Salem, NH, April 28, 2013 – ProfitKey International, a leader in ERP software for small to mid-sized manufacturers for over 30 years, has joined the NTMA family as a national member.

National Associate Members serve the NTMA community by offering products, services and information to their regular, custom-precision manufacturing, members.  They also support the association by advertising in publications, newsletters and website and by sponsoring national events.  Associate members also serve to educate members on emerging technologies and efficiencies and often offer members preferred pricing on their respective products and services.

“We look to bring NTMA owners operational value in the form of profits,” stated Joe Di Zazzo, ProfitKey President and CEO. “We have an excellent track record with NTMA companies, and will bring to others who adopt our solution the ability to pursue real operational goals. Examples include targeting on-time delivery above 95%, reduction in carried inventory of 25% or more, improved cash flow due to time phased purchasing of materials, improvement in inventory accuracy and improved supplier ratings from our integrated Quality Management system.”

As a new associate member, Profitkey will be attending the NTMA national conference October 16-19, 2013 at the Omni Parker in Boston, MA. ProfitKey has also been asked to present to its members on behalf of new and existing ERP technology and how it can serve and support the growth of the manufacturing community.

“We welcome ProfitKey International to the NTMA family,” said Dave Tilstone, president of NTMA. “ERP solutions are critical to the operating competitiveness of our membership, and are vital tools in our role within the U.S. manufacturing supply chain. ProfitKey is well known by many of our members, and we therefore welcome closer collaboration and teamwork with them moving our companies ahead.”

About NTMA

The NTMA, National Tooling and Machining Association, is a trade organization representing the precision custom manufacturing industry throughout the United States. Backed by a powerful voice of nearly 2,000 company members, representing more than $40 billion in sales, the clout the NTMA collectively wields is considerable. The association also serves as a valuable national resource for their members, helping them grow profitably.

About ProfitKey

For more than 30 years, ProfitKey International has been a provider of manufacturing planning, manufacturing operations, and financial management software for small to midsize manufacturers , helping to increase overall efficiency  in the areas of shop floor scheduling, communications, inventory management, labor reporting, cost tracking, and more.   Through the use of their real-time and fully-integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, ProfitKey has been able to help thousands of small to mid-sized precision manufacturers grow over the last four decades.

TEC is pleased to announce that Rapid Response Manufacturing (RRM) software from ProfitKey International, a developer of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for manufacturing, has been TEC certified for online evaluation in TEC’s ERP Evaluation Center. An in-depth demonstration of its capabilities was conducted in order to evaluate how RRM holds up to industry benchmarks. We saw the system in real time and assessed its performance on requested tasks and its workflow capabilities. We tried out the system’s navigation along with selected features and functions.

ProfitKey as a business unit was founded in 1979 … The company has gone through several reorganizations but has carried forward its major assets—software, expertise, and clients. The employees are experienced; the average employee’s tenure is more than 16 years. And despite all the perturbing organizational changes that the vendor has experienced throughout its history, the average customer tenure is impressively long, also more than 16 years. The retention rate is higher than 95 percent—very high—which speaks well of both the product and vendor. A substantial share of the company’s strategy is obviously focused on good relations with its customers.

The company was a pioneer in multiple categories and concepts of modern manufacturing ERP software: ERP for small manufacturers, make-to-order ERP, multi-level scheduling, and backward-finite capacity scheduling.

The company’s market niche is ERP software for discrete manufacturing, specifically in project-based and engineering-to-order (ETO) manufacturing, or a mix of ETO and mass production. What else differentiates ProfitKey from its competitors is real-time integration of its manufacturing execution system (MES) and the core ERP, along with embedded advanced planning and scheduling (APS), available-to-promise (ATP), and capable-to-promise (CTP) functions.

ProfitKey’s typical client is a discrete manufacturing company whose business is about delivering unique or highly customized items to its customers within a promised time frame. These are usually small to midsize Tier 2 and Tier 3 manufacturing businesses, from several to up to 200 users, with annual revenue of approximately between $5 and $150 million.

ProfitKey’s RRM product has already been implemented by more than 1,200 clients, with 21,000 users totally. Implementations are performed by the company directly, primarily in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Far East.

According to the vendor, the key aspects of RRM ERP are the following:

• Natively and fully integrated ERP, APS, and MES product line
• Responsive and experienced customer support
• Customer driven product development—the company does not dictate customers a development strategy. It listens to and carefully follow client recommendations and development wishes
• Rapid implementation—the implementation benchmark for new projects is 90 days or even less
• Affordability on proven databases—Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server
• Low total cost of ownership via competitive pricing structure, with annual maintenance 2 percent below market average
• Highly skilled professional services group

ProfitKey’s is present in the following vertical market segments:

• Aerospace and defense
• Automotive
• Medical devices
• Original equipment manufacturing (OEM)
• Contract electronic assembly

To look at the customer base horizontally, metal fabrication and metal transforming are among the most common business areas of its clients.

Also of interest to many potential clients is that the vendor recognizes the Lean manufacturing philosophy, so since 2009 its software offers lean manufacturing tools and allows for lean transformation by enabling continuous business process improvements.
It will be interesting to see how RRM compares to its industry competitors. More on the product background, highlights, features and functions, and competitive strengths and weaknesses as measured against the average solution in the ERP for ETO software space will be available in the RRM TEC Certification Report, coming to the TEC Web site soon.

All you need to do is visit www.EASTEConline.com to register online and use the promotion code “ETGUEST” to save yourself $50 per registrant.

Also, be sure to add us to your expo plan and visit us at booth #5638

At this years show, we will be exhibiting new ProfitKey features, a running overview presentation, and a free live demonstration of the direct product itself.  Also, if you stop by our booth, we will be giving away string gym backpacks, 4GB USB drives, and more.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you in May!

Sincerely,
The ProfitKey Team

EASTEC Profile:

For over 30 years, ProfitKey International has been a leader in
providing manufacturing ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software for small to mid-sized companies who are looking to increase efficiency; specifically, in the areas of shop floor scheduling, communications, inventory management, labor reporting, cost tracking, and more.

It is our mission at ProfitKey to provide you with the best software
solution in the manufacturing industry to help you remain competitive,
operate efficiently, and exceed customer expectations. We believe that
by delivering solutions built around the business of manufacturing, our
customers can improve the way they do business – from the front office to the shop floor.

Categories (EASTEC specific)

Controls CAD/CAM Software

Training Additional Personnel

One of the goals of the initial training of key personnel is to enable them to train their subordinates and others.  The level of involvement by the AE will be determined by the team.

Practice in the Test Database

All personnel should engage in practice using the test database.  The need for well-regulated, scheduled and verifiable practice in the test database cannot be over-emphasized.  Simply instructing users to work with the test system as they have the opportunity will in all likelihood result in failure.  Specific periods must be set aside for specific personnel to perform specific exercises in the test database.

A technique often used is to have personnel enter a portion of their day’s actual work.  Another technique is to provide users with pre-prepared exercises.  In either case, a supervisor or team member’s involvement is crucial.  They must be present to guide the user, address problems as they arise and help interpret the results.

The frequency, length of time and quality of the users’ practice time is the single most important aspect of the training process.  No other activity will have as great an effect on the success of the implementation.

There may be some problems that the supervisor or team member cannot resolve.  These instances should be referred to the AE immediately or presented to the AE when they return for a mid-course correction (please see below).

A period of three to six months of practice in the test database is typical.

Mid-Course Corrections

In addition to the Pre-Implementation Planning Meeting, the AE should be scheduled to be on-site periodically during the test database training process.  The first visit should be between two and four weeks after the initial training to address problems and questions that will arise as users begin their practice.  Additional visits should be scheduled for the same purpose and to provide additional training as needed throughout the practice period.

Additional Core Training

It is doubtful that all of your ERP system’s standard capabilities can be covered in detail during the initial training.  As such, additional training in these areas should be provided during the test database practice period.

Optional Module Training

It is common to purchase optional modules, such as Serial Number/Lot Control, but not implement them until months after the go-live date in the live database.  It is for this reason that training in optional modules is difficult to schedule until well into the implementation.

Reports and Forms

Most ERP systems offer a collection of standard reports and forms.

You may find the designs of the standard forms and reports adequate.  In most cases, however, some degree of report or form customization is desired.  Your ERP provider will offer training in this type of activity as well as offering the optional service of performing your desired customizations for you.  Similar training and services will likely be offered for writing new reports from scratch.

Arrangements will have to be made for the purchase of pre-printed forms such as checks.  Your ERP provider probably has a relationship with a third-party forms vendor to supply documents already formatted to comply with the ERP system’s outputs.

Going Live

The go live date will be established by the team based on its desired time table and progress in training.

The AE should be on-site to support the go-live.  Be certain to make these arrangements early enough in advance to ensure the AE’s availability.

The go-live is usually scheduled for a Monday.  This provides time for any desired dynamic data such as sales orders, work orders, purchase orders, inventory quantities and GL balances to be entered.

Who is Responsible?

Extreme care should be taken at the outset to clearly establish which party, you or the ERP provider, is responsible for the various steps in the implementation.  One common area of confusion is the writing of custom reports and the customization of standard reports and forms.  Be certain you have a clear understanding of where your ERP provider’s responsibility ends and yours begins.

Ongoing Considerations

Database Administration

Your ERP system’s database can be administered through the use of an independent contractor.  Most users, however, have found an on-site database administrator to be far more effective due to the immediacy of availability.  The Database Administrator is also often the resource for extracting data, writing and modifying reports and forms and importing data.  As such, this person must not only have expertise in the database itself, but also have an in-depth knowledge of the database schema.

Keep in mind, too, that the database administrator will have access to tables that can contain sensitive information such as social security numbers and pay rates.

Many ERP providers offer optional remote database administration services.

Remember, each company’s implementation and experience will be completely unique to them.   This is especially true for those who work in the ETO (engineer-to-order) environment where custom manufacturing reigns.  Do not be afraid to ask questions of your vendor and even your peers.  Your vendor’s user group committee could serve as one of your most valuable assets throughout this process and through the life of the use of the system.

We wish you the best of luck on your endeavors moving forward and appreciate you taking the time to read this blog series.  We hope this will serve as a helpful learning tool towards growth in the industry we love.  Please do not hesitate to reach out to us directly at ProfitKey with any questions, or if you wish to have a free consult and /or demonstration.

Preparing Your Data Should Not Be Like Ripping Out Your Own Hair

Thus far, we have covered your implementation team (part 1), a complete workflow review (part 2), and installation and training (part 3).  This fourth installment will take a deep look into your current database and what to expect to prepare to ensure your data has legs and can be effective right out of the gate.

Database Population

Import of initial data into the test database may be your responsibility; it may be handled completely by your ERP provider, or it may be a cooperative effort.

The import into the test database is typically performed shortly after the software is installed for use during training and practice.  The import into the live database is usually performed just prior to going live.

The import into the test database will likely not be as robust as that into the live version.  For example, you may choose to omit much of the dynamic data, discussed below, preferring to enter them as training exercises.

The following types of data are typical of most ERP systems and are usually contained in discrete tables.  Static data are those often referred to as master files – those that, once entered, do not usually change.  Dynamic data are those that change regularly, such as sales orders, purchase orders and so on.

Static Data

• Alternate purchasing addresses

• Customer master data

• Customer alternate bill-to addresses

• Customer alternate ship-to addresses

• Vendor master data

• Item master data

• Employee master data

• Work center master data

• Extended item description data

• Item-vendor relationship data

• Bill of material data

• Routing data

• Routing notes or specific instructions for each operation

• General ledger accounts ¹

• General ledger account structure

¹ General ledger account balances are generally not imported.

They should be entered using GL transactions to establish an audit trail.

Dynamic Data

A strategy for populating the databases with dynamic data will be developed by the team and the AE together.  These data are typically manually entered, but they can often be imported instead, depending on the capabilities of your ERP system’s import utility.

• Inventory item-location-quantity data ²

• Sales Orders

• Order Headers

• Line Items

• Delivery Schedule Lines

• Memo Headers

• Memo Lines

• Work Orders

• Materials

• Operations

• Operation Notes

• Purchase Orders

• Order Headers

• Line Items

• Delivery Schedule Lines

• Memo Headers

• Memo Lines

² The best methodology for populating inventory-location quantities depends on the costing method selected.  If neither LIFO nor FIFO is being used, a direct import will suffice.  If either LIFO or FIFO has been chosen, values must be populated using adjustments.

Adjustments are required under LIFO and FIFO because they allow the LIFO/FIFO initialization to create cost occurrence records which do not exist in other costing methods.  These records are used to distribute costs to orders in the proper sequence when materials are issued.  While not required for costing methods other than LIFO and FIFO, adjustments can certainly be used.  They have the advantage of creating a transaction that can be used for auditing purposes.

Adjustments can be entered in either of two ways.  They can be made manually, or a physical inventory can be performed.  In most ERP systems, this will automatically create adjustments based on physical count entries.

If work orders from the current system will be entered into the database, inventory quantities imported or adjusted into the new system should be overstated to include the materials issued to those work orders in the current system.  Then, once the work orders are entered, the required materials should be issued to them.  This results in correct inventory quantities as well as correct material costs in the work orders (WIP).

Installation #5, and we promise this time it will be the final, will cover what you will need at the end of the implementation, what you will need moving forward vs. possible options, and who will be be responsible for what.  YOUR implementation is only as strong as the team you assemble to manage it.

Defining Real-Time ERP

Often with ERP systems, on-the-ground transactions might be executed at point of use, giving the impression of a real time update to the system. Downstream however, batch processes must be run to upload the effect of those transactions to the rest of the system so those effects are visible to users in other modules.

This issue becomes even more complex when dealing with third party applications.  There are certainly many good arguments for partnering with ‘best of breed’ third party applications in certain cases.  One example might be Sales Force Automation (“SFA”) systems.  SFA allows your organization to closely track contact management and sales activities up to the point of quoting and order acceptance.  These systems should integrate at some level to your ERP, most likely once the sales lead has become a customer and ongoing order and invoice activity needs to be visible from the contact management system.  However, sales prospecting, telemarketing and email campaigns do not directly impact order management, inventory tracking and shop floor reporting and movement.

Scheduling and shop floor reporting, however, are two areas that are served by many third party ‘bolt-on’ systems, but each of these areas directly impact your ability to deliver on time, and it is critical that input and output to and from these systems flow in real-time throughout the entire enterprise for you to have a clear picture at any moment where jobs are, what issues exist on the floor, and what inventory shortages might impact delivery to the customer.

A third party scheduling system might allow you to adjust work center queues, view capacity and view the latest schedule data from the host system download, but changes from the front office – rush orders, expediting from the customer and sales order cancellations may not be communicated to the scheduler until the next batch download.  Your scheduling staff is operating with an incomplete schedule.  Changes in the third party system might be made in real-time within that module, but input from other modules is not.  This disconnect from the rest of the system is only exacerbated when the schedule changes themselves are pushed out in batch mode to a third-party shop floor labor data collection system – the work center queues are now in a second order disconnect from front office order changes.

The Benefits of Integrated, Real-Time ERP, MES and Scheduling Systems

Much is made these days of the Global, Interconnected world we live in, from Social Media to Smartphones, but how interconnected is your own shop?  Does purchasing know that Sales booked a bluebird, and materials are not available?  Can the shop floor personnel have a schedule change at their station communicated instantly from the front office?  How many separate spreadsheets does it take for you to run your plant?

Many manufacturers have implemented ERP software systems with the hope of improving their ability to deliver a quality product on-time, while maintaining manageable inventory levels.  In an effort to save money, many companies purchased an entry-level ERP system that might manage inventory, or provide a particular focus for a given industry, but over time these systems have been outgrown as these companies face ever-increasing pressure to deliver on-time, improve quality and reduce prices.

A basic system that provides order processing, inventory management, purchasing and accounting functions cannot provide accurate visibility into real-time shop floor conditions and their impact on customer deliverables.  Likewise, without real-time feedback from the shop floor, the organization cannot see what capacity actually is throughout the day, so new order delivery estimates are hopelessly inaccurate.  To make matters worse, many companies have tried to work around these limitations by creating multiple (dozens of) spreadsheets that carry duplicated and disconnected data.  This causes an extraordinary effort to answer a simple question like ‘do we really have the material to make this job?’

As the demands for ‘better, faster, cheaper’ place more pressure on these manufacturers, the need for an up-to-the-minute view of inventory status, allocations and shop floor capacity becomes critical, as it not only ensures an accurate available to promise for the customer, it also has a dramatic impact on cash flow in the organization.  Timely purchases that consider all current demand allow the manufacturer to make more efficient use of materials, while purchasing exactly what is needed at a better price.

Scheduling is more critical than ever for the small manufacturer, as charges for shipping errors and late orders can add up fast.  Providing up-to-the-second dispatching to the shop floor will ensure the most efficient use of equipment, while freeing the decision makers up to deal with more pressing issues instead of running ‘dispatch lists’ out to the floor.  Knowing the right job to process on a given piece of equipment is essential to avoid these financial penalties.  In addition, providing the estimating department a real-time view of material and available capacity can mean the difference between winning and losing the job, or winning a job that never has a chance to ship on time. It is essential that Estimating is aware of potential bottlenecks up front.

One other important aspect of real-time ERP should include shop floor transaction handling.  For instance, a real-time inventory pick system, possibly bar-coded, is a good improvement, but it still requires an operator leave their station to process the pick.  By combining cellular inventory locations with part picking based on assembly flow, inventory could be updated in real-time, accurate and only require the operator to report the assemblies complete at their station – no pick would be required at all.

Functions where Real-Time Integration is Critical

Estimating / Sales and Scheduling

Today, more than ever, the successful manufacturer has to provide more than the lowest price, or the best quality.  The key to beating the competition lies in total service of your customer’s needs.  Competition demands that small manufacturers quote accurately up front – not just costs, but delivery.  If you are processing 150 – 200 quotes a month, can you hang your hat on the dates you are giving customers?  An ERP system that can account for real-time shop conditions to provide ‘what-if’ delivery dates is essential for you to gain a competitive edge.

This type of view must consider the routings and bill of material in the what-if, load that against current shop load through the routing, and provide you an accurate Promise Date, plus provide visibility as to where bottlenecks might exist if the order is taken.  Only with this data can you quickly decide if the order is doable – or tell you where on the shop floor you need to focus your attention if the what-if does not line up with the customers requirement.  Even if the what-if misses your customer’s date, you may very well take the order, but it is imperative that you know where the bottlenecks will exist.

Ideally, this what-if estimating system would be integrated all the way through to the shop floor, so that major changes that occur throughout the day (machine-down, order cancellations) can be factored into customer promise dates as they occur.  Orders you have lost in the past because of outdated information might be won with this level of integration.

Production Planning and Inventory

Planning production orders requires accurate inventory levels to ensure production proceeds without interruption.  Time-phased item availability is critical to easily see the correct sequence that inventory will be consumed in.  Scheduling and dispatching decisions must be implemented in real time to maintain the correct sequence.  Only when these functions are in harmony can you arrive at an accurate picture of inventory.  In addition, reducing the transaction load on operators to process material issues will increase operator efficiency, while increasing inventory accuracy.  This means that automatically invoking material picks based on assembly part movement can eliminate extra transactions for the operator (increased efficiency), increase inventory accuracy, and provide the front office real-time inventory upon operator clock-out or quantity movement.

Purchasing and Production Planning

One of the most common problems with many ERP systems is a disconnect between Production Planning and Purchasing.  Many small companies rely on spreadsheets with data extracts of job and material data (which are obsolete upon extraction) to manually line up materials for Purchasing.  Often, purchases are made without the knowledge that the same item is required on multiple jobs at the same time, and multiple buyers purchase materials blind to this overlap, causing loss of volume pricing and duplication of effort.

Scheduling, Front Office and the Shop Floor

Small, make to order manufacturers live in an increasingly dynamic world.  Work center dispatch lists have to be communicated throughout the shop, while schedule changes occur constantly.  Estimating needs to provide your customers accurate promise dates, and Expediting needs to find the order on the floor – Now!

Real-time shop floor reporting is a critical asset in the battle to keep up with your customer.

As the scheduler manages the machine queues throughout the day, understanding common processes that might share resources, and quickly grouping these processes can save hours a week on the floor.  Having the ability to quickly move and firm schedule changes, then push those changes out to the work stations instantly and paperlessly can give you a competitive edge.  Your ability to respond to your customers would improve dramatically.

Shop Floor and Sales / Expediting

As work is reported off of work stations and moves through the shop, only a real-time reporting process can provide you the visibility to instantly locate work on the floor.  In addition, real-time reporting tied to your scheduling engine should enable you to identify jobs and processes trending out of control, as it occurs, instead only after the job is already late.  This type of visibility is priceless in the world of make to order manufacturing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, real-time capability is an integral part of an effective ERP system.  Although the term is used in varying contexts, true real-time capability means your system updates information throughout the entire enterprise instantaneously.  Benefits include greater flexibility, control, and visibility for manufacturers, and it can greatly reduce wasted time and resources.   The specific functions of real-time provided above will offer points of reference as you search for a system that includes real-time.

Key takeaways in these areas include:

Estimating / Sales and Scheduling – the ability to accurately estimate delivery time, even identify potential bottlenecks before the order is even taken

Production Planning, Scheduling and Inventory – Ensuring inventory is being used in the most efficient manner, and is only pulled at the appropriate time

Purchasing and Production Planning – Is the company buying the right material with a single lookup that accounts for all jobs for a material

Scheduling, Front Office and the Shop Floor – Have the flexibility to quickly change priority and communicate those change electronically, in real time, out to the operator stations – no paper dispatch lists to walk out to the floor.  Work reported complete reflect in front office tracking instantly, while estimating can do what-if promising based on up to the second status.

Shop Floor and Sales / Expediting – Find the position of any job on the floor instantaneously

Think Before You Leap Into The Cloud

Industry Week recently published an article by Pete Zeppell, VP of Zilliant, ‘To Saas or Not to SaaS’ . The article spoke about the top five key reasons why people should make the shift to a SaaS, or cloud, model for their business performance software.  While I don’t believe the article was intended to address all manufacturing verticals, it did take a general approach where people in small to mid-sized manufacturing companies could get the wrong impression.  The purpose of this blog article is not to discredit Mr. Zeppell’s, but rather to address those philosophies as if they were speaking about ERP (enterprise resource planning) software directly. 

To remain consistent from the previous article, here is my list of 5 reasons to be wary of jumping on the cloud bandwagon when researching a new ERP.

1.  Less resource cost

Yes, there is no argument that the upfront cost of implementing a SaaS or cloud system is one of the top attractions for those models.  But, what happens after 6 months?  A year?  You are still paying monthly perpetual maintenance and service fees, while implementing a new ERP is implementing a new ERP whether it is done on-site or locally.  Small to medium manufacturers can often see an ROI of a year or less on the initial cost of installed software, yet SaaS implementations are a never ending cost.  Your users will still require the same training services.  It “may” be more cost effective from an IT infrastructure standpoint since maintaining the servers and performing updates are completed by the SaaS vendor.

2. Access To Information

When speaking to the manufacturing market, their number one concern with the cloud is the ability to access their information, its security, and overall reliability.  On the cloud, your information is stored in a data center outside of your control. You are now relying on their system, your internet provider, and a host of other variables.  If something, outside of your control happens, natural disaster somewhere else, power outage, etc. you are subject to be locked out of your information.  You are dependent on their system redundancy being what you signed up for.  While this can also happen at your facility, this model simply increases the risk.  Next item is security.  In most cases you can secure access to the server running your ERP solution simply by controlling access from the outside world and strengthening your firewalls.  In some cases there is no access allowed to mission critical system servers other that through your intranet.  Simply by the nature of accessing your information via the web your data is exposed.

A separate question to ask: will customizing your ERP in the cloud allow you to seamlessly upgrade to future versions or will it have to be done on a case by case basis?

Also, when a new version comes out on the cloud model, will you be forced to upgrade to changes and modifications before you are ready?  If you do have customizations what cost will you incur to insure they work properly in a new release?

3. Focus on Customer Success

First off, this is a referral business.  As selecting an ERP is a very big decision, you will need a collection of strong referrals in many different areas: our industry, local ties, recent implementations, 5-year customer, and long-time customer, to name a few of the most common requests from prospects looking for customer referrals.  In other words, whether cloud or installed, your software has the same financial incentive to turn you into a happy customer.  Yes, there is yearly maintenance, there has to be, otherwise the software cannot grow and continue to provide you with the latest advancements you desire.  Don’t let cloud fool you, you’re paying for maintenance in your monthly “fee”, or however they position it.

On the IT side, one of the benefits of the cloud is there will be some savings since you will only need someone capable of maintaining your internal network infrastructure.    On the flip side, this also leaves you very vulnerable if system issues do come up that may require a certain expertise, forcing you to pay IT premium services to resolve the problem.

4. Importance of Implementation

Similar to the first point, whether you are on a cloud or whether your service is on-premise, your implementation and training are the most vital steps to ensuring the success of a new system.  Regardless of whether there is an installation done on site, or whether you sign up on the cloud, the training process should not differentiate.  You will still need to learn how to build an item master, plan and schedule, conduct various accounting procedures, uploading master files and data, and all the other vital areas to your business that will be handled within your new system.   Additionally, whether you are actually customizing the core software or just writing your own reports, the flexibility to do so if needed is important.  SaaS implementations may not offer the ability to customize at all, and most do not even provide you access to your own data for the purpose of as needed queries or reports.  You are often limited to the report generator provided by the software which does not offer the flexibility you need.

5.  Ability to test drive… and further drive YOUR system.

If you were in the market for a new car and you really wanted to spoil yourself, of course you would want to test drive that luxury vehicle to ensure it was the fit right with your every movement.  Fast forward 12 months from your purchase and you noticed something was wrong or you wanted an upgrade to a certain area of the vehicle.  I’m assuming you would want your dealer to have the ability to accommodate to these requirements, correct?

Same is true with a manufacturing ERP vendor.  Again, I’m not sure if IW’s article is meant to cover the entire manufacturing industry, but testing the system on many levels is a crucial aspect to the success of any implementation (might I add every implementation is a major undertaking for these companies).  Specific to ProfitKey’s philosophy, not only should the vendor provide their prospects and customers with a test database, or a sandbox, but the first stage of training should be done right in the heart of the system, with the customers own data, bills of materials, routings, etc., all before the full implementation process has even begun.

In addition, while it is nice when the market/vendor provides you with a new set of bells and whistles, what is most important to you, is going to be what areas can be improved or modified that are specific to your growth needs.  A true ERP vendor will be customer-driven.  What I mean by that is, they will have a firm understanding of their market and customer base which will dictate what advancements will happen.  Why pay for things you don’t care about nor will ever use?

While the cloud is rapidly growing and no longer in the infant stage, including in the manufacturing industry, there are still many uncertainties hovering over it. This is especially true when you are talking to the robust functionality that many of the long-standing hosted vendors can provide.  They, too, realize this shift of focus and the benefits that the cloud and hosted models can and will provide.  Simply put, for a project that will help shape the future of your company, and sometimes re-shape the risk of this platform for small to mid-size manufacturing companies is too high right now.

Pre-Implementation Planning Meeting

With the implementation team and other key personnel now adequately trained, the team and the AE can apply the team’s new found understanding of how your ERP system operates to mapping out the details of the implementation and refining the project plan.

During this process, decisions will be made shaping the course of the implementation.  For example:  How will the system variables be configured?  What costing method will be used?  Will scheduling be finite or infinite; forwards or backwards?

Determination will be made as to which data will be brought over from your current system.  Procedures will be developed for the performance of day to day activities.

Typically, the settings and procedures mentioned above are preliminary.  Usually, a test database is constructed in which these can be tested.  Once the settings’ full effects become clear, changes can be made and testing repeated.  This process helps ensure the various settings and procedures are optimal when they are later entered into the live database.

Administrative Training

Security

All ERP systems offer some form of native security.  Those personnel administering the system will need to be trained in its security features before the test database is opened to users.

Database Schema

While some ERP systems use a proprietary database, virtually all systems now incorporate an open database structure.  In either case, administrative personnel will need training in the database’s schema so that data can be mined and standard reports customized as needed.

Data Import

Again, virtually all ERP systems include a data import utility.  In all likelihood, it is this utility that will be used to migrate selected data from your current system (even if it is just a collection of disparate spreadsheets) into your new database.  Your administrative personnel will need to be trained on the operation of your ERP system’s import utility.

Our fourth and final installation of this blog series will be released in just a couple of weeks.  Contact us directly with any questions you may have and, as always, feel free to learn more about the different aspects and functionality of an ERP by visiting here.

Many manufacturers have spoken out, including customers and prospects of ours, who are genuinely worried and have cut back on certain expenditures in order to minimize risk for 2013.  With that said, the one trend which remains true is, regardless of what happens in the marketplace, more and more manufacturers are realizing that in order to continue growing and competing at a high level, they need a manufacturing system in place to help with their visibility on their shop floor through the front office and to increase quality, on-time delivery, and cash flow, amongst many other areas.

In collaboration with Pemeco Consulting, an unbiased and independent agency who helps and assists with ERP selection, implementation, project management, and business requirements assessment services, we have provided a small series of webinar videos (click here) that discuss various trends throughout manufacturing, highlighting on how many are expressing similar pains in their current processes.

Five Tips To Balance Manufacturing Supply & Demand

Are you confident that MRP (material resource planning) purchase recommendations reflect actual inventory requirements?  Do you know whether sales order promise dates account for actual materials, capacity, and scheduling constraints? If you answer “no” to these and similar questions, your manufacturing business might want to think about how it can leverage ERP (enterprise resource planning) software to improve customer service and operating efficiency.

This video series will help teach and talk upon critical ERP Tips to Achieving Enterprise Integration, including, but not limited, to the following:

- Gain valuable tips on how to optimize your manufacturing operations by synchronizing demand with supply.
- Gain real-time insights into operations to ensure accurate and profitable order quotes.
- Lean out your supply chain by improving inventory & production control.
- Improve quality, on-time delivery, cash flow, & more!
- Save yourself time and $$ on shop floor management techniques.

For the purpose of this session, we will focus on ETO (engineer-to-order) manufacturing companies who are a small to mid-sized business.

Thank you for watching!

*Special Note From ProfitKey:  If you see a video or advertisment below, this is in no way associated with ProfitKey or our blog site.  We are working diligently to have it removed and we apologize for any inconvenience.*

The thing that was a little different about other such projects was that Owen had approached me to ask whether we could use ProfitKey’s Rapid Response Manufacturing to track the volunteer hours and materials costs.  His idea was to use a bar coded ‘traveler’ for the project steps, clock in the volunteers as the came and went, issue the materials into the walkway job, then report to the Eagle Board of Review for his final acceptance as Eagle Scout.

He and I worked on preparing the bill of materials (sand, brick, edging, etc) and routings (trench dig, base layer, lay brick) into the ProfitKey system.  We then added all the scouts and their parents as ‘Operators’, and brought a laptop and scanner to the job site.

Needless to say, the scouts (and their dads) thought the scanner was pretty cool, and Owen captured all the activity throughout the build phase of the project.

When the project was complete, ProfitKey Labor reports went into his Project Workbook for the summary of the entire project.

The big night came, where Owen had to go before the Eagle Scout Board of Review, made up of Scout executives from our district.  He went in with his scoutmaster and his Eagle Scout advisor, while I sat out in the hallway.  It reminded me of those old TV shows where the expectant father waited in a smoke-filled waiting room for the birth of a child.

When Owen went before the Eagle Scout Board of Review, He presented his workbook, and was able to answer all the questions asked of him about his management of the project.  The ProfitKey labor reports were a big hit with the Board of Review, as were the copies of the bar coded traveler.

The board members were especially impressed with his initiative to use the ProfitKey software for scanning the volunteers.

Owen passed his Board of Review with flying colors!  At the conclusion of the Review, Owen was a newly minted Eagle Scout, and his parents and we at ProfitKey could not be more proud!  To be involved in this type of service project was a real treat for all of us at ProfitKey International.

Congratulations, Owen!