Tracking manufacturing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) allows companies to produce affordable goods without compromising quality.
The discrete manufacturing industry is constantly changing to adhere to new product demands. To produce affordable goods while still remaining profitable, manufacturers must closely track metrics and KPIs to help them make faster, better decisions.
This can be accomplished most effectively using the right Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution for your manufacturing business.
What Are Manufacturing KPIs?
KPIs measure the performance of an organization and are indicators of how a company is performing in terms of quality and sales. These measurements are typically taken using sophisticated reporting and analysis. Business intelligence (BI) tools such as graphs, charts, and dashboards are frequently used to represent them.
KPIs are used by manufacturers to evaluate success using objectives that are critical to the business. This information enables company leaders to make sound decisions by giving them relevant, real-time data, which is invaluable in today’s highly competitive market.
What Manufacturing KPIs Should You Track?
The KPIs you track will be based on your business needs. For example, a discrete manufacturing organization may require up-to-date geographic information about shipments while they are in-transit due to the sensitive nature of ingredients. Alternatively, a B2C company might need to track the status of on-time deliveries since this can improve customer retention rates and positive communications through word-of-mouth.
Examples of Discrete Manufacturing KPIs
The following KPIs are common to many manufacturing businesses. Keep in mind your business workflows will determine the specific KPIs you should track.
Cycle Time
Cycle time is an important manufacturing KPI because it tracks your product from the beginning to the end of creation, then from a finished product to shipment. This is often referred to as the supply chain cycle time. Tracking this information will help you determine how to increase production speed while retaining quality, and can be easily tracked with the right manufacturing ERP solution.
Inventory Deviation
As a manufacturer, you deal with inventory lists on a regular basis. You understand what happens when inventory levels vary from those that have been manually marked. Though you carefully track all materials that leave your plant, the deviation can still occur. You can track this KPI and lower the deviation rate using integrated software like an ERP solution.
Costs
Tracking all your production costs can be problematic. The cost of every material and production activity must be tracked. A manufacturing ERP solution can show you every cost in the production process, including labor, materials, handling, distribution and more.
Benefits of an ERP Solution for Discrete Manufacturing
ERP systems were originally developed to keep track of processes used in discrete manufacturing. This helps eliminate waste and shortens production time.
ERP solutions perform numerous functions, including:
- Inventory management
- Financial management
- Supply chain management
- Customer relationship management (CRM)
The right ERP solution will come with industry-specific functionality to meet the needs of your manufacturing business. These features include:
- Production scheduling
- Inventory control
- Resource management
- Machinery maintenance
- Financial management
- Customer and vendor relationship management
Acumatica Cloud ERP – Manufacturing Edition is built to run your entire company and integrates manufacturing, inventory management, accounting, distribution and supply chain management in one centralized solution.
With an ERP solution like Acumatica, manufacturers can track KPIs, adhere to production schedules and track costs. Robust financial reporting helps manage multiple sites and allows you to make decisions based on organization-wide data.
To learn why Acumatica – Manufacturing Edition is the winner of multiple industry awards and how it can help your manufacturing business, download our Beginner’s Guide to ERP for Manufacturing or reach out to us. We’d love to chat.