Sustaining manufacturing with ERP during COVID-19

ERP Software Solution | By Admin

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven manufacturers to swiftly shift gears, from dealing with work-from-home policies to administering extreme swings in demand and indecisive supply chains. In the process, it has spotted the light on an element of ERP solutions for manufacturing that is not as perceptible in more normal times- business continuity.

It is not that the ability of the ERP system to address abrupt business changes has not been noted in the past. For example, it acts a central role throughout a change of ownership or local event, like a flood or fire. However, the in-depth reliance on ERP solutions to manage widespread, elemental business continuity, as we are observing nowadays, has never been confronted on such a large scale.

Nowadays, during the response of COVID-19, an ERP business solution is maintaining the entire industries in operation with its capability to carry on business operations through remote access, electronic data exchange, automated reporting, and real-time factory controls. Never in the history of ERP have we noticed it act a greater role in the continuation of manufacturing operations around the world.

Understanding that, let’s ensure a deeper look at the ways manufacturers capitalizing on the functionality of ERP consulting services to manage business continuity by tackling some of the COVID-19 impacts we are observing nowadays.

Strengthening employees to work from home-

Ventures across all spectrums are reducing the number of people coming into their offices and plants and escalating the number working from home. In a manufacturing atmosphere, it is typically front office personnel who work from home, like those in planning, design, and administrative roles.

For organizations with an ERP system in place, the shift to front office workforce working from home, steered by COVID-19 prevention measures, has not caused key business disruptions. Their teams of front-office can access their ERP system at home and proceed with the business from there. They administer full visibility of the venture and can carry on communicating with suppliers and customers.

Modern ERP solutions Kolkata have reduced the requirement of having IT professionals even onsite since numerous solutions nowadays are managed or hosted in the cloud. As a result, the systems can be managed from any remote location, formulating yet another group of organizational people that can do their jobs away from the factory.

Maintaining production on track-

Enduring front-office employees working from home is one thing. But, proceeding with a factory floor from home is completely a different challenge. Some small number of companies can run lights out nearly, but multiple should be staffed with operators as well as material handlers. In these companies, it develops into a question of how few people are needed to be at work at any one time.

ERP systems for manufacturing reduce the number of onsite shop floor staff by planning work precisely, tracking instruments for output, and dispositioning materials, maintenance, and quality issues in real-time. In short, manufacturers are administering the shop floor by exclusion rather than rote supervision.

Real-time production tracking is generally held out as an instance of the ultimate in manufacturing control. Nowadays, it protrudes as a crucial production continuity tool with a minimum of onsite employees.

Managing shifts in demand-

Certainly, one impact of COVID-19 for numerous manufacturers has been an abrupt shift in demand patterns.

The fluctuations of demand have shifted greatly the production inertia of several businesses. The suppliers of raw materials should be adapted, schedules and tooling changes are needed, and diverse personnel is required at diverse times. At the same time, off-shore factory closures have affected the accessibility of components and materials from some suppliers.

Manually compensating and scheduling for sudden shifts or new suppliers could be weeks-long attempts heading to delays that manufacturers cannot afford. By contrast, nowadays, with manufacturing ERP systems, re-scheduling, re-planning, and re-provisioning are instantaneous nearly. And just as vitally, these functions can be completed from remote locations.

After this disruption period, factories and their organizational people will return to a more normal operating profile. But, they will be empowered forever by the lessons learned during a period when we were needed to execute remotely and utilize our business technology to the fullest extent possible.

How manufacturers consider their ERP system will be changed forever also. Besides, their well-perceived values of improving profitably, enabling high-end customer service, and providing quality products, ERP implementation consultants will now be famous for their unmatched capability to administer business continuity in the face of sudden change. Now, ERP software is identified as a crucial business safety net to take action and mitigate unforeseen events.