An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is designed to help you more efficiently manage your resources by streamlining critical processes such as the sharing of information across departments for better collaboration. This type of system also includes detailed quality management modules, including real-time monitoring capabilities that enable you to closely monitor your supply chain. It makes it easy for you to ensure that your manufacturing processes comply with all quality standards and measures.
For example, if you’re running a multinational manufacturing enterprise, your international supply chain must meet specific quality standards. Fortunately, effective manufacturing ERP software will help you to manage your supply chain to ensure consistency in the quality of your products.
How ERP Allows You to Acheive Quality
One of the main benefits of ERP in manufacturing is better quality management. An ERP system alleviates the immense pressure many manufacturers feel from their global clientele by making it easy to monitor their supply chains and ensure all quality standards and measures are met.
Here are the fundamental ways in which an ERP system will simplify your quality management efforts, including:
Compliance with Quality Standards and Requirements
Whether you manufacture pharmaceutical products or children’s toys, there are strict quality standards and measures that you need to follow. Failure to adhere to these standards can result in prosecution and the collapse of your business.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems come with robust quality management components to help ensure compliance throughout your supply chain. Advanced ERP solutions have comprehensive quality management capabilities that cover the vast majority of quality management requirements.
Even basic ERP systems can meet a substantial portion of quality needs for most small to medium businesses. However, we recommend seeking ERP systems that support recognized standards like ISO and FDA, as well as industry-specific mandates if you have more sophisticated production requirements.
The more sophisticated the ERP system, the greater the quality management coverage it can provide, but it usually also means the system will add more to your operating costs.
Ultimately, the goal is to acquire an ERP system with quality components broad and flexible enough to fulfill your organization's unique quality management obligations. That’s what we specialize in, finding the perfect cost to benefit ratio for your individual needs.
Global Supply Chain
As a global organization, you must manage your operations across many countries, if not continents. The complexity of managing such a vast and intricate supply chain will put immense pressure on your quality control department.
For instance, it’s important to create a plan to manage the large volumes of raw data needed to monitor your products across multiple countries without lowering their quality. An ERP system is your central hub, allowing you to access real-time data from multiple sources.
This way, you can easily trace all your products and materials at different levels of your supply chain to ensure consistency. The system will notify you when a certain product or part of a product doesn’t comply with industry quality standards and regulations.
When you use an ERP for process manufacturing, you can easily deal with noncompliance issues directly and promptly without experiencing any extended downtime. It allows you to track and trace all manufacturing processes from end to end, ensuring that no quality issues escape your attention.
Collaboration and Transparency
An ERP system improves collaboration between departments in your company because all authorized users have access to critical information. This further reduces the risk of noncompliance and quality issues because there are more eyes watching the supply chain. Your workforce will be accessing critical data and updating records in real time, which allows everyone in your company to access updated data preventing possible lapses in quality management.
With the latest ERP solutions, you’ll have a clear and comprehensive view of the overall performance of your production procedures. This allows you to see if there’s a gap in quality management and have the issue rectified immediately before the product moves to the next level of the supply chain.
Monitoring Your Suppliers
Even as you work hard to ensure your workforce continues to produce high-quality, compliant products, you also have to keep an eye on your suppliers to ensure they’re fulfilling their obligations, too.
Unfortunately, this presents a lot of challenges, especially for large enterprises that have suppliers in multiple countries or continents. That said, the entire process can be simplified with the right ERP software.
Finally, an ERP system will provide real-time updates on shipment inspections and compliance. You’ll be aware of any quality issues and shipment delays immediately so you can have everything rectified to avoid extended downtimes.
Your ERP software will also generate data on your supplier’s performance, allowing you to track their lead time and shipment. This way, you can create a list of reliable suppliers who will help you to maintain quality and achieve full compliance. If you’re interested in an advanced ERP system for your manufacturing business, Navigator Business Solutions is ready to help!
