The tools and intelligence you need to compete in a modern market
Every small to medium manufacturer hits a tipping point sooner or later. Business is booming. You’ve got lots of work coming in, and you’re thinking about growing the business.
But scaling up can seem like a risk. What if quality drops? Do you have enough cashflow to invest in new equipment? What are the high-value items you should focus on producing?
This is the first in a series of articles on transforming your business with ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software. Manufacturing ERP is a mission-critical investment for businesses who want to grow.
Without ERP, you would be flying blind into a future with endless potential opportunities – and risks. But with a fit-for-purpose ERP like Jobman, all your operational, financial, customer and employee data are in one place, so you can confidently take your business to the next level.
Let’s dive in.
Scaling up with ERP
Jake Maring, owner of Superior Kitchens & Cabinets in Albany, sums it up perfectly.
“We grew to a certain size, but because we had to do everything ourselves, I was working long, long hours,” he says.
“We realised we could not grow the business unless we had something in place to manage it”.
Jake and the Superior Kitchens & Cabinets team decided it was time to take the next step. They looked around together with a business coach, creating a shortlist of ERPs which included Jobman.
Fast forward 12 months and Superior Kitchens & Cabinets is a totally transformed business. They are well on their way to having Jobman fully implemented across the production line, and the benefits are stacking up.
We checked in with Jake to hear about the biggest benefits he’s seen from ERP implementation so far. You can see the full video here.
Quoting more confidently
Manual quoting, capacity planning and job scheduling takes up too much time and energy in our industry.
“Before, everything was on a job-by-job basis,” says Jake.
“Somebody would ring up say ‘look, I need a kitchen done’, then I say ‘maybe I can do it, maybe I can’t. I don’t know exactly’. Now I’ve got it scheduled”.
Jobman’s intelligent quoting module and capacity planning features not only automate the time-intensive scheduling work, they also provide an easy-to-follow lead management checklist. Together, you get a comprehensive view of work in the pipeline.
Add valuable services
“Now what we’re getting is a completely different breed of customer coming through,” says Jake. By using Jobman to identify value-adding activities, Superior Kitchens & Cabinets can focus on producing great work for high-value clients, rather than a slew of smaller jobs.
Plus, Superior Kitchens & Cabinets together with Jobman can look to the future of manufacturing in order to prepare for what’s coming.
“The biggest thing is because Jobman’s a company that’s developing for the CAD industry, they’ve got their ears to the ground,” says Jake.
“They try to be in front of what we are doing so they’re already envisioning other areas where they can improve, which we hadn’t even thought about”.
Better customer relationships
Jake says when he took over the business 6 years ago, he and his management team knew where they wanted to be. But it took time – and investing in the right manufacturing ERP – to get there.
Now, Jake says, the team operates at a higher level of professionalism, which means working with a better breed of clients.
Jobman’s CRM (Customer Relationship Management) module is more than an address book. The visibility and data intelligence it provides allows production managers, salespeople and business owners to get a better handle on the entire supply chain. And that means more collaborative decision making.
Scaling up with ERP
Check back for the next article in this series, “How to know when you’re ready for an ERP”. Follow the entire series to learn all about transforming your manufacturing business with ERP. Or you can contact the Jobman team today for a personalised growth consultation.
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