Business Automation and Software Blog

For business owners, few things are as exciting as seeing their products gain traction in the marketplace and increase in demand. In order to meet these new demands, operations need to scale, which puts manufacturing processes in the spotlight. When it comes to products that are ordered in smaller quantities (such as a larger item that is only purchased one or a few at a time) or those that require custom parts, you may default to a Make to Order manufacturing mode.

With the ubiquity of manufacturing software systems at your disposal, your business has access to more data than ever before. This data access provides manufacturing businesses with more tools to improve business management and cost-effectiveness, starting with inventory lot size.

We’re now into the second month of a new and exciting decade, and the pace of innovation is already at an all-time high. Business software solutions such as ERP software are tasked with rising to the occasion as technology embraces Industry 4.0 and preps for 5.0 (which is probably coming sooner than you think). Flexible features and easy-to-use functionalities will be the hallmarks of the most successful business software solutions. But, to get the full value out of their software solutions, businesses will need to make sure every user has the maximum insight from the system.

While customers have always been at the center of business operation focus, the customer experience journey is newer jargon that didn’t emerge until the 1990s when businesses could track more customer data than ever before, thanks to the internet. Suddenly, there was a wealth of access to data tracking customer actions, interactions, purchases, and more.

As we get further into the fourth Industrial Revolution with technologies and trends that include virtual reality and artificial intelligence, there are some who fear that AI will steal humans’ jobs. And while the majority of AI applications are already failing to meet some of the high expectations humans have placed on the technology, it isn’t going away. Instead, we continue to find the most realistic applications for AI, specifically the machine learning category. More specifically, machine learning in accounting technology.

The warehouse is chock full of potential dangers. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics cited that in 2016, there was an average of 5 injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers in the warehouse and storing industry. Warehouses boast heavy machinery and a plethora of equipment: plenty of opportunity for accidents. Safety, therefore, is paramount.

In most cases, efficiency is the relationship between ends and means. An inefficient situation is one where it is perceived that the end could have been achieved by fewer means, or the means could have produced more of the desired ends. Of course, efficiency is valued differently depending on the nature of the process, whose valuations we focus on, and how they’re weighted.

There are many reasons a manufacturer will implement an ERP, all leading to that much-coveted return on investment—or, saving more than you spent. According to one study, the average ROI of an ERP implementation is $7+ for every dollar spent. ROI plays a critical role in ERP selection and implementation, but what exactly does that mean? What is the real ROI of a manufacturing ERP?

When it comes to manufacturing, improving quality control is essential for success. Being proactive in improving your manufacturing quality control is a good way to care not only for your customers, but for your employees as well. Whether you think you’ve got it down or you know you have a long way to go, you can never really stop improving. And with all the developing technology, your team has access to plenty of options for improving quality control in manufacturing. Improvements don’t always mean massive overhauls, either. Sometimes minor tweaks to your processes will result in distinct quality improvements while still maintaining lean manufacturing.

If you’ve worked in manufacturing or distributing for any amount of time, you know that inventory management optimization is a delicate method of balance between capital investment objectives and constraints against goals for your SKUs, all while keeping supply and demand volatility in mind. It’s a tricky balancing act for sure. How do you decide what and how much to stock, when, and in what form?