Making More: A Manufacturing Evolution
Good Machine Data is The Missing Link. Datanomix is How You Evolve.
Since the dawn of time, manufacturers have tried to evolve in the struggle to Make More. Through better processes, technology, communication, collaboration, and removal of wastes, there are so many vectors to trying to Make More. One of the biggest impediments we have observed and experienced with our customers is those who get stuck hoping, praying, and wanting their ERP to answer the questions they need to Make More, as well as the frustration that occurs when it just doesn’t happen.
So here’s the shortcut: Production monitoring exists because your ERP does not provide sufficient visibility into what matters most to Making More, maximizing profitability, and decisively charting a plan for growth and long-term success. That isn’t a knock on the ERP; it’s just not what it’s there to do. Reliant on human input, always a day late, and often considered to have bad or untrustworthy data, we simply can’t use it on its own to derive great insights and make great decisions.
You certainly want to know your true job costs, real machine times, and real cycle times. Your operators want and need direct feedback about what’s been quoted and its connection to how the job performed. They need to understand how the company succeeds and how they help achieve the business’s goals. Your leadership team certainly wants insight into which jobs are most profitable, help identifying risks early on, or help making data-driven strategic decisions.
ERP systems are built for finance to track materials, work orders, invoices, and labor. It’s not for uncovering insights from production data. Many manufacturers try to force their ERP to do more than it is designed for, leading to frustration, wasted efforts, and sometimes even a full ERP switch. We all know the lift and toll that the project takes on the business, over and over again.
ERPiphany
ERPs have come a long way. There has been a lot of modernization, sleeker interfaces, smarter workflows, and better user experiences. No matter how modern your ERP gets or how many times you switch, it still won’t do some of the things you wish it would.
That moment of clarity? It’s what we call an ERPiphany.
We didn’t come up with this concept on our own. We’ve watched folks waste 12 to 18+ months trying to get more out of their current ERP or new ERP, only to be stuck in the same place.
The missing link? GOOD machine data. Without it, you’re just guessing at how your shop is performing. Machine data is a tried-and-true source of information that gives you real-time insights crucial to improving the business.
Just Collecting Machine Data is Not Enough
Not all solutions that pull and present machine data are built to drive results. On one hand, you can dabble with systems that are so simple they don’t provide enough data to move the needle. But if you go all in with Data-Powered ProductionTM, you get the insights that drive action and help you truly Make More. The real questions you have to ask when evaluating software providers are:
- What’s the set of information that will help me answer the most critical questions for the business?
- How will we systematize it?
- How do we introduce new digital tools into the culture to help improve operations and ultimately Make More?
“ What’s the set of information that will help me answer the most critical questions for the business? Am I profitable? Am I running the standard? What should I make more of? What should I make less of? What should I sell more of? What should I get rid of? How do I incentivize my team? And when you do those things, it is not just a technology choice; it’s a culture choice. It’s a change management choice. It’s an attitude choice. When people get to this point, they realize, oh, it’s not just the machine data, it’s much more.”
— Greg McHale, Founder & CEO of Datanomix
Datanomix is How You Evolve
At Datanomix, it’s our job, duty, and obligation to help manufacturers Make More. We’ve seen our customers waste time and energy switching ERP systems, only to realize that machine data is the missing link to the insights they needed. Don’t repeat those mistakes, and don’t wait for your ERPiphany; skip the hard work and unlock the path to Make More immediately.
