How to Select the Best Software You Need for Manufacturing

Various manufacturing software solutions help on different stages of the production cycle: from Customer Relations Management (CRM) and accounting to machine floor management, time tracking and scheduling, inventory management and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

However, according to the PWC Annual Manufacturing Report 2020, 84% of manufacturers are dissatisfied with their ERP and CRM tools. It is the main driver behind ordering custom manufacturing management software development that aligns with the business goals of your company.

This article showcases 5 things to keep in mind to select the best software for manufacturing business that will help your operations become much more efficient.

Manually controlled equipment will always lose in performance to automated systems with smart sensors that are connected to the Internet of Things through various gateways. However, if your production line consists of multiple machine-tools run by separate software systems, ensuring consistency across the line can be quite hard. This is why digitalization should not be considered a necessary evil — it is the inevitable step of evolution.

Besides, it provides multiple tangible benefits:

1. Outperforming your competitors. When you use manufacturing management software, updating or adjusting any technological process is as quick as checking several checkboxes. You can experiment quickly and achieve better performance faster, ultimately outperforming your less tech-savvy competitors.
   
   
2. Centralization of data management. When the data from multiple sensors and systems across your facility if automatically stored and processed by centralized manufacturing software solutions, a ton of important processes become much easier and cost-efficient:- inventory management and costs control- quick identification of scrap, leading to waste reduction- asset turnover monitoring and predictive maintenance.
   
   
3. Expanded market coverage. The ability to reconfigure your production processes quickly enables you to address more market niches than simple mass production. Technologies like 3D-printing and on-demand manufacturing allow manufacturers to produce a limited series of any goods to fit unique customer demands.
   
   
4. Reducing the skill gap impact. Older employees are reluctant to learn new techniques, while young people rarely select manufacturing as their lifetime career. This leads to a significant skill gap that is expected to result in up to $454 billion USD losses in manufacturing GDP by 2028. Automation of repetitive processes through manufacturing management software helps reduce the risk of human error and optimize asset maintenance.
   

However, simply installing loads of software solutions for manufacturing is of no use, if they cannot cover all stages of operations — from customer acquisition and product inception to contract fulfillment and delivering the ready product to the customers.

There are several MaaS innovative approaches that help redefine manufacturing processes and allow manufacturing businesses to perform better:

• Online portals for supply chain management that enable the companies to quickly discover and manage fitting suppliers, while costing much less as compared to specialized supply chain management solutions
  
  
• CAD (Computer Aided Design) systems that come with ready libraries containing easily adjustable schematics for thousands of typical product parts. This way manufacturing companies can significantly reduce the costs on in-house product development, as they can adjust ready components instead of designing them from scratch. It is worth noting that while such tools don't cost an arm and a leg, they are quite pricey.
  
  
• There are multiple companies specializing in outsourced product design and development. This removes the need to buy CAD systems or invest in developing a custom PLM (product lifecycle management) system.
  
  
• Working with specialized logistics companies and managing the transportation in their systems is much cheaper than maintaining their own truck fleet or developing a custom logistics solution.
  

The Internet of Things is a combination of hardware, software and the internet resulting in more technologically advanced environments. This technology grows at a steady pace and is expected to be worth around $6 trillion by 2025. By using IoT platforms and solutions, companies can run Industry 4.0 — Smart Factories with automated production and inventory management cycles. 9 out of 10 manufacturers believe such smart factories will help them transform their supply chains and reach new cost-efficiency levels.

Now you know the main approaches to automation in manufacturing, so you can analyze your business needs and decide which processes can be outsourced to service providers and which ones need some king of manufacturing software solutions.

• Research different software types based on integration, price and flexibility criteria.
  
  
• Address the level of functionality provided by the software solutions you're considering.
  
  
• Find the experts in implementing the best software for manufacturing business. Professionals will help you choose the most appropriate manufacturing management software for your particular case and implement it smoothly into your operations.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding selecting software for manufacturing companies — Globalluxsoft is always glad to assist!