Manufacturers face increasing pressure to maintain sustainable business practices. To respond to evolving customer and public demands, manufacturers need business software solutions that help reduce costs and support sustainable manufacturing.
With Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, businesses can better manage recycling, inventory and transportation costs, compliance and operational efficiency.
Here’s a closer look at how manufacturer’s can boost sustainability using ERP software:
Sustainability Pressure on Manufacturers
Sustainability has long been at the forefront of manufacturing, but the issue has risen in popularity in recent years. Today, environmentally perceptive customers expect that the products they buy are made using sustainable business practices. This expectation means companies need to be increasingly diligent about inventory and transportation issues, compliance complexities and the greening of their supply chains.
Fundamentally, sustainability in manufacturing means reducing the environmental footprint and minimizing health risks throughout the production cycle. Achieving those goals means focusing on multiple operational issues, including:
- Product Design
Product design needs to focus on decreasing the amount of scrap and planning for waste reduction from the initial production stages. - Inventory Management
In lean manufacturing, high replenishment rates are optimal. However, with sustainable manufacturing, businesses need to focus instead on reducing replenishment frequencies to lower emissions. - Supply Chain Integration
The supply chain is integral to sustainable manufacturing. At every stage of production and product life, a commitment to efficiency and sustainability is imperative. Throughout the product life cycle, including end of life, supply chain partners need to be engaged and demonstrate their work on sustainable production principles. - Compliance
Compliance plays an increasingly critical role in manufacturing. Companies need to meet regulatory mandates around production, security, cybersecurity, safety and data. Failure to comply means costly sanctions, loss of business and reputational harm. - Distribution
Companies today have access to myriad technologies designed to improve tracking, inventory and shipping information. Such solutions improve operational efficiency, sustainability and customer service.
How ERP Helps with Sustainability in Manufacturing
Acumatica Cloud ERP is designed for the manufacturing industry. It connects all areas of your business, including finance, human resources, operations, warehouse and inventory, distribution and customer service into one cloud solution. This gives business leaders the visibility, insight and control they need to ensure sustainability.
Acumatica provides users with a single source for information, allowing employees and business leaders to collaborate, share data and solve problems faster. Here are a few of the key features that a manufacturing ERP solution offers that can help manufacturers address vitally important sustainability issues:
- Production management tools that track by job, order or inventory
- Lot, sub-lot and serial number traceability
- Comprehensive and detailed technical product information shared across sales, purchasing, finance, inventory and production
- Support for multilevel bills of materials management
- Sophisticated cost accounting, including simulated standard cost calculations and cost attributions to multiple categories
- Material planning tools, including budget analyses and feasibility modeling
- Work order release management
- Configurable, customizable features for fields and reporting
Acumatica is a complete Cloud ERP solution for all your business management needs. As one of the largest Acumatica teams in North America, NexTec Group has been implementing Cloud ERP for customers since 2015. To learn how NexTec and Acumatica can help your company commit to sustainability practices, reduce costs and deliver better products, reach out to us. We’d love to chat.