In today’s complex environment of manufacturing, what makes or breaks a quarter can often be summed up in just one word, production planning. Manufacturing has long depended on spreadsheets and hunches when it comes to scheduling jobs. While that approach may have been acceptable years ago, the current state of manufacturing has made manual management untenable. Volatile demands, disrupted supply chains, and increasing material costs demand flexibility. This is precisely why manufacturers now look to solutions like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. As an all-inclusive ERP system tailored for manufacturers of smaller scale, it helps manufacturers turn production planning from a problem into a strategy.
The following is a brief look at how leading manufacturers are leveraging the capabilities of Business Central.
1. Centralized Data for Precise Forecasting
Lack of information flow is one of the greatest obstacles in production planning. What is the point of having sales data and warehouse statistics disconnected when there is nothing but chaos?
With Business Central, you have a “single source of truth” all your financials, sales, service, and operations are now integrated into a centralized system. When salespeople enter their orders, the system calculates available inventories and material at hand, enabling precise forecasting and helping you to produce what should be produced, without any extra costs for maintaining unnecessary stocks.
2. Efficient Supply Chain Management
A production plan will be useless without adequate material management. With Business Central, you have access to powerful Supply Planning tools, which streamline the entire requisition process.
No more manual estimations of how many materials will be necessary for a future run. Business Central takes care of all the calculations based on your sales forecasts and open production orders. It even suggests purchase orders automatically, depending on lead times and reordering parameters. In case of delays from your suppliers, you get a timely notification and can change your production plans accordingly.
3. Visualizing Capacity Using Agility
A bottleneck in a business environment results in lost profits. The Business Central allows visualization of work centre utilization and utilization of machine centres. There is precise information regarding the amount of available capacity compared to the demand for such capacity.
In case a particular machine is overloaded, then there is an option for conducting a “what-if” scenario. Production orders may be reallocated by scheduling in another shift or outsourcing the order. This ensures that the deadlines are achieved without overstressing employees.
4. Optimization of Shop Floor Processes
The planning process takes place in the office; however, the implementation occurs at the shop floor. Through digital solutions, Business Central closes the gap between the two.
Real-time information can be generated when collecting data at the shop floor using touch screen, barcode, or IoT technology. This helps to track the production and scrap numbers for continuous improvement. In case the production time is higher than the planned one, the standard routing data is updated. Therefore, all plans will be accurate according to reality, not theories.
5. Enhanced Version Control and Quality
If you are a manufacturer that deals with complex BOM’s, even an engineering change may spoil everything without a proper communication among all involved parties. Using Business Central, you can ensure that everyone works with the latest BOM version. Any engineering change will be reflected immediately at the shop floor level.
Conclusion
Production planning is not simply about making sure the machine runs smoothly but making the best use of resources for increased profitability. By adopting Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, the manufacturer will be able to improve their operations by reducing lead times, lowering their inventory cost, and responding to customers’ needs more effectively.
Given the nature of manufacturing, the adoption of ERP becomes inevitable.
