Empower Your Employees by Turning ERP Data into an Asset

Digital transformation seems to be on everyone’s minds these days, bringing fresh new use cases for ERP. According to a survey from Tech Pro Research, 70% of companies either have a digital transformation strategy in place or are working on one.

But what’s at the heart of this digital revolution? Data.

Data isn’t merely a byproduct of business operations — used effectively by your employees, it becomes an asset.

Combined with the right people and technology strategy, data can be a powerful tool for improving efficiency — and driving growth.

No More Flying Blind — ERP Data Gives Employees Eagle Eyes to Spot New Opportunities for Your Business

As the old adage goes, you can’t manage what you can’t measure. The more information you have about your operations, the better equipped you’ll be to optimize your business processes and mitigate risks.

When you have real-time visibility into what’s happening in your organization — from the front office, to the warehouse, to the shop floor — you can spot gaps and bottlenecks more easily, and take appropriate steps to address them.

Most manufacturing companies are keeping track of that information somehow. The problem is that as long as that data exists in a spreadsheet or a single software application, your employees aren’t able to leverage its full potential.

Using an ERP system to gather all that data in one central place will unlock opportunities to streamline business processes, realize cost savings, and reduce operational headaches.

But getting that data into the hands of your employees is key to making that happen.

Data Shines a Light in the Dark

A manufacturing business has many moving parts, each one operating within its own domain. Each department follows its own processes, generates its own data, and is responsible for its smaller part in the larger whole.

At the same time, workers everywhere are being asked to do more with the same (or fewer) resources. Without the right processes and technology in place, it’s an uphill battle — one that leads to lower productivity and poorer employee morale.

Give employees access to the right data and make sure they know how to use it, however, and they can be more effective in their day-to-day work — and be in a better position to identify opportunities for business growth.

Real-time data improves efficiency

With accurate, real-time data, employees are equipped to evaluate existing business processes and use that information to increase efficiency.

For example:

• Inventory management data allows you to manage your purchasing process more effectively and ensure stability through your supply chain.

• Data from your production equipment allows you to proactively manage the long-term operational health of your capital assets and reduce unscheduled down-time.
  
• KPI data on assembly line workflows can help pinpoint bottlenecks and ensure traceability for compliance and quality control.

Intelligent data drives innovation

While having the right data on hand makes day-to-day operations more efficient, access to good data has long-term implications as well. With the right data, your employees can use their expertise to collaborate outside their own departments and drive innovation across the organization.

For example:

• Data on customer buying behavior from the marketing and sales teams can drive production cycles of your most in-demand products at the right times of the year.
  
• Aggregated sales and finance data can serve as the basis for a new pricing model, which you can then track and measure, as it’s rolled out.

Source: Microsoft Dynamics 2019 Manufacturing Trends Report

Having access to the right data allows your employees to focus on high-value activities that boost the company’s bottom line — because they’re no longer working in the dark.

Transformation Doesn’t Happen on Its Own

Getting to a place where you can leverage your organizational data to empower your workforce and make informed business decisions requires a big shift — in more areas than one.

First, there’s the obvious: You need to put the right technology in place so that you can collect, store, and manage all that data.

If you already have an ERP system in place, you’ll need to assess it thoroughly to uncover the points of friction. Identify where data isn’t flowing properly between functional areas (for example, data isn’t flowing right in the order to cash process), or where data is hard for employees to access and use in their day-to-day jobs. Rank each friction point as needing to be fixed, upgraded or replaced.

This friction is likely creating frustration for your people, lowering engagement, and impacting innovation and creativity. If you can solve for these friction points, you might not need an entirely new ERP system to gain business value from your data.

Or if you’re like many of our family-owned manufacturing company clients, you might find that your existing technology simply wasn’t made for the modern world and it’s time for a new ERP solution. Many companies are being forced by the market to shift to hybrid cloud environments — and while it’s a big challenge, it’s also an unprecedented opportunity to build a foundation for hockey-stick growth with a digital operations platform (DOP).

I’m diving into DOP much deeper in my next article, but in manufacturing, here are the benefits we’re seeing from this approach:

• Improving customer experience
• Increasing operational workflow and agility
• Enhancing the capabilities of the workforce
• Improving work culture
• Integrating digital technology

But even with the right ERP solution in place, there’s another transformation that has to take place in your workplace culture and mindset.

This is good news. It’s an opportunity to transition your employees from “transactional workers” to “knowledge workers.”

This transition is key to ensuring the long-term health of a skilled workforce. According to a survey of global manufacturing CEOs, Deloitte found that talent is the top driver of market competitiveness.

As older employees retire (and take their institutional knowledge with them), companies sometimes struggle to fill the positions they leave behind. In the family-owned manufacturing space, too, generational transitions of leadership can usher in change. New technologies enable you to retrain (and cross-train) employees so that they move away from traditionally repetitive, rote tasks and become empowered to make operational decisions based on data in real-time. This becomes an opportunity to use employee turnover or a generational transition within the company to realign roles and responsibilities — which can benefit your company’s bottom line as much as it benefits your employees’ career paths.

As you reconsider the existing roles in your organization, the right data and technology can help you identify where you can optimize for knowledge workers, too. Instead of continuing to operate in silos (e.g. Purchaser or Plant Manager), a broader, more encompassing functional area might be better (e.g. a Supply Chain Manager or Operations Manager).

Bringing your people together with your technology is a powerful combination for business efficiency, employee engagement and change management.

Your ERP Data Is a Tide That Lifts All Boats

Putting the technology and processes in place to leverage data in your organization is a gift that keeps on giving. You gain immediate visibility into your operational performance, and you may even identify new business opportunities.

But you’re also setting yourself up for long-term growth. By creating a culture of data-driven decision making, you’re empowering your employees to take ownership of their work and their own careers. A motivated and engaged workforce leads to higher employee retention over the long term.

Ready to talk about preparing your company for growth? I’ve got a few slots left for complimentary collaborative consulting sessions. These one-hour sessions are designed to assess where you are on your journey to ERP, and what you need to do to get ready. You can schedule a time right here.