Visual South Insights

QuickBooks & manufacturing have inherent problems

QuickBooks is an accounting-focused application that’s built for small businesses. Offering a lot of great features, it is one of the most commonly used accounting programs for all types of small companies. However, it is not an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. There’s some improved functionality available with QuickBooks Enterprise, but companies tend to outgrow that functionality quickly—especially work-order-driven manufacturers. We have seen many companies struggle when trying to determine how to use QuickBooks for manufacturing.

Before we get to the three questions…

This blog is written assuming that you are following some sort of methodology for managing your ERP evaluations. The following questions are geared toward helping you decide which vendor to work with, not the mechanics of the evaluation itself.  If you don’t have a methodology, my suggestion would be to first download our ebook to get some fantastic advice on how to carry out your ERP evaluations. You can download it here.

How to Successfully Apply ERP Training

ERP users run the spectrum in regard to their ability to properly use their current system. Some are Jedi masters, many are proficient, and others know only the basics. Oftentimes, a user’s ability is directly related to their role in the organization and amount of training they’ve received on their ERP system.

Production performance metrics

Visual South works with manufacturers who use work orders, so this article focuses on job shops and discreet manufacturers. In this type of environment, production’s job is to deliver a certain quantity of a certain product. There is a defined start and a defined finish. Maybe production has made it before, maybe they haven’t. They may make it again, they may not.

Engineer-to-order manufacturers are unique

Engineer-to-order manufacturers seldom make the same product twice, which makes them unique when compared with their make-to-stock and make-to-order counterparts.

These engineer-to-order manufacturers are project oriented and manage front-end loaded engineering efforts. They handle manufacturing processes, actual costing environments, potentially unique revenue recognition requirements, and installation and potential after-market service requirements.

Shop floor execution for to order manufacturers

Infor CloudSuite Industrial (SyteLine) is a purpose-built ERP application for those in the discrete manufacturing sector, with specific focus on To Order manufacturers and mixed-mode manufacturers that build to order and to stock. If your company fits within these categories, there are many benefits of using Infor CloudSuite Industrial (SyteLine) ERP on the shop floor, as well as throughout the entire organization.  

What functionality does it have?

The Infor Quality Management system is a robust and complete platform. It can run standalone or integrate with Infor ERP products. The system comes with a plethora of functionality modules:

Production planning definition

ERP production planning can mean many things to many people; so, let me start out by explaining what it means to me; and therefore, what I’ll be writing about. ERP production planning is the coordination of people, machine capacity, and raw materials all coming together, so you can make what you make when you need to. “…when you need to” is based on a customer demand or an internal demand (sub-assembly, forecast, etc.). The need for better production planning is usually a major driver for the search and purchase of an ERP system.

Manufacturing data: Where do I start?

With the continuous evolution of modern ERP software solutions, there is a growing number of manufacturing data collection and analysis options available to you. In this article, we’ll discuss a few manufacturing data points that provide a good overall view of your performance and how they fit together.

We use the tools we know

I have been to a lot of companies and worked with a lot of people over the years, and I've come to the realization that we all use the tools we know to deal with issues we face. If you ask an assassin to fix a problem, someone is going to die. If you ask a programmer to fix a problem, a new program will be created.