This is the second in a series of articles on transforming your business with ERP software. Read part 1: Transforming your manufacturing business with ERP.
When – and how – to take the next steps and transform your business
Twelve months ago, Jake Maring, owner of Superior Kitchens & Cabinets in Albany, faced a challenge.
The business seemed to be doing well, but Jake says he was putting in long hours and production didn’t seem to be going up. In fact, output often declined year-on-year despite bringing on more staff. Jake also wasn’t convinced that he was getting the right customers through the door.
“When I first took over this place, we used to get a lot of tire kickers,” he says.
“Now what we’re getting is a complete different breed of customer come through”.
That’s all turned around in the last 12 months since Superior Kitchens & Cabinets began implementing Jobman, the leading manufacturing ERP, across the production line. What used to be complicated and time-intensive is now simplified, streamlined, and more efficient.
Signs your manufacturing business is ready for an ERP
You might think every business operates with a complicated web of systems, but the most productive manufacturers have everything under control thanks to ERP software.
The business seemed to be doing well, but Jake says he was putting in long hours and production didn’t seem to be going up. In fact, output often declined year-on-year despite bringing on more staff. Jake also wasn’t convinced that he was getting the right customers through the door.
The tricky question is: without an ERP, how do you know you need one? Or if your ERP software isn’t the right fit, what are the signs you need to upgrade?
“In the first six years of running this place, it felt like we hit a ceiling,” says Jake.
Here are the common signs that tell manufacturers they need data-driven intelligence to break through that ceiling:
Manufacturing business without ERP
- Production fluctuates seemingly randomly
- Profits and output don’t match forecasted figures
- Forecasting itself is a nightmare
- Profits dip when production seems to be fine
- Inventory is way off
- Customers aren’t coming back, or the wrong customers are coming back
- Production bottlenecks are common
- Management is spending too much time on manual tasks
- Payroll are complaining about data double-entry
- Timesheets are a mess
- Jobs clash in the schedule – or are missed altogether
- Lead conversions are way down
Manufacturing business with ERP
- Real-time production reports allow you to track progress and proactively address issues
- Quickly identify production trends to see where the deviation came from
- Forecasting is straightforward and driven by accurate data
- Identify and eliminate wastage and non-value-adding activities
- Manage supply chain and inventory easily with real-time data and automated ordering
- An integrated CRM module helps to nurture customer relationships
- Real-time production data shows where bottlenecks are occurring
- ERP automates many manual tasks like capacity planning, job scheduling and reporting
- Jobman integrations (Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online) streamline the accounting process to remove double handling
- Jobman’s Time and Attendance module is made for manufacturers, with automated data flows and leave features
- Job scheduling and target calendar features take care of scheduling for you
- Lead management tools help to close more deals
Is an ERP only for big companies?
“I’ve looked at Jobman for a long time,” says Jake.
He says he “always had the same thinking in my mind that that’s only for the big businesses. You know, people that have lots and lots of employees and lots and lots of office staff”.
But his business coach helped him to see that the reality is very different.
“As we were running through the years we realized that we could not grow the business unless we had something in place to manage it,” says Jake.
“We quickly saw that it was going to be a big benefit. The biggest thing is that we now have everything under control”.
And from there, Superior Kitchens & Cabinets has been riding a sustained wave of growth.
“Now, after implementing Jobman and also our business coach – I think it was the two together – suddenly there’s a future and suddenly you were looking at something completely different”.
An ERP like Jobman makes running a manufacturing business simple. With ample data, intelligent production insights and automated workflows, managers and business owners like Jake have more time to focus on growing the business.
Check back for the next article in this series about transforming your business with ERP. We’ll be looking into the benefits of data and automation, including managing a manufacturing business more confidently, and using automation to free up time.
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