The shop floor is the hub of activity for any manufacturing organization. It's particularly true in the Food and Beverage sector. But mistakes by humans happen frequently, and things break which causes shop floor productivity to decrease. If the shop floor is unproductive, the company won't operate in a way that will generate a profit. 

That's where an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system can fool-proof your Food and Beverage manufacturing operation.

Any production team can manage the shop floor more productively with the correct ERP solution. Making rapid, confident decisions is essential for being competitive. If a business pulls data by hand, this may be very challenging. 

An ERP system is helpful for Food and Beverage manufacturers when it comes to changing the corporate culture to one of continuous improvement, regardless of the size of your operation.

A case for automating the shop floor with an ERP solution

Food and Beverage manufacturing production planners are often contacted by customer care representatives inquiring about the status of a specific project. Naturally, customers want to know when their goods will be ready.

Without automation, it takes time to respond to a straightforward inquiry. People need to get up from their desks, move around the facility, inquire of the operators or supervisors about any developments, and then message the representative to answer their queries. If this occurs several times per day, it wastes a significant amount of time. Even worse, operators or supervisors might only be able to offer educated guesses.

Sound familiar?

Often, there is no method to monitor what is occurring on the shop floor. Plant management and front office employees can be unaware of what's happening. If your company still uses timecards and spreadsheets to maintain labor data, such as personnel starting and stopping their shifts and machine activity, you likely experience the frustrations that manual operations can bring on:

Errors introduced by manual data entry into your system

Mistakes render data untrustworthy throughout the organization, from payroll employees to estimators. Additionally, they cost money in missed productivity, inaccurate estimations, and time for your staff to find and correct errors.

Incorrect labor and production expenses

You probably don't understand your margins well when you don't know exactly how many hours it takes to do the work, and your quotes are speculative. Overvaluing can result in more business loss to rivals while undervaluing leaves money on the table.

Outdated information or disparities in data between departments

You don't want yesterday's numbers if you need to make a crucial decision. The same holds for processes that rely on the same data to complete tasks, such as planning and scheduling. Mismatched historical figures are simply unacceptable.

These problems are vital reasons to adopt digital shop floor management. Companies that embrace digital transformation and adopt an automated solution like DynamicsFoodERP from Liberty Grove enjoy many benefits.

12 compelling reasons to incorporate an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system

#1 Reduce the inconvenience of paper-based procedures: A brief introduction to digital shop floor management is first. Consider it a method for gathering up-to-the-minute labor data from your plant operations and making it available to everyone who needs it via a single, user-friendly platform. It can keep track of everything, including when your employees clock in and out for the day, the jobs they are working on, project timing, and even which machines are creating bottlenecks.

Digitizing and connecting that data with your ERP platform is a potent technique to remove the difficulties of manually tracking data (or not recording it at all) and boost your company's profitability.

Data is automatically captured and delivered to your ERP system each time an employee signs in for the day or starts a new project. It significantly reduces expensive errors that waste time and money, saving staff from re-keying information into a second system.

#2 Real-time, trustworthy data: Can you rely on data full of inaccuracies or frequently outdated? Automation can deliver insight and accuracy across your business almost as rapidly as events take place on your manufacturing floor.

#3 Usability: It's okay if you're not a computer wiz! Best-in-class systems for managing the shop floor require little configuration during setup. Additionally, for your shop floor workers, clocking in and out will be as easy as a scan or a tap.

#4 One system of record: By keeping your labor data in one location, multiple departments will have simultaneous access to exact figures, a significant advantage in improving collaboration and decision-making throughout the company.

#5 Flexible methods of operation: Your shop floor management system should be adaptable enough to record the information that matters most to your company. By establishing your criteria, you can be sure you're gathering and disseminating the most important metrics to your company.

#6 Enhanced client services: Real-time work progress visibility enables you to give consumers more precise delivery dates.

#7 Time savings: No more circling the area to check on the status of a project. Salespeople and plant managers can swiftly look it up.

#8 Greater capacity utilization: You can identify bottlenecks and make necessary adjustments when you have real-time visibility into who is working on which computers or machines.

#9 More accurate citation: When you carefully monitor shop floor data, you can determine the precise amount of labor required because time equals money. Now that you are more aware of your expenses, you can submit a quote for the next project that you are confident will be lucrative.

#10 Money savings: Errors are expensive. Automated data collection eliminates the need to waste time finding and correcting mistakes. It highlights errors that would otherwise go undetected, preventing further loss of income.

#11 Data-based decisions: When you can easily access your labor data, you can see where your resources are going and decide how to distribute them more wisely. Everything is affected by this, including hiring more employees and product pricing.

#12 Increased output: Automated labor data collection frees employees from tedious duties like filling out manual timesheets and uploading that data into the ERP system. They may now concentrate on things that bring in money. The first step in streamlining procedures on the shop floor for the Food and Beverage industry is to create an accurate workflow. 

Food and Beverage manufacturers must adhere to tight rules on organization and cleanliness. When your employees ignore regulations and processes, the company suffers. Consumers may become seriously ill or even die if workers in the Food and Beverage business behave irresponsibly on the shop floor. 

A Food and Beverage manufacturer's shop floor excellence depends heavily on technology. Many businesses do not prioritize keeping up with the most recent technical developments in the Food and Beverage industry. That is particularly valid for mid-sized businesses with little investment capital. It might be challenging to make such a big decision when introducing new technology. However, there are situations when it can simplify matters and significantly enhance shop floor procedures. 

An ERP solution is your recipe for success

While technology has excellent potential to increase productivity and efficiency in the Food and Beverage industry, many businesses resist new approaches. According to Food Engineering, over half of American Food and Beverage manufacturers still use spreadsheets for various purposes.

Manufacturers in the Food and Beverage sector that embrace digitization and new technology are more productive, can maintain competitiveness, and realize shop floor excellence. That doesn't mean that a manufacturer must upgrade all of its systems and procedures at once, but rather that it must be willing to upgrade small projects one at a time while keeping in mind that technology is constantly evolving.

Ready to take your shop floor productivity to new heights?

Liberty Grove can help you use many tools and services to help you achieve a successful Food and Beverage ERP implementation that will improve productivity, efficiency, and profitability throughout your organization.

Contact Liberty Grove for a complimentary consultation on how DynamicsFoodERP can increase your shop floor productivity and give you the data insights you need to improve decision-making and compete at a higher level.

Related reading:

Increase Employee Productivity with A Modern ERP Solution

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About the author

Liberty Grove Software is an established Microsoft Partner that focuses on providing customers with sales, service, and support for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central/NAV solutions and training and upgrades.

Over more than 25 years, Liberty Grove has assisted hundreds of customers with businesses ranging from small to mid-sized to Microsoft Partners in implementing, training, customization, and upgrading Microsoft Dynamics ERP solutions.

The organization is one of only a few companies worldwide that Microsoft recognizes as qualified to provide Business Central/NAV Upgrade Service Centers.

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