When looking for solutions or software fit for your business type and industry, it’s easy to get lost amidst plenty of choices.
So, it’s always recommended to make a list of essential features that actually suits your business type to drive digital transformation and productivity through the software.
If you have read our blog post on choosing between MRP Vs. ERP software for Manufacturing Business, and if you have decided to go with ERP, you are in the right place. Here’s a checklist of features that your chosen ERP software should have.
Quoting and Estimation
As soon as a new customer opportunity arises, an ideal ERP Software for Manufacturing Business should be able to create accurate quotes estimating raw material, overhead, labour, outsourced operations, commission calculations, and additional fees, letting you complete orders on time.
And by presenting a clear breakdown of costs, you will have your quotes converted into a BOM and sales order, accelerating the rest of the manufacturing process.
Shop Floor Management
Center of your manufacturing business, the shop floor needs to be as productive as possible.
Your Manufacturing ERP software should let you control what’s going on in all operational areas to help you streamline and automate workflows for repetitive tasks to let your employees focus on higher-skilled responsibilities.
For example, with data insights from the shop floor, you can record people’s skills, identify gaps or strengths and manage the workload accordingly.
Financial Management
The best Manufacturing ERP Software will do more than just record numbers; it will automate and optimize every element of your finance.
Look out for ERP Software that keeps track of your business transactions, supports your costing methods, and analyzes margins or profitability.
Schedule & Plan
Manufacturing ERP software should help you adapt scheduling and processes based on changing demand levels, organizing your shop floor by work order or batch to improve people’s efficiency keeping track of product availability during production time.
An ideal ERP software will help you make intelligent scheduling decisions- such as reordering your schedule to prioritize tasks that can be completed while waiting for essential inventory to arrive.
Inventory Management
Inventory control goes hand-in-hand with production scheduling; your ERP software should empower you to match real-time component levels with work orders.
Ideal ERP software uses routes, constraints, lead time, and integrated bill of materials to let you forecast component shortage, optimizing inventory levels to deliver on time.
Traceability
Whatever sector you specialize in Manufacturing, the best ERP will let you maintain tight control over raw materials.
Not only does this support transparency and authenticity, but it will also enable you to quickly identify, classify and track inventory from supplier through to shipment for complete transparency throughout the manufacturing and distribution process.
Supply Chain Management
ERP system that gives you visibility and centralized control for the planning, design, Manufacturing, inventory, and distribution phases required to produce and sell a company’s products should undoubtedly be on your list for handling disruptions.
Quality control and compliance
Manufacturers with quality control and compliance software in place are far less likely to face product recalls or place customers at risk from poorly made products.
ERP software that lets you define quality control plans to trigger in-process, final, and receiving inspections to improve manufacturing productivity and product consistency.
Reports & Analytics
Apart from considering operational and automation benefits, ERP Software for Manufacturing should value to your process by centralizing your business data so that you can make stronger, more contextual decisions.
Look out for ERP software that enables you to create custom dashboards to analyze and focus on metrics that drive cost-efficiency and prioritize your most profitable jobs accordingly.
Why choose Odoo for Manufacturing?
Odoo Manufacturing offers everything listed above and more. Be it handling engineering, planning, scheduling, supply chain, inventory, quality control, and maintenance, Odoo proves the value of technology in helping manufacturers run their businesses efficiently.
Odoo ERP software is a catch-all solution for:
- Manufacturers with customers in computers and electronics, fabricated metals, heavy machinery, and transportation equipment.
- Manufacturers with customers in sectors including cannabis/CBD, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products.
- Manufacturers with customers in sectors like bakery, confectionery, dairy, fresh produce, and frozen foods.
