Struggling To Find The Right System

We assist companies maximise their value streams.

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Why Is It So Difficult To Choose The Right System?

As a business expands it can no longer rely on the key knowledge of a few individuals. Often the solution is:- we just need a ‘good’ computer system!

Remember, your objective is to deliver what the customer wants with the ‘least’ cost incurred to the business.  This is why we highly recommend our 3 stage process.

  1. Get the business process right.
  2. Eliminate the waste.
  3. Provide the right information using the right systems.

A great computer system on its own will not deliver ‘real value’ to the business.

The journey of implementing new systems is the opportunity to maximise your value streams.

That’s where we provide our expertise, working with your team, challenging  the current processes, mapping the ‘waste’ and implementing the ‘right’ computer system(s) to provide the information to complete the task with minimal effort.

A Simple example may be EDI (electronic data interchange) of orders,  so repeat orders can be brought straight into the system or as with a recent customer send the order directly to the printer in the warehouse for picking and packing, while in the background the system processed all the paperwork automatically. In this case the orders are taken and processed in minutes.

Typical non value added may be defined :-

Let’s consider the two main types of business:-

  1. Distribution business –  Generally what you “buy is what you sell”.  Codes, part numbers all relate to one another. Wide choice of systems available including ERP,CRM, Inventory management …But how much waste lie’s in the whole process, unless this is critically reviewed, the risk is ‘automating waste’ with any new system.
  2. Manufacturing :-
    1.  Repeat production orders with a degree of customisation. Once set up and running codes etc.. don’t change very often. Fits the current ERP manufacturing systems.  Good choice of systems available, but how will the information flow to reduce waste and enhance your process?
    2. High variation from Order to Order. (80% of manufacturing business) Small to medium production runs, short lead-times, late decisions by the customer. Typical small business using spreadsheets to manage everything! – This is a massive challenge for the business owner.  Current ERP systems are not designed for these applications and it’s no surprise to see that “75% implementation failure rate”  (Gartner).

We assist companies maximise their value streams.

Too many companies jump to stage 3, pick the wrong system and after many months are very disappointed with the lack of progress.

Our 3 stage process is tough, but vital if your company wants to remain competitive.  You understand your business, our role is to assist your team utilise the best techniques and select the right tools and systems to succeed.

Our Strengths

  • Breath of manufacturing experience across many different product lines.
  • Asking the right questions.
  • Engaging people at all levels
  • Selecting the right systems to make IT work across your business.  When it come to manufacturing we can also support using our own www.shopfloorlive.co.uk
  • Strong business connections bringing together the right resources.

Our Approach For Manufacturing.

If you have high variation from order to order we recommend the following business model.  Split the business into two discrete operations.  Distribution (distribution hub) and manufacturing. Using this model, you can utilise ‘best in class’ systems for distribution including the latest CRM, inventory management systems etc..   In the distribution hub you don’t have to worry about BOM (bills of materials) or manufacturing operations. Focus and measure performance on margin analysis.

If you treat your manufacturing unit as a supplier, you order and receive goods using a simple part numbers (SKU Code) and fixed price. Make your manufacturing unit a breakeven cost centre.

In your manufacturing unit the challenge is to select the correct system(s) to define and route  component parts through all the various stages of manufacturing and eventually into a warehouse to despatch to back to your distribution system as a completed part. (ie high level SKU).

We have struggled to find a good solution which fits current manufacturing, so we have designed our own –  combination of BOM(bill of materials), MOM (method of manufacturing) and MES(management execution system) which tracks all components to provide full shop floor control.  SHOPFLOORLIVE  can be utilised in virtually any manufacturing plant providing everyone with live information and is Industry 4.0 compatible.

What we do ? We assist companies maximise their value streams.

Industry 4.0

Now how do we get all these systems to talk to each other?  Great news is Industry 4.0 has arrived and basically it allows information to flow using API’s. (application interface). Put simply it is a method of securely sharing information between systems.

One of the many advantages of Industry 4.0 it allows any part of the system to go live and start providing benefits without the  ‘big bang’ principle of full ERP.  It also allows existing systems to be connected together.

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