Manufacturing a quality product is at the top of the list for every manufacturer in order to obtain and keep customers. There are quality control measures that a lot of manufacturers use to control their quality, and a few of them are listed below:
For many reasons, you get a direct return on investment when maximizing your current manufacturing capacity. Capacity planning and production scheduling are prime areas where we help our manufacturing customers. Improving the use of available capacity often transcends ERP software, as having the proper infrastructure in place ensures proper measurements can be taken, and accurate data collected—and that there is a mechanism to balance manufacturing throughput in its truest form.
I work with companies that are in all stages of their ERP journey. Some companies are looking to purchase and implement their first ERP system; they are typically trying to understand what ERP can do, how to evaluate vendors, and dreaming of the “to be” state they are trying to attain. On the other end of the spectrum are companies that have been running ERP for 25 years and longer. These clients are always trying to improve what they have and make themselves a better company. Whether your company is at the same stage as the former, the latter, or is somewhere in between, there is one fundamental truth you need to keep in mind: an ERP system is only as good as the data that is put in it. Let’s get a little background on the types of data an ERP needs before we get in to the importance of the data itself.
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Hi, I'm Jack Shannon. Are you thinking you're not getting as much out of your ERP as you should be? Perhaps you've even thought about reimplementing. Well, let's talk about that.
VTA is exactly what it sounds like: it is a time and attendance solution for your employees. A lot of VISUAL customers use the labor barcoding or new Shop Floor Mobile applications to track the time of employees doing direct work on jobs. VTA allows you to do the same, plus much, much more!
I have been in the ERP world for close to 25 years, both as a consultant and salesperson. I’ve seen companies buy ERP for many reasons, but usually the driving factor has something to do with being able to use the system to schedule their shop floor. This is a fantastic goal. Not because shop floor scheduling with ERP sounds cool, but because to do it, you have to be good. Really good. The reason being that if you are going to have an algorithm in the software help you make valid decisions; you have to give it valid input. And that valid input has to come from almost every functional area in your organization. Everyone has to be on board!
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Hi, I'm Jack Shannon. Are you getting the most out of your ERP? More importantly, how do you know if you're getting the most out of your ERP?
Some background before we begin
The ability to understand your costs, manage your capacity, and accurately quote all depend on knowing what your labor costs are for each work order. Infor VISUAL customers typically use the labor barcoding functionality, or the brand-new Shop Floor Mobile solution to capture labor on their work orders. (If you would like to learn more about Shop Floor Mobile, click here to view a demo of each module.)
How manufacturers measure their performance varies from company to company. We often see companies using manufacturing metrics or KPIs that are not necessarily what they need, but rather what they know can be measured (and trusted). That is a big difference. When the critical determinants for collecting data are largely based on technical infrastructure, discipline, and existing processes, that data might not be exactly what you’re looking for.
Machine data is feedback that comes directly from the operational resource on the production floor. It is true, real-time data of run rates and cycle times that can provide exceptionally valuable information for companies where managing capacity is critical and actual costs need to be accurate.
