Manufacturing Software
Tips & Advice to help you make your decision on Manufacturing Software
The computer age has brought about a tremendous amount of change in how businesses run and operate on a daily basis. Specific types of software products have revolutionized how every aspect is carried out, including marketing, manufacturing, and distribution of services and goods. In most cases, these software packages are customized according to business size, type, and individual needs. You and your company can easily have software programs customized to handle and manage every aspect of your operations. Manufacturing software is often considered to be one of the best types of products for this purpose.
There are several factors that should be considered when choosing the right manufacturing software for your company's needs including the features, formatting, and design of the system. In most cases, you will be able to work with a supplier to customize the software package exactly as you need it for optimum efficiency and convenience. The program you choose should be reliable, accurate, and provide easy to use interfaces for smooth work flow. In addition to providing state of the art software programs, your supplier will most likely provide staff training, installation, and technical support for the program as long as you choose to use it.
More information can be found on the left side of the page.
Manufacturing Software
Make your operations more efficient with the right programsBy Tonya Vinas, Writer, Editor, Researcher Tonya Vinas There are dozens of categories of manufacturing software. Some focus on process, some focus on integrating silos within a company, and some focus on better relations with customers and/or suppliers. To decide what type of software to investigate, define your goal:
- If the problem that needs to be solved is one contained within operations, then software that focuses on scheduling, materials planning and procurement, inventory or other operations-oriented functions is called for.
- If your company needs more enterprise-wide control, then enterprise resource planning (ERP) or product lifecycle management (PLM) might be more appropriate.
- If sharing information with suppliers is what is needed, then investigate supply-chain management offerings. To better serve customers, review customer-resource management systems.
- For any solution, request and expect a trial. Implementations can run from several thousand dollars to several hundred thousand depending upon size of your business and scope of the solution.
Plant-floor improvement
Production-scheduling software (a.k.a. finite capacity scheduling software or manufacturing planning software) lets users schedule orders for machinery, labor units, inventory space and other manufacturing assets based on the finite availability of the assets.
Try: Vendors include Waterloo Manufacturing Software, Preactor International and NETAPS.
ERP and beyond
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is one of the most commonly used software solutions in manufacturing. It manages companies from a financial-metrics point of view. Much consolidation has occurred in the big companies recently.
Try: Two of the biggest players are SAP and Oracle Corp. Others include HP and Epicor.
PLM options
One of the fastest-growing areas of manufacturing software is product-lifecycle-management (PLM), which focuses on managing documentation of a product's life from every perspective — suppliers, materials used, logistics, liabilities, etc.
Try: Two of the biggest vendors in this area are PTC and UGS.
Making connections
As the importance of supply-chain management has grown in global manufacturing, so have the offerings of software that assist with supply-chain management.
Try: Some of the companies that offer this include ClickCommerce, Manhattan Associates and i2 Technologies.
- Solutions options vary: a hosted solution in which the actual program resides on an external server (usually the most affordable, but some consider it the least secure), off-the-shelf software (a moderate choice in terms of cost and function) or custom-built (most expensive, best customized functionality).
- Many other types of manufacturing software exist, including manufacturing resource planning (MRP), manufacturing execution systems (MES), warehouse management systems (WMS) and a cadre of product design systems such as CAD. Often, the best way to determine exactly what your company needs is to hire a chief technology officer or consult with an outside specialist.
Proven Solution For Automating All Aspects Of Job Shop. Free Demo!
2012 Top 15 Manufacturing Software Vendor Rankings. Get Free Research.
Streamline Production with Plex® & Integrate Shop Floor to Top Floor!
Leading Cloud-Based Integrated Business Suite for Manufacturing
Integrated Manufacturing Solutions Accounting, Inventory, Distribution
