Just imagine being a producer in a country like the Netherlands... Of course: our country is a leader in a number of sectors, but for most producers it is still hard work not to be overtaken by the competition left and right. Innovation is the solution: but how?

It is precisely producers in traditional sectors who are struggling. Thanks to globalization, the price of their products is under enormous pressure.

The same things are produced in low-wage countries, but at a fraction of the price. And those products are also ordered with the click of a mouse by the buyer. How do you compete against that?

More efficient or innovative

Actually, in the long run, there are only two solutions for manufacturers: become much more efficient or start making products that are progressive and unique through innovation. For both solutions, however, good ERP software is the foundation on which to build (further):

• Research shows that labor productivity has increased only 9 percent over the past 12 years. That's because many manufacturers focus more on automating the assembly line process, rather than further automating the digital process that ultimately encompasses the overall manufacturing process. Old ERP software is often the bottleneck here.
  <p>Producers

  traditionally often focus more on further automating the assembly line process than on revamping their enterprise software.

  Whereas in modern factories everything is automated, people in the office are still manually ordering raw materials, manually entering orders, arranging shipments and sending invoices.

  Dare to put the total production process on a timeline, including all the administrative work around it. Be honest: where is the most time lost? And where are the most mistakes made? Not in the factory right?

• For innovation, something similar applies. When it comes to innovation, manufacturers are quick to look at their products and production process. Innovating these is more obvious than innovating in business software, it seems.

  Yet the question is whether that is justified. What delivers more at the end of the road? Sometimes it helps to reason from back to front. What is the end point: where do you want to go as a producer? And what steps are needed to achieve that? Sooner or later you will find out that your ERP system is key.

  Revamping your ERP package can be a daunting task, but when it comes to ROI, no other innovation in your company can compete with it. Many ERP packages today pay for themselves in as little as 12 months....

Manual work versus creativity

Even when you, as a manufacturer, decide to make time and space for innovation to your products or production process, you cannot avoid good ERP software. Actually, it's very simple: innovation requires creativity: out-of-the-box thinking. And precisely the daily hustle and bustle of manual operations kills that creativity.

It is precisely the daily busyness of manual operations that kills the creativity needed for innovation.

Just look around you: which companies stand out to you for innovation and heady growth? Those are precisely the companies that have made timely investments in ERP software that are no longer limiting progress.

In other words, if you want to move forward as a company, your employees need to get out of robot mode and make room for dreaming and thinking.

What does a good ERP system do for you?

Backwards reasoning is also a good idea as input to your wish list when it comes to a new ERP package. Where do you want to go and what do you need to automate to achieve that?

Line up where the delays are now and where most errors are made. That is precisely what you want to automate away. In your top five, you will most likely encounter some of the following:

1. Your ERP software is not compatible with other software you use. You have to manually export and import to put data from one system into another.
2. Orders, invoices, assignments, schedules or changes in them must be emailed to the right person or even sometimes literally taken away.
3. The phone rings constantly: all incoming orders, deliveries, questions and changes must be handled by phone by one or more of your employees.
4. The data you use for decisions and new policies is not current, but dates from last week, last month or even last year.
5. Someone within your organization spends a lot of time every month lining up business data in a report.
6. Important information is regularly lost. Or maybe even materials or products are regularly lost. No one knows where they went.
7. Money is leaking out somewhere, but no one knows exactly why.
8. You regularly have piles of products waiting for the next step in the production process. Or you spend a lot of space storing products that really just have to go out the door again. Or you regularly have stockpiles left over that are no longer used.
9. You use a variety of software systems. No one in the office knows about all of them. Often the knowledge of a software system is only with 1 person If he or she is sick you cannot use this system.
10. Deviations from the standard and customization cause major problems and delays in your production process. All the while, customization seems to be becoming more the rule than the exception these days....

Do you recognize the above problems? Then innovation still has a long way to go. However, a new ERP system can eliminate these and other problems all at once.

Ready for a good conversation about an ERP package that works for you, instead of an ERP package that you have to constantly feed and maintain? Need help listing the "lag factors" in your business? Then contact one of our experienced consultants. They will be happy to think along with you.