- Increasingly complex supply chains. Manufacturers are becoming less vertically integrated as globalization progresses. Components and sub-assemblies that used to be manufactured “in-house” are now being sourced from outside suppliers, often located overseas. At the same time, “lean” initiatives put pressure on inventories of these critical components, which means that supply chain visibility and execution become key to delivering finished goods to the customer.
- Demand for customization. Customers of this industry demand increasing flexibility in terms of the product they order. Where the rule used to be “any color as long as it is black”, manufacturers are now forced to offer a wide variety of features and options that affect not just the color, but also the fundamental engineering of the product. As this progresses, the ability to simply build finished goods “to stock” is reduced.
- Service parts fulfillment. Complex machines can have complex service requirements. In the capital equipment industry, customer machine downtime can translate not only into customer dissatisfaction but can even translate into concrete penalties.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Frontier handle the increasing customization demands in capital equipment and industrial products?
Capital equipment and industrial products have shifted from largely standard configurations to increasingly customer-specified products — features, options, and engineering parameters that affect not just appearance but fundamental product design. Frontier’s parametric configurator manages this complexity by encoding the engineering rules that govern valid configurations, so customers and sales teams can specify options within the constraints the manufacturer’s engineers have defined. Only valid, buildable configurations can be ordered — preventing the errors that occur when salespeople commit to configurations that engineering then has to evaluate and often reject or modify.
How does Frontier support complex supply chains for industrial manufacturers sourcing sub-assemblies from global suppliers?
Frontier’s supply chain management suite supports the visibility and execution requirements of complex, extended supply chains — purchasing, receiving, supplier performance tracking, and material requirements planning that spans both internally manufactured and externally sourced components. For industrial manufacturers whose supply chains include overseas component suppliers with long lead times, Frontier’s DRP and MRP modules manage the planning horizon needed to ensure critical components arrive when production needs them, while lean inventory initiatives are supported through tighter demand-driven replenishment rather than safety stock buffers.
How does Frontier handle service parts fulfillment for capital equipment manufacturers?
Frontier includes service and warranty management as part of the sales order management suite, with the ability to track equipment history, manage service orders, and fulfill aftermarket parts requirements. For capital equipment manufacturers where machine downtime at a customer site can result in contractual penalties, having service parts inventory and order fulfillment managed within the same system as the original equipment production gives service teams accurate visibility into parts availability and lead times. Return authorization and warranty claims are tracked against original order and configuration records.
Does Frontier support mixed-mode manufacturing for industrial manufacturers that build some products to stock and others to order?
Yes. Frontier’s mixed-mode manufacturing support handles the combination of make-to-order finished goods and make-to-stock sub-assemblies and components within the same system. For industrial manufacturers that stock commonly used sub-assemblies — engines, control units, hydraulic assemblies — while building final products to order, Frontier’s planning modules manage both replenishment of stocked items and production of configured finished goods from the same demand signal. This reduces lead times for configured orders while controlling inventory investment in sub-assemblies.
