The Benefits of ERP for Job Shops

ERP for job shops may not be top of mind, but it can go a long way toward helping your company schedule jobs efficiently. Many job shop specialty manufacturers use separate accounting programs to handle their finances or use spreadsheets. It’s basic, and it works, but such businesses could improve efficiency by using ERP for their job shop.

What Is ERP for Job Shops?

Job shop ERP systems help optimize and maximize the use of equipment by improving job scheduling. Some job shop owners who have investigated ERP systems set them aside as being “too much” or “too robust” for their needs. When handling custom or bespoke manufacturing, a full-blown ERP system may indeed seem like too much computing power for a small shop.

But ERP for job shops is focused exclusively on the needs of the average small manufacturing facility that handles specialized manufacturing or custom orders.

Benefits of ERP for Job Shops

Automating systems provides many benefits for companies. This includes ERP for job shops. Anytime you replace manual work with automated work, there will be time savings, of course. But, in addition to saving time and potentially reducing errors in estimate and billing, you’ll also reap the following benefits.

1. Improved materials handling requirements: Many ERP for job shops offer a Man Hours Required (MHR) component. Cloud ERP systems that offer MHR can elevate your job shop to the level of larger manufacturing companies by providing an easier and more efficient way to estimate jobs. The software can help you avoid costly estimation mistakes that can occur when manually inputting data into spreadsheets. Plus, because many ERP platforms are cloud-based, there’s no need to invest in costly hardware to run the system or an additional position in your IT department. Any internet-connected device can access the system.
2. Better job scheduling: Cloud ERP systems can help you improve your efficiency through better job scheduling. It can consider things like inventory available, equipment scheduling, equipment offline due to maintenance, and other factors that impact job scheduling. This may enable you to schedule production times more efficiently.
3. Reduce errors: Spreadsheets are prone to human error. Any time you rely on manual data entry for tasks, you’re opening the door to typos, reversed digits, unsaved work, incorrect formulas, and a plethora of other mistakes. By automating so many of the tasks you may now use spreadsheets for, you can save countless hours of tracking down mistakes.

Mindover Software has modern manufacturing software solutions for companies of all sizes. Whether you run a small, specialized job shop in Texas or large manufacturing plant in the panhandle of Oklahoma, we’re here to help with software selection, implementation, and integration. Contact us or call 512-990-3994.