Thursday, January 15, 2009

Using ERP to Achieve Best-in-Class

The current world of increasing energy and material costs and the drive to become “Lean” and stay competitive create unique requirements for special features in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in order for the ERP system to be used in a Best-in-Class performance. In a recent survey, Aberdeen research has found that companies considered as Best-in-Class had performance results that include:

  • 16% reduction in manufacturing operating costs
  • 20% reduction in administrative costs
  • 20% improvement in order cycle times
  • 94% complete and on-time shipments
  • 90% manufacturing schedule compliance
  • 90% overall yield

As previously noted in these messages, the top four pressures impacting the ERP system and its use are:

  • Must reduce costs
  • Must improve customer response times
  • Must be easier to do business with
  • Need to manage growth expectations

Actions that companies can take to achieve Best-in-Class performance using their ERP system include:

  • Use business process analysis techniques to fully understand the needs of the business and how the ERP system can satisfy these needs
  • Use continuous improvement teams to fully utilize the capabilities of the ERP system
  • Take steps to reduce the dependence on spreadsheets and manual processes to satisfy industry specific requirements
  • Make integration of enterprise applications a priority
  • Connect the plant floor applications to the ERP system to increase visibility and controlImplement event management to monitor transactions and conditions as they occur

Are you Best-in-Class?