Overall manufacturing production in the UK has suffered from slow growth over the last decade, this is while technological advances have continued to proceed to make the manufacturing process more efficient and profitable. In difficult times like these, it is important for manufacturers to keep their costs low and to reduce their inefficiencies. Manufacturing software can help manufacturers to improve their productivity while reducing costs, it helps to ensure that machinery is active and in the best possible condition while the production process can be optimised to deliver better results.
Manufacturing software helps manufacturers with several aspects of their production management, asset management, and supply chain management. Tasks can be broken down in sequential parts so that the task is not complete until each sub-task has been completed in the correct order; the production process can be paused (or stopped and started) when required, so production can be continued at a later date; also, to save time on repetitive processes, production templates can be created saving the materials and the production sequence to be used again and again. Machinery conditions can be easily monitored and serviced ensuring that production continues to flow, and the stock management module helps to control the movement and storage of raw materials.
Production Management Software
In order to plan, organise, direct and control production activities manufacturers can use technology and benefit from production management software. All parts of the production process can be monitored to ensure that time is optimised and used effectively, non-value adding processes can be easily identified and eliminated and unplanned downtime can be a become a rare occurrence. You can create and edit jobs, and break them down into parts ensuring that each part of the production process is completed in the correct order, this helps with planning so that resources and machinery are fully utilised throughout the process. Manufacturing bottlenecks are less likely as production management software helps to connect the different parts of the production process, no matter how large or fragmented the production plant is scheduling and resource allocation can be optimised. The transparency and trackability of production management software gives the production team the ability to control the production process from raw materials through to customer delivery.
Asset Management Software
Without well-maintained working machinery, any production process will be continually interrupted and your product quality and customer satisfaction will be negatively affected. With manufacturing software, all pieces of machinery can be stored and accounted for, you have a centralised database that records important details for each asset including serial numbers, warranty dates, and the location of the asset. You can plan regular maintenance checks and reduce the chances of a piece of machinery requiring a repair.
Supply Chain Management Software
Manufacturing software helps to manage the continuous flow of goods, it aids in the management of the processes that transform raw materials into final products. You get accurate data for forecasting, and this can be used to predict upcoming stock requirements based on previous sales trends. Real-time information helps to control overall order management, from the customer making their initial order to them completing their customer satisfaction survey, all stages of the production process can be tracked with real-time updates to keep the customer (or management) aware of progress.
