Automation is not just a buzzword, it is a requirement for today’s manufacturers to increase productivity and lower costs. It requires more than robotic machines and assembly lines to aid with discrete manufacturing production. Manufacturers must adopt faster and more accurate automated operations across the board.
To stay competitive, many manufacturers are turning to ERP systems. For discrete manufacturers, embracing ERP automation isn’t just a trend—it’s a strategic move towards enhancing operational efficiency, optimizing workflows, and achieving greater agility.
This blog explores the top benefits of ERP automation for discrete manufacturers and demonstrates how ERP system technology can enhance processes and drive business success.
Understanding Discrete Manufacturing
Discrete manufacturing involves making individual items that are easy to count, touch, and see, including custom-made products. Think about cabinets, automotive parts, furniture, or even window blinds—each item is unique and has a specific assembly process.
The discrete manufacturing method stands out for its capability to schedule and monitor production on a per-unit basis, offering flexibility and customization. Each product retains its unique identity, making it ideal for industries that demand high levels of precision and consistency.
Key Characteristics
Tangible Products: Each product is a tangible, distinct item, like a window or a piece of furniture.
Assembly-Based: Manufacturing involves assembling parts and components.
Variable Production: Products can vary in design and features, offering customization options.
Differences Between Discrete and Process Manufacturing
Process Manufacturing: Involves creating products from formulas or recipes, like chemicals or food products. The focus is on mixing ingredients rather than assembling parts.
Discrete Manufacturing: Focuses on assembling parts into a final product. Each product is unique and often can be disassembled into its components.
Overview of ERP Systems
Frontier ERP goes beyond your basic ERP system with innovative features and advanced automation capabilities.
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems serve as the foundation of business operations for manufacturers. A discrete manufacturing ERP integrates everything from finance and order management to inventory control and production scheduling. ERPs transmit data from a single source of truth across various departments. This provides a real-time, holistic view of essential processes and business activities.
An article by TEC Team goes as far as stating that “ERP software basically exists to automate traditional business functions and record-keeping activities.” The best ERP system for manufacturing is equipped with numerous automated features to enhance efficiency. They facilitate efficient decision-making, resource allocation, and collaboration by managing complex datasets and automated processes. These features make ERP software an ideal solution for discrete manufacturing companies.
Core Modules and Functionalities of ERP Systems
Modern manufacturing ERP systems have a set of core features that optimize operations including:
- Finance and Accounting: Track financial transactions, manage budgets, calculate product costs, and generate financial reports. Handle accounts payable, accounts receivable, and general ledger.
- Human Resources: Maintain employee records, manage payroll, and track attendance. Monitor labor hours as part of project management.
- Inventory Management: Monitor inventory levels, track stock movements, and manage stock replenishment.
- Supply Chain Management: Manage relationships with suppliers, track purchase orders, and monitor supplier performance. Complete distribution requirements planning and manage logistics operations.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Track customer interactions, manage sales pipelines, and handle customer inquiries. Provide support and manage service requests.
- Manufacturing Management: Plan and schedule production activities, allocate resources, and manage work orders. Material Requirements Planning (MRP) to ensure materials are available for production, manage inventory levels, and plan purchasing activities.
Benefits of Automated ERP Processes
Discrete manufacturing companies reap many rewards when they utilize automated ERP processes throughout the organization.
1. Increased Operational Efficiency and Accuracy
Automation reduces manual data entry and errors, ensuring your data is accurate and up-to-date. It also speeds up processes and reduces downtime, leading to higher productivity.
2. Streamlined Workflows
Automated processes streamline your operations, from order management to production planning.
3. Real-time Visibility
Get insights into all of your business operations with real-time data analytics and reporting.
4. Improved Product Quality
Consistent quality checks during production ensure your products meet high standards, reducing defects and returns.
5. Enhanced Decision-Making
Real-time data and analytics provide valuable insights for informed decisions, helping you respond quickly to market changes.
6. Better Inventory Management
Keep optimal inventory levels, reduce carrying costs, and avoid stockouts.
7. Faster Response Times
Quickly adapt to market changes and customer demands with agile and flexible automated processes.
8. Enhanced Compliance
Stay on top of regulatory requirements with automated tracking and reporting, reducing the risk of non-compliance.
9. Cost Savings
Automation reduces labor costs, minimizes waste, and optimizes resource utilization, leading to significant cost savings.
10. Increased Customer Satisfaction
Efficient order management, timely deliveries, and high-quality products enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Key Frontier ERP Processes for Discrete Manufacturing
By utilizing automated processes in ERP systems, discrete manufacturers can boost their operational efficiency, enhance quality control, and respond swiftly to market changes. This can be accomplished through the typical ERP system on the market. However, Frontier ERP for discrete manufacturing includes additional automated processes for complex product configurations, quoting, analytics, reporting, and more.
Product Configuration Management
Product configuration management (PCM) is vital for handling the complexity of customizable products in discrete manufacturing. Frontier PCM enables you to manage complex product configurations efficiently, ensuring that each customized product meets customer specifications and quality standards.
Frontier ERP includes built-in CPQ software that streamlines sales order management because of its automated configuration, pricing, quoting, and scheduling capabilities.
Maintaining control and consistency across various product configurations can be challenging for discrete manufacturers with multiple product lines. Frontier’s product configuration tools allow you to track and manage different product specifications, including variations in design, materials, and features for custom orders.
At the core of Frontier’s PCM is our powerful parametric product configurator. It offers numerous advantages over simpler rules-based models like advanced product complexity often required by custom manufacturers. The driver of Frontier’s Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) software, this robust configurator works automatically with our sales order management module to streamline order fulfillment.
Frontier PCM also allows you to automatically create and maintain BOMs (bills of materials) for accurate product configurations. This ensures that all necessary components are available for and included in production. Plus, you can easily manage changes to product configurations and BOMs with real-time, error-free updates.
Sales Order Management
Frontier recognizes that efficient sales order management is crucial in discrete manufacturing. Frontier ERP streamlines sales order processing and work order management by tracking each order from start to finish.
Utilizing Frontier’s built-in CPQ software, configurations and pricing automatically pull for faster quotes and order fulfillment. It also is connected with the inventory management module to ensure that needed stock is available for production. In addition, Frontier’s production scheduling visibility ensures appropriate lead times are applied to quotes.
Frontier ERP helps discrete manufacturers manage dealer networks too. eQuote Dealer automates the creation of quotes based on predefined templates and pricing rules and provides visibility to real-time ERP data, ensuring consistency and accuracy. This enhances dealer communication and allows them to submit quotes quickly.
Frontier also streamlines customer order transmissions. Automatically deliver customer orders via EDI or Frontier DataBroker for error-free processing. Or, if your company has a branded customer portal, our eBusiness tools make it simple to integrate Frontier ERP’s online ordering features on your company’s site.
Manufacturing Management and Execution
Production planning, scheduling, and execution can make or break a discrete manufacturing business. Frontier ERP’s automated processes for manufacturing management and execution ensure that you have the necessary materials and resources when you need them.
Enjoy better shop floor control and optimize production efficiency with Frontier Advanced Manufacturing Execution (AME). A core feature, AME provides visibility into production activities, automates assignments, and helps control costs in real time. Automated machine cutting mapping also eliminates interface or data re-entry issues often encountered in discrete manufacturing
Frontier’s Manufacturing Management capabilities are plentiful. Master Production Schedule (MPS) automatically links with Frontier’s order management system and allows you to plan production activities. It includes a robust manufacturing and capacity planning tool with cutting-edge scheduling abilities. Automatically calculate material requirements, plan purchasing activities, and manage inventory levels with Material Requirements Planning (MRP) tools. Plus, ensure that production capacity meets the demands of the production schedule with Frontier’s Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP) feature.
Inventory Management
With Frontier ERP, you can control inventory levels, optimize warehouse operations, and implement just-in-time (JIT) inventory strategies. This reduces waste and ensures you have what components you need when you need them. Automatically monitor stock levels, track inventory movements, and manage stock replenishment with Frontier. An added benefit is that you can minimize inventory levels by ordering materials only when needed for production.
Frontier’s multi-plant database offers centralized visibility and management of inventory requirements, replenishments, and availability across all plants and warehouses. Manage your inventory with features like location control, lot traceability, and serial number tracking. It supports flexible levels of real-time inventory control for specific products and different locations, all from one centralized database.
Supply Chain Management
Quality Supply Chain Management (SCM) is vital for sourcing raw materials and delivering finished goods. By automating processes and minimizing waste, SCM helps discrete manufacturers reduce costs and boost productivity.
Frontier ERP supply chain management features help you manage supplier relationships, procurement, and logistics. Improve your supplier relationships by tracking supplier performance, managing purchase orders, and ensuring timely delivery of materials. Frontier SCM also automates the purchasing process, manages supplier contracts, and tracks procurement activities.
Easily monitor your sales, production, and financial KPIs with robust reporting and analytics tools from Frontier ERP.
Utilizing ERP data, our SCM plans truckloads based on user-defined rules, integrating sales, production, and configuration information. Frontier Dispatch Truckload Planning is fully integrated with the ERP and easily integrates with third-party route planning and optimization tools.
Robust Reporting and Data Analytics
Accurate data insights are crucial for making informed decisions in discrete manufacturing. Frontier ERP provides comprehensive reporting and analytics tools to help you gain a holistic understanding of your operations to drive continuous improvement.
Frontier ERP allows you to customize dashboards so you can monitor discrete manufacturing key performance indicators (KPIs) at a glance. It includes charts, graphs, and other visual tools to make complex data easy to understand and act upon. Frontier’s advanced analytics and automated reporting also provide predictive analytics to forecast demand, identify trends, and optimize processes. This access to real-time information lets you scrutinize all aspects of your operations, from production to finance.
Conclusion
Using ERP automation is not just a tech upgrade. It is a crucial step for long-term business success. Automated discrete manufacturing ERP processes offer a transformative approach to enhancing operational efficiency, precision, and responsiveness. These benefits lead to increased productivity and cost savings, essential for staying competitive in today’s dynamic market.
As we’ve explored, ERP automation goes beyond simple process improvement—it provides a strategic framework for innovation and growth. By using automated processes in discrete manufacturing, you can increase efficiency, flexibility, and profits, helping your company succeed in the industry.
Ready to take your discrete manufacturing to the next level? Contact us for a consultation or a Frontier ERP demo. Don’t forget to subscribe to our blog for more insights and updates on ERP and manufacturing trends!
