice. The company replaced multiple systems once used to manage a global enterprise of 2,500 suppliers, and is no longer dependent on stand-alone spreadsheets and documents.
4) Improve quality – The Industry Week article makes the point that successful manufacturers whittle down defects and consistently focus on company-wide quality improvement programs. A North American-based automotive component manufacturer reflects this focus, since they now ensure that products are released for shipment only after customer requirements are validated. Outside quality control inspectors were replaced by an automated vision system, resulting in a more efficient, less costly process.
5) Diversify your customer base – A thriving manufacturer is able to enter and serve new markets efficiently and cost-effectively. The Industry Week article cites auto suppliers, in particular, who have segmented within their industry or gone outside of it. A plastics supplier successfully expanded into new segments after improving their entire production process.
6) Embrace globalization – As the Industry Week article notes, acquisitions, consolidations and diversification can help suppliers achieve economies of scale. But can their internal systems handle such change? Today’s manufacturer demands a sophisticated solution to track inventory, production, and scheduling across multiple locations in different time zones and on different continents. Cloud ERP offers this functionality.
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Weekly #Twiscount codes will be posted via Twitter and available to followers of @VendorShootout. These #Twiscount codes will be shared daily and will change each week leading up to the Winter 2012 event in sunny Miami. The #Twiscount codes should be entered on the online registration form and discounts will be applied once registration has been confirmed.
Enterprise Software products being presented at the Winter 2012 Vendor Shootout™ include:
