FEATURE: ERP
R
isks to manufacturing
growth
While most regional
manufacturers consider this growth to
be positive, there’s no escaping the
inevitable challenges that come with
it- hence the familiar term “growing
pains.” Business growth can indeed be
difficult and overwhelming, especially
when you’re not prepared or have a
plan in place to manage it. Of course,
failing to plan is planning to fail. As a
manufacturer, you face serious risks to
your business when you don’t plan for
growth or have the necessary tools to
plan properly.
A recent survey commissioned by
Epicor and conducted by MORAR
Consulting revealed five key risks
that manufacturers believe threaten
their growth ambitions. And a recent
Aberdeen paper confirms that these
issues are exacerbated if growth is
largely unplanned. The risks include:
1) Excessive pressure on operations,
damaging quality and customer
satisfaction - If your operations
aren’t geared up for growth, Overall
Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and
throughput may fall, scrap may
increase, and manual data gathering
processes may hamper productivity.
Service could slow down, causing
dissatisfied customers to turn to your
competition.
2) Lack the skillset and technology
to deliver effectively, and damage
our brand reputation - If you can’t
get the right information to the right
people at the right time, or accurately
track statuses of raw materials and
orders, it can take a serious toll—by
reducing operational capacity and
efficiency, and damaging customer
service.
3) Management – Sometimes senior
executives in the business may not
be fully prepared for the challenges
of managing a larger, more diverse
business. If senior management isn’t
able to get an overall view of the
business and make good decisions
quickly, they may struggle. A lack of
real-time, relevant information will
force executives to rely on gut-feel for
decisions, leading to mistakes.
4) Negative consequences of
unplanned business growth -
Manufacturers who don’t plan for
growth will find that problems occur
more often and take longer to resolve.
Without accurate forecasts you won’t
be able to prepare for growth. If you
can’t respond quickly, you might end up
losing opportunities to competitors.
5) Pressure on Staff - If you’re not
prepared to help employees manage
their growing workloads, the pressure
they’re under could start to show.
They may spend more time on manual
processes and less time on value-added
tasks. Difficult-to-use systems will
increase their frustration, reduce morale
and may ultimately prompt key people
to leave the organization.
Leveraging ERP to fuel growth
While the concerns of planned (or
worse still, unplanned) growth are
significant, successfully navigating the
challenges of growth in order to reap its
rewards is entirely possible when you’re
outfitted with the right enterprise
resource planning solution (ERP). An
IF YOUR OPERATIONS AREN’T GEARED UP FOR GROWTH, OVERALL
EQUIPMENT EFFECTIVENESS (OEE) AND THROUGHPUT MAY
FALL, SCRAP MAY INCREASE, AND MANUAL DATA GATHERING
PROCESSES MAY HAMPER PRODUCTIVITY
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