What are the Main Criteria of Choosing an ERP for Manufacturing Company?

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software package for manufacturing companies has to be chosen brilliantly, as it is a costly and time-consuming process for many organizations. Regardless of the results, your decision is going to have long-lasting effects on your firm’s financial and operational performance.

Choose proven expertise products

Manufacturing companies should Choose ERP Software that fits their business processes. Enough time has to be taken to understand which ERP system has the specifications and operations that address your organization’s challenges. Check if the vendor is able to describe success of your organization and address key requisites such as regulatory mandates. Short-listing different ERP software systems is recommended to check which software can best accommodate your business’s unique processes.

Choose a system greatly associated with company’s technology scheme

You will need to bring in your IT department in the planning and selection process during the early stage. This will help the specific department to check if the ERP system fit the entire technology scheme of the company and if the existing resources are sufficient to manage the proposed systems, such as database management, servers and safety and security protocols.

Handle functionality requirements

Though there are a lot of unique manufacturing software packages, a manufacturing organization needs a perfect solution that can be highly integrated into a centralized ERP system. Functionalities that a manufacturer needs are dependent on the production processes and industry focus. Fundamentally, the ERP software is divided into 3 categories - Process manufacturing software, Discrete manufacturing software and Mixed-mode manufacturing software.

Weigh the cloud-versus-premises decision

A ERP Manufacturing Company needs to consider a cloud-based system as a service for ERP solution. Customers will be greatly benefited from the cost efficiencies aligned with cloud systems. A cloud-based system will offer functionalities, such as scrap and production tracking, equipment effectiveness reporting, support for part members, process and work guidelines, sync of engineering changes with work guidelines, bill of materials, assistance for industry-specific quality, and other safety processes.

Check and ensure vendor references

Careful and cautious investigation is appreciated when checking out vendor’s references, instead of just accepting his crafted list of references. You will want to ask the vendor for a list of relevant and specific clients that have been using his system for a year or more in the manufacturing industry. It is wise to make on-site visits accompanied with a team of knowledgeable persons from your firm who will be most affected by the ERP decision.

Consider TCO and ROI when calculating costs

You will want to consider the ERP project budget including initial execution and entire cost of ownership. Ensure you have a good understanding of deployment costs. Typically, a solution quote includes initial year support, software and implementation consulting. Initial implementation cost typically includes a full ERP system for a single site, however extra sites and modules will add to the cost. So, you have to be careful and ensure the contract does not exclude such important tasks as training.