15 ERP Analytics Requirements for Manufacturers

All businesses need analysis – and not necessarily on the shrink’s couch. Manufacturers have many of the same needs as any other kind of business and there are several requirements that are unique to manufacturing ERP analytics. Your system might have some of these tools built in but likely you will need your report writing skills to develop these analytics in the right way for your business.

Manufacturing is about converting materials and labor into finished products for which your customers are eagerly waiting. So your analytics will center on these two domains.

Some material analyses within manufacturing ERP include:

• On-time receipts from suppliers – did they deliver when needed?
• Quality of purchased materials – does it meet requirements without further inspection?
• Lead time from purchase to receipt – the shorter, the better.
• Ability to meet all your specifications – not just the easy ones.
• Purchase price variance – can they deliver at your budget?
• Turnover of total inventory and all categories of inventory – keep it moving!

While looking at labor and conversion you might look at:

• Workforce performance – labor standards and indirect labor.
• Fully utilized capacity – keep that expensive machinery running.
• Improvements and resource effectiveness – always producing good product.
• Schedule adherence – is the whole shop on time and reporting their work?
• Total throughput time – start production and never stop until finished.
• Utilization of bottleneck resources – only run what has to be run at the bottleneck.
• Causes of product rejection – identify the cause and implement improvements.
• Reduction of waste – all seven of them!
• On time delivery – keep your customer happy.

You shouldn’t forget your financial analytics but these are somewhat similar to other kinds of business.

Whatever manufacturing ERP analytics that you decide is required, keep in mind your audience. Much of the work will be done to satisfy your vice presidents and other top executives. But everyone at any level has needs unique to their position. Buyers, planners, shop floor lead people and all others need information to make decisions that lead toward meeting the business goals. Analytics is a tool for all levels of the business. Your ERP has the data, and analytics is all about turning that data into meaningful information.