Johannesburg, 07 Oct 2024
Large manufacturers in South Africa often benefit from advanced, integrated digital environments that enhance their efficiency and competitiveness. In contrast, many small to mid-sized manufacturers have been slower to adopt these transformative technologies. However, specialised, integrated ERP systems designed for manufacturing can elevate these smaller operations into competitive, future-ready factories.
Devon Rimmington, Director at Brilliant Cloud – a gold partner of Acumatica and a specialist in ERP and accounting software – emphasises this transformation, citing over 20 years of support for local manufacturers.
According to Rimmington, manufacturers face significant challenges, particularly in enhancing efficiencies and maintaining real-time visibility of their operations. Many smaller manufacturers still rely on outdated legacy systems and manual processes, while others that have attempted modernisation often use multiple disconnected systems. These disparate systems create integration hurdles, complicate support and hinder data consistency, which is crucial for achieving a reliable source of truth.
“Manufacturers that depend on written and verbal reports or various disconnected systems tend to be more reactive than proactive. For example, you can’t manage issues effectively if you only learn about a delay in a critical raw materials shipment a day later,” explains Rimmington.
“To remain competitive and transition into the factory of the future, it is essential to be continuously operational, automated and efficient, with real-time visibility across all facets of production. Today's competitive landscape relies heavily on operational efficiency. If you can enhance planning, production and quality while maintaining a lower cost than your competitors, you are ahead in the game,” he asserts.
Game changer for manufacturers
Rimmington describes Acumatica’s Manufacturing Edition as a revolutionary ERP solution that provides manufacturers with extensive capabilities and a unified source of truth within a single platform. This solution can be deployed in the cloud, therefore transforming and automating order management, financials, inventory control, product design, production oversight, analytics and scheduling. With open APIs, it seamlessly integrates with diverse modern manufacturing technologies.
“Acumatica’s Manufacturing Edition has been transformative for many of our manufacturing clients. Customer feedback highlights that they value having a singular, integrated source of truth and the reliability of the data displayed in the system,” he says.
Rimmington points out the advantages of having real-time visibility throughout the manufacturing process. “In a traditional manufacturing environment, you often rely on daily reports or having to physically check on production delays by consulting the foreman. With Acumatica’s Manufacturing Edition, you can monitor all processes and identify system flags for any production slowdowns, allowing you to see the reasons behind these issues and set alerts for untimely raw material shipments,” he explains.
He continues: “While critical software requirements for manufacturing businesses include bill of materials capabilities, production functions and scheduling, Acumatica’s advanced Cloud ERP provides a robust suite of integrated features tailored for the industry.”
Product design efficiency is enhanced through native engineering change control and customisable approval workflows, enabling alignment between engineering and production bills of materials from other sources.
“With Acumatica’s Manufacturing Edition, manufacturers can customise the software to meet their unique production needs. Standard labelling and scanning functions come built-in, eliminating the need for third-party integrations for automating production and inventory management,” he adds.
“The scanning functionality streamlines processes like raw material retrieval, allowing employees to simply scan bar codes, which automatically updates the system and captures user actions, thereby enhancing accuracy and minimising shrinkage. Quality control is also integrated into this process.”
Additionally, the solution offers native CRM, case management, dashboards, analytics and customisable workflows that empower manufacturers to remain agile and continuously optimise their operations in response to shifting industry dynamics.
Acumatica accommodates various manufacturing processes, including make-to-stock, make-to-order, batch processing, repetitive production and project-centric manufacturing, with a comprehensive array of connected applications for production management, estimating, engineering, material planning, scheduling and product configuration.
Clients utilising Acumatica’s Manufacturing Edition report significant improvements in operational speed and efficiency, growing more proactive and competitive in their industries, Rimmington concludes.
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