Manufacturers have certainly had a hard time of late. There is the continued threat posed by rising material and labor costs, as well as the going concern of overseas competitors, competitors who have the uncanny ability to continually lower pricing. It is not easy. Regardless of how your enterprise handles these obstacles, it is guaranteed that your margins will become smaller and smaller. However, as a manufacturer, you also know that your main weapon for improving these margins lies in your ability to continually lower manufacturing cycle times. Lower cycle times means increasing production throughput. Producing more with the same number of employees will not only improve your pricing, but it will ultimately lead to a better bottom line. However, in order to truly track how well your company is able to lower your cycle times, you need access to an enterprise mobility solution that tracks your production capacity in real-time. Gone are the days when manual timesheets and excel spreadsheets could be used to track production. If your enterprise truly wants to reduce its cycle times and increase its throughput, then you must incorporate an enterprise mobility software solution. So, what are some of the immediate benefits of making this move?
- More accurate inventory counts
- Lower cycle times means better costs
- Better margins means a better bottom line
Your manufacturing can’t possibly lower its cycle times if your production is splintered by part and raw material shortages, shortages that occur simply because your enterprise is relying upon manual processes. When your manufacturing has a fully integrated enterprise mobility solution, your entire operations are able to provide instant, real-time updates. You’ll manage inventory better and won’t be left to deal with production downtime from inaccurate inventory counts. This simply can’t be done with manual processes.
Your company will only be able to lower its cycle times if you have access to timely information. Imagine the increase in production capacity that will occur when each production work station is able to track cycle times from work orders through barcode scanners. Imagine the benefits of having access to up-to-the-minute cycle time tracking. You’ll be able to dollarize the impact of lost time, isolate your average cycle times and track the variances from these cycle times.
Upgrading to enterprise mobility solutions ultimately means having a lower overall cost structure and that means having a better bottom line. You’ll not only be able to improve on manufacturing cycle times, but you’ll be able to better use your economies of scale in inventory management. More accurate inventory counts will empower your purchasing department to negotiate more favorable pricing and delivery terms. This simply can’t be done as well with manual processes. With the right enterprise mobility solution, your company will be able to analyze inventory counts and costs at a granular level.
Manufacturers can make it in today’s global economy. However, success can’t be predicated on outdated and antiquated processes. Manual inventory management is a thing of the past. Tracking production through timesheets is not only time-consuming, but it’s incredibly problematic. However, upgrading to enterprise mobility solutions will help your enterprise manage production in real-time. This will provide you with the ability to lower costs and improve your ability to close on opportunities.
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