COMPANY NEWS: Modern manufacturers continue to face significant challenges across their operations. Recent data highlights that almost one-third (31%) of Australian businesses are struggling to find suitable staff, and nearly half (46%) have experienced increases in their operating expenses, (1) with Producer Price Indexes (PPIs) rising 1% in the last quarter and 5.2% over the past 12 months (2). At the same time, more than two-fifths (41%) continue to face supply chain disruptions. (3)
Optimising operations is now more important than ever, and manufacturers need to find innovative solutions to streamline processes. When time means money, even incremental changes and delays can have significant impacts on the bottom line, which can be crippling for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), especially if they’re operating with lean teams and resources. For many SMBs in the manufacturing sector, the solution lies in enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions that give business leaders greater end-to-end visibility over the operations, according to ECI Solutions.
Liam Merrick, sales engineer ECI Solutions, said, “Supply chain management requires a significant amount of administrative time and can inhibit productivity and profitability for SMBs. Achieving a greater level of visibility over the supply chain, and using deep insights and analytics to uncover efficiencies, can significantly improve operations for businesses. ERP solutions are the silver bullet for manufacturers looking to streamline their operations and make better data-driven business decisions that can have a meaningful impact on the bottom line.
“By automating supply chain management, SMBs in the manufacturing space can achieve greater visibility into their supply chain operations through accessible dashboards that update with real-time information. This gives businesses greater capacity to coordinate with suppliers and vendors in the event of delays.”
ERP solutions let businesses streamline communications between disparate teams for greater planning across operations. Integrated solutions facilitate simplified, automated communications when disruptions occur, which ensures internal teams can communicate the latest information to their suppliers and vendors as needed. This lets businesses better plan supply and demand and more effectively accommodate changes in production.
With the support of innovative ERP solutions, manufacturers can also significantly improve their workflows, ensuring that delayed communication between warehousing or transportation personnel, for example, doesn’t compound existing supply chain issues. ERP helps to overcome disjointed processes and communication, empowering SMBs to achieve a more holistic view of their operations.
Additionally, manufacturing SMBs that invest in automated ERP solutions can benefit from realising deeper insights into their performance management, letting them more easily identify areas of improvement across operations. Business leaders can use key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor and improve performance with the support of comprehensive reporting tools. With a more holistic view of operations, business leaders will be better prepared to steer their companies through supply chain challenges without sacrificing performance.
Liam Merrick said, “Manufacturing SMBs that fail to automate and invest in ERP solutions are at risk of falling further behind their competitors. Automating the supply chain process lets businesses streamline multiple processes, driving more efficient operations and communications internally and externally. ERP solutions can be configured to more seamlessly align production with demand, helping businesses to overcome supply chain issues as they arise much more quickly than without an automated solution.”
References:
(1) https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/business-indicators/business-conditions-and-sentiments/latest-release
(2) https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/producer-price-indexes-australia/mar-2023
(3) https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/business-indicators/business-conditions-and-sentiments/latest-release