Smaller, more targeted projects • More modern ERP systems • Less customization
by Alex Kim
I’ve been watching and reading the 2023 trends in the manufacturing industry, and one thing is abundantly clear. Companies are closely examining their business practices and being very careful about how they spend their money.
Instead of investing in and embarking on large, long-term projects, manufacturers are looking toward shorter-term projects that solve the most specific pressing problems and provide immediate benefits and ROI.
Companies are developing a solid case for any ERP and digital transformation projects, applying appropriate ROI and business analysis in development.
There is also a trend among manufacturers to modernize systems, transition to the cloud, and take a thoughtful look at what they want their ERP systems to do. We expect a more modern, simple approach and a shift away from heavily customized ERP systems as companies look toward future optimization and scalability.
If your company, like many manufacturers, is implementing these trending strategies, you’ll be happy to know that our Data Loaders support these shifts brilliantly. Data Loaders are designed to help you with problem areas in your company where bottlenecks keep you from having a smooth order cycle.
Each order your company receives goes through multiple processes before it reaches your customer, and your money is collected. And each process depends on the timeliness and accuracy of the previous ones—slowdowns in any part of your process cause problems for all.
Think about the typical journey an order takes through your company:
- Set Up Item Number
- Set Up BOMs or Product Structures
- Plan Routings and Item Site Parameters
- Run MRP
- Coordinate resources and purchase components
- Allocate Inventory
- Schedule & Release Order to Production
- Complete operations
- Backflush and Ship
- Invoice and Receive Payment
All’s well unless you get stuck along the way—there’s an order entry bottleneck here, a resource shortage there, a complex order entry process that slows you down here. When there are slowdowns or stoppages in any part of the process, an anxious customer can become a frustrated customer—or worse—an angry one.
Data Loaders address all of this. They are designed and sold so you can address problem spots quickly, affordably, and efficiently. And you can see a return on investment right away. Data Loaders get your information into the system fast and keep your orders steadily moving with greater accuracy. Find out more about Data Loaders here.
Not only that, but Data Loaders can also help you with the modifications you need, eliminating the need for you to change the source code in QAD. Plus, when you have an affordable maintenance contract with us, we upgrade Data Loaders to be compatible with each QAD version, so you never have the problems associated with QAD upgrades and customization! Find out more here.
Despite the global problems of the last several years, 2023 looks like a year of focused innovation in which manufacturers pursue growth through careful business analysis and targeted improvement.
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Alex Kim has more than 30 years of IT Management, Technical Consulting, Business Analysis, and general IT consulting experience. Alex founded 32 Soft, a QAD consulting firm that empowers QAD users to do more with less through their well-known Data Loaders.
