The coronavirus crisis has thrown the spotlight on Australia’s manufacturing sector. The sudden restrictions in overseas markets and the extraordinary global demand for products such as medical supplies have laid bare Australia’s over-reliance on supply chains out of China.
Overall, manufacturing in Australia has been gradually declining for the last 30 – 40 years but positive change may be coming as industry refocuses on Australia’s comparative rather than competitive advantage.
A New Era of Manufacturing
Many economists are suggesting that Australia and the world will be entering a new era of manufacturing. Those that can pivot and diversify into manufacturing goods and products that their countries need with minimal reliance on international suppliers will not only survive but thrive.
Unfortunately, many manufacturing companies are still relying heavily on spreadsheets, “off system” workarounds and the capability and knowledge of their staff.
CMC’s extensive experience in deploying manufacturing ERP systems has shown that the following key elements have delivered the greatest benefits.
6 Critical Drivers for Success in Manufacturing
If an organisation wants to pivot and be profitable in the new wave of manufacturing, they will need to focus on the following 6 critical drivers for success.
- Scheduling of factory and field staff – to optimise day to day operations and improve productivity levels.
- MRP – inventory accuracy and availability – to provide real time data and enable organisations to make accurate, informed and strategic decisions.
- Cost analysis for jobs, projects and rework – to measure profitability and key metrics in the production lifecycle. Manufacturing efficiencies should be readily visible and actively tracked.
- Availability to promise accuracy – to improve on time delivery and increased customer retention and satisfaction.
- Streamlining and automating business processes – to provide visibility of all functions, effective workflow support and reduce reliance on manual tasks.
- Industry 4.0 Innovation – to exploit the advantages of automation, IoT, Machine Learning and AI.
A fully integrated ERP solution will support all of the critical drivers above.
ERP technology brings all functions of a business together. Research, product development, engineering, inventory, procurement, resources, operations, sales, finance, dashboards and reporting all operating from one centralised database.
”Those who want to fortify their organisations will need to embrace change and put systems in place to manage, monitor and measure their manufacturing KPIs
Peter Goes - Managing DirectorCombined Management Consultants
