Small manufacturing companies are often caught in the conundrum of aligning business needs with sometimes arbitrary budgets. Over the past 20 years, I have worked with many small manufacturers looking for ERP solutions, and it is always an interesting balance between the functionality they want, what they can actually utilize, and what they are willing to invest financially.
If you are looking for software to manage your small to medium-sized discrete manufacturing business and don’t know if you need MRP (material requirements planning) or ERP (enterprise resource planning), let me make this easy for you. You should look for an ERP system. Read on to learn why.
There are many software systems available to help companies execute various functions. For example, our team at Visual South works with many businesses that use QuickBooks and Excel to handle day-to-day operations. However, we often find that these companies—along with similar businesses running legacy systems—are looking for a better way to manage all their processes, especially if they have some form of manufacturing or production requirements.
ERP software is a tool that supports business processes and workflows. Some ERP software systems are generic while others are designed for particular industries. Visual South focuses on the manufacturing industry and our ERP solutions are designed for manufacturing companies—more specifically, order-driven manufacturers. Our customers are typically make-to-order, configure-to-order, engineer-to-order, make-to-stock, or a combination of all of the above. So, the ERP processes and workflows I cover in this article are primarily targeted toward manufacturing companies and their software.
Visual South sells, implements, and supports two Infor ERP products: CloudSuite Industrial (formerly known as SyteLine), and VISUAL. We are commonly asked, “What are the differences between the two?” That’s a reasonable, straightforward question, but the answer is much more nuanced because these ERP products are used to run manufacturing businesses, which are not simple and straightforward. At a high level, the two products feel similar; they are both ERP products with deep functionality. Also, at a high level, two manufacturers feel similar; they both make stuff. As you look deeper into the manufacturers, differences emerge and the same is true with the Infor ERP products. For this article, I’ll start by comparing what is similar between the two products and then work through the differences.
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.
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.
Infor has released more functional enhancements for VISUAL ERP in the last 24 months than we normally see. Infor VISUAL ERP Product Manager Rich Lagoy and the VISUAL ERP steering committee are driving out new functionality at a faster pace than before, delivering quarterly updates to the large VISUAL ERP user base and new sales customers.
Visual South is often asked by potential customers if it’s possible to try the Infor ERP software. The answer to that question is yes; we’d be happy to arrange a test drive of the software for you. However, we do ask that you complete a few steps prior to the ERP trial to ensure our software would be a good fit for your functionality needs and budget.
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