It never gets old–completing a project for another satisfied customer. But how can your Engineer to Order company increase its ability to work with, and satisfy, even more clients?
It’s not a question of ability, it’s all about capacity.
You know your work is high quality and your clients are happy. You simply need to work with more clients. The good news is that by shortening up your lead times, you can add the capacity you need to take on more projects.
Growing your Engineer to Order business’s project capacity
If you want to gain capacity, something has to change. Either the time you spend on individual projects has to be shortened, or you have to add resources.
Here are three ways an integrated ERP will make you leaner and provide the ability to do more, quicker.
1. Managing inventory is a snap
An integrated ERP system works within your existing CAD software to provide a window into inventory. You see what is already on your shelves and what you need to order. You can then develop a timeline so materials and parts are available when needed.
You will be able to troubleshoot supply issues before they become a crisis. While you can’t know the future, you can predict and influence the future of your projects.
2. You get a high-level view of the entire process
Using your ERP, you can see a road map for the entire project. Information on each subtask is at your fingertips. You can find potential process challenges and solve them before they appear. and act on hold-ups in your process.
Should a delay catch you out, it will be much easier to work backward to the root of the issue to prevent it from happening in other projects. The ability to review, learn, and improve processes is enhanced through transparency.
You can also measure the ability of your vendors to deliver on time. Identifying any issues that slow you down, and increase lead time, becomes easier because your ERP software lets you find the trouble spots.
3. Enhance communication between departments
When many departments are involved in a project, easy communication helps to keep it moving. An ERP puts accurate real-time information at the fingertips of those who need it. Your team will no longer have to wait for manual input into spreadsheets.
With an integrated ERP, engineering, manufacturing, and procurement easily talk to each other. An engineer to order company with all the departments on the same page is an efficient organization.
Make your engineer to order process more efficient
To cut lead times, each department needs to see real benefits. Let’s take a look at how Engineering, Manufacturing, and Procurement become more streamlined by using ERP software.
- Engineering
Managing workflows becomes easier. You can stay on top of timeliness and track progress. You can see what’s on schedule and catch if anything needs attention before it becomes a hold-up.
You will also be able to end double data entry. Since the software uses the BOMs you are already creating in your CAD software this saves time, and also cuts down on human error.
Engineers can reclaim time for other tasks because they will always know where their project stands. This will allow you to optimize for efficiency
- Manufacturing
Managing the processes on the manufacturing floor becomes simpler. You have confidence in knowing the BOM in the ERP is the same one as in CAD. This allows you to make decisions that affect which components you will prioritize.
You can track any part from its origin to sitting on your shelf. This is a significant gain in visibility that will allow you to streamline the manufacturing process.
Both Assembly and individual component statuses are clearly and easily visible to any user. When a part status changes, you will see the notifications in real-time.
- Procurement
When your job is all about making sure the right parts are in the shop on time, an integrated ERP becomes a valuable tool. You can track a part’s location in transit or at the shop. You can easily see which items are on time and which ones need your attention.
You also can cut down the paperwork. The accurate BOMs give you a clear understanding of the inventory demands for each job. This means you will create fewer purchase orders in each project while still keeping it well-supplied.
This all sounds great, what is my next step?
Integrating an ERP into your current engineer to order process is a big step but with a lot of rewards. It’s worth taking your time and looking at several different solutions.
The COUNTERPART ERP will integrate directly with your CAD software. This will give your team access to the information they need when they need it.
You will see real-time progress and be able to use this information to gain efficiencies in all your engineer to order departments.
We are also an approved partner with Autodesk and SOLIDWORKS. If you are running either of these two popular CAD Programs, we’ve got solutions built specifically for them.
If you’d like to see what COUNTERPART can do for you, click HERE to discover what the ERP can do for you.