WHAT'S YOUR TOOL

the ERP dilemma

If you're using an ERP for your shop, or if you're looking at expanding your current ERP to your shop, there's a few critical questions you need to ask. How does the ERP react when something takes too long or doesn't go as planned? What options does it give you to correct the issue? How does it determine a workaround or rework for the issue you're having? Can it?

You can only flex your ERP so far and, generally, it won't accommodate the everyday challenges of your manufacturing shop floor. In the real world, people show up late, machines need maintenance and critical team members take PTO. All of these affect how much and what kind of work you will actually be able to get done today. Get a system that knows the difference. Get one that was built exactly for these everyday problems.

Your ERP was built to run your office. Not your shop. Your ERP tracks and reports on your resources without knowing what they are or what they are supposed to do. It keeps lists. Of everything. From personnel to dollars, from customers to vendors, your ERP tracks lists of items: salaries, hours, payments, invoices, bills. It does the same thing with your work. It can take an Order. It can charge the customer. It cannot manage the work. You need a tool that can manage your work rather than track it, make the tough decisions and give you the data to know the difference.

my ERP does manufacturing too

can it track historical changes?

An ERP runs your financials, not your manufacturing. It tracks items, not processes. Unless you build one item consistently with no changes, you're left with just a routing. And that's no way to run a shop.

my ERP tells me they can do it

how much time and money will it take?

Your ERP has worked with you for years. It took years to put it in. You've paid for every process, every action and every report you needed to develop, but it still can't tell the difference between a weld and a press.

my ERP provides a schedule

does it adjust to real-time issues?

An ERP schedule often looks like Excel with lists of work. It doesn't track your capacity and can't tell you where there are bottlenecks in your processes or on your shop floor. How are you going to solve issues you don't see? How will you move work?

expansion of Microsoft Office tools

It seems like an easy choice to just make the MS Office tools you already have to do the work you need to do. It falls far short of being able to do the work. If you are struggling with using it to do your manufacturing work, here's a few critical questions you need to answer.

When was the last time you built a product to the wrong revision of the work instructions?

How often do you change your standard work?

Do you have auditors reviewing what you do?

Have you made product that you later had to scrap because the instructions were wrong?

How long do your Operators spend flipping through long, paper build books, with instructions and images and other critical messages you want them to find?

Microsoft was built for documents and spreadsheets. Not your shop. It's a toolset that you're familiar with and you have licenses for everyone, or almost everyone, in your shop. That doesn't mean it's the right tool for the job. You need a tool that can tell the difference between a wrench and a socket or a person and an hour. Microsoft is not the tool for that. Or for your shop.

I already have the licenses

use them. for your office.

A paper packet on your shop floor is trouble. Even with the tightest control over changes, you have no idea if it's right. And it's truly difficult to follow; operators flip from one page to the next to find their work. It's open to interpretation, short cuts and errors.

I track all work revisions

this system will fail over time.

Can you guarantee that 100% of your people do exactly what you ask them to do 100% of the time. Nope. That's why you need a tool that guides them through the process and tells them what they need to know and do. So you don't have to. Again.

I don't need instructions

do you have what you need?

It's an easy decision. You have the tool, you use what you have. You cannot become really efficient with a tool like Office running your shop. You need something that can guide you through the process and really show you efficiency.

just post it

A whiteboard is an inexpensive and easy way to post things in your shop. Just not your work. By the time you print something out and post it, it's no longer timely. There's nothing you can do to improve your efficiency, correct your scrap issues or make yourself profitable with paper tacked to a board. Here's a few questions to think about.

How much did your last issue cost you?

What percent of efficiency are you willing to sacrifice?

Do you know where your materials are? Your jobs?

How able are you to make changes in the workflow with the information on the board?

How do you provide workarounds to the team when things go wrong? Is it the right work? How do you check it was done? How do you report on it?

Are you making the same mistakes time and again?

Whiteboards were built to erase and bulletin boards were meant for team postings. Not to run a shop. You already have them on your wall. You're using them for safety messages, the company picnic (if you even have those anymore) and your workflow. While it's available and low-cost, it doesn't manage anything. You need a tool that can actually communicate with your team throughout the day to manage the work in process as it happens.

It's easy to post everything.

That doesn't make it right.

The information you post is not right. It's just not. Things aren't where you think they are. Work isn't going as you planned it to go. People aren't where they need to be. A whiteboard is a great spot to post important information. Just not to run your production.

Our team knows what to do.

Yes, they do. Until they don't.

Manufacturing shop floors never go 100% according to plan. Even long-run ovens lose heat. Everything you do has the opportunity to go wrong. We don't wish that on anyone. We help them figure out what to do when it does. Quickly and efficiently so you don't lose money in the process.

We can't afford a system.

Have your researched what it costs?

We've served manufacturers of all sizes for a quarter of a century. We've built our products, services and price sheet to not break the bank for manufacturers that are still using Office or whiteboards to do their work. Ask us how to get started today and begin to move your shop forward.

be ready for the day with Quantum

Every Quantum installation prepares you for today, tomorrow and the future with instant access to real information about the work you're doing. Abandon your template-based sheets. Get rid of your white boards with production schedules. See how Quantum can help you build, control and maintain your shop.

where to next?

Maybe you want to learn a little more about MES. Read our MES primers for plant managers, quality managers, operations managers and owners.

Want to see how we work in your industry? Read more about our work in aerospace, composite manufacturing, electrical assembly, engineered parts and medical device.

Want to dive deeper into MES content? Try our blog.

pick the right tool for the job

not all tools are built to run a shop

can your finance system do it?

can you use desktop software?

can I just post my team's work?