The outdated notion that ‘what worked before will work again’ stifles growth in the fiercely competitive metal-forming manufacturing industry. To paint a picture, the U.S. metal fabrication market is expected to surpass a valuation of $473.7 billion by 2031, and that’s why to thrive, manufacturers can no longer rely on standard practices. They desperately need a transformative ERP for the metal industry that embraces innovative strategies and elevates operations.
This is where we look to Acumatica. Acumatica’s cutting-edge technology, which includes automation, data-driven insights, and agile practices, streamlines even the most complex metal-forming manufacturing processes. With everything that’s happening in the evolving manufacturing landscape, do you really want to risk missing out on the future by not embracing the new? We didn’t think so! Hear our top 6 reasons why we think metal-forming manufacturers should look at Acumatica.
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Integrated Quality
With Acumatica designed as an ERP for the metal industry, the Quality Management Suite (QMS) enables metal forming manufacturers to support, streamline, order, and organize internal quality processes. It also eliminates stand-alone QMS applications or Excel Spreadsheets that are disconnected from the rest of your systems, which gives you better control over quality-related issues and anytime, anywhere access.
All of this leads to increased visibility, better collaboration, reduced rework costs, and higher customer satisfaction. In the tricky dance of operations optimization, integrated quality management is the secret sauce!
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Outside Processing
Outside processing for services like plating, anodizing, painting, or assembly are built into Acumatica’s bill of materials. Purchase orders are then created against the resulting production order along with the vendor shipment. This means metal-forming manufacturers can easily track the total job quantity shipped to a vendor, quantity completed, and quantity at the vendor.
There’s more! Costing is made simple by including the costs from the outside processing purchase orders in the cost-roll-up for the production order. In the world of metal-forming manufacturing, Acumatica ensures every aspect of outside processing flows seamlessly and accurately.
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View Key Information at a Glance
80% of businesses see revenue increase thanks to real-time data. Acumatica includes a powerful set of dashboards that can be customized by individual, role, or department. So, Tom, as the finance clerk, has immediate access to his day-to-day work, like transactional details, outstanding invoices, expense tracking, etc. While Carol, the CFO, has a much broader scope and sees the financial landscape of the organization, like metrics on revenue trends, budgetary performance, and forecasts.
Essentially, both Tom and Carol can see the key information that matters to them at a glance with one-page tailored views of information in a variety of formats and visualizations like, tables, pie charts, bar charts, and more. They can then click on a dashboard widget and drill down for more detailed information that’s needed for the different decisions they need to make in their day to day. The result is that all stakeholders, no matter their level, are seeing the unique information they need for their role and all looking at a single version of the truth!
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Easy-to-Use
Why did the ERP system apply for a job as a comedian? Because it heard people saying, “Using me is like telling a joke – everyone laughs, but not everyone gets it.” In all seriousness though, ease-of-use should be a top ERP priority. Thankfully, Acumatica delivers the full capabilities of an ERP for the metal industry, along with simplicity and an intuitively designed interface, that allows your staff to use the system to its full advantage.
The uniform design and layout across all modules reduce the onboarding of new users. It also increases the efficiency and effectiveness of users who wear multiple hats and may work in CRM, inventory management, and customer support, for example. Your team’s efficiency shouldn’t be compromised because they struggle with a cumbersome ERP system. Empower your staff with a user-friendly ERP experience that increases productivity and saves you time and money.
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Data Collection
For inventory management, barcode scanning is a game-changer. It eliminates after-the-fact data entry for material movement, resulting in real-time inventory that reduces confusion regarding what’s on hand or how many are available. No more confusion, no more delays.
Additionally, Acumatica Data Collection is device agnostic which not only reduces the barrier to entry but offers customers a choice of the devices best suited to the company’s needs and budget. It ensures compatibility across a range of devices and is compatible with iPhone/IOS, Android, and other mobile, internet-compatible barcode scanners. Acumatica takes the phrase ‘reduce the barrier to entry’ seriously.
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Vendor Quote
According to a McKinsey report, the world can save 749 billion working hours by automating 64% of manufacturing tasks. Acumatica enhances your vendor quote journey and introduces smart and efficient functionality designed with your metal-forming manufacturing business in mind. Customer quotes often require vendor quotes for new materials. This ERP for the metal industry leverages automation and sends requests to vendors electronically to solicit bids with vendor quote submission and configurable workflows for purchase order approvals.
Then, the winning vendor bid is converted to a new item upon approval of the requisition and sales quote by the customer. Say goodbye to the traditional (AKA manual) back-and-forth. Acumatica allows you to become more efficient, accurate, and responsive in the customer quote process.
Keeping pace with trends and the explosive growth in the metal-forming industry is challenging, but Acumatica, and our team of Acumatica experts, make it easier. Reach out to us today and we’ll show you how your business can quickly adapt to trends and scale your manufacturing business, so you thrive in an industry that’s on the rise.