Simple and effective product data management with ERP

The ability to drill down on your product’s specifications, production progress, lifecycle and development is now incredibly powerful. You can also track and control product changes with far greater accuracy.

It’s an aspect of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software that can be hugely beneficial. That’s because product data management integrated within ERP enables companies to improve efficiency, boost productivity and build profit margins.

Product data functionality within ERP will capture and collate digital information into one central 'silo', to support production management, control and costs. It is a way to help ensure that engineering and production teams are a cohesive part of your resource management. Product collaboration and control are more assured if this sort of data is built within ERP.

For example, the product data compiled by your ERP software can hone down on design aspects of each item, to help your R&D team make adjustments and improvements, or to inspire new product development. You could use product data to find ways to produce each item faster, more efficiently and with less waste, or make stock control and product lifecycles more initiative.

It’s information that can make storage and distribution more streamlined too, or data to help your marketing and sales team to position and promote products with greater insight and confidence.

Product configuration 

One of the most important reasons to explore the potential for ERP software to stimulate improved product data management is to satisfy personalised ordering.

Increasingly, manufacturing companies face customer demands for products that are bespoke orders. They want product configuration that exactly matches their preferences and requirements; everything from components that fit specific machinery or branded items to sell on their shelves.

Or, it could be a customer that’s ready to place a substantial order, but only if your organisation can shorten lead times or increase your capacity levels.

Any manufacturer who is unable to respond to detailed customer briefs could lose out on substantial contracts. That’s when having a wide range of product data readily available within ERP can create far more agile and responsive production, from which grows the ability to cope with change and product adjustments, while remaining profitable.

What sort of product data can ERP collate? 

How are the many potential benefits supported by ERP software’s product data management?

The answer, as always, is based on having software that’s well-matched to your industry, and your production boundaries, systems and challenges. Your ERP software also needs to be carefully configured to match your current business goals, but scalable enough to grow with your company.

In this way, you can create an ERP system that stores and organises the specific product data to match your ever-changing business needs. It could include, for example, technical drawings and engineering schematics, BOMs, product visuals, historic engineering information, customer feedback and any other digital information about product lifecycle.

More ERP benefits for product data management

Having detailed product information all in one place will provide a greater ability to evaluate, measure, compare and improve end-to-end efficiency.

Historic product design data can be referred to with ease and remove the need for tracking down the design information or visual materials when assessing resource management needs.

It also adds a level of security and accuracy assurance as, it ensures the latest, most accurate product data is being used, offering a high level of version control. You can use product data management abilities in your ERP solution to problem solve when a product is beset with faults or quality and cost issues.

WinMan is a comprehensive ERP software with built-in product data and configurator function that can help manufacturers manage all their product information. Contact us today to find out more.