The significant growth of cloud computing has made it easier and affordable for businesses in all industries to scale their software applications. However, with the increasing use of big data, the demand for organizations to invest time and money into scaling their software is also increasing.
If it doesn’t scale its ERP system, a plastic manufacturing unit can risk software performance issues, like dropped connections or slow repose. This article discusses the Plastic Manufacturing ERP scalability companies can encounter when their workforce and data points expand beyond expectations.
Why Should Your ERP Software Be Scalable?
Before discovering the challenges you need to overcome when scaling the plastic manufacturing industry-specific ERP, you must know the importance of scalability.
Simply put, scalability is defined as the system’s ability to grow or reduce capacity and function according to user demand. If your ERP software is scalable, it will be powerful enough to stay stable, even during upgrades, changes, or resource reductions. Without elastic ERP software in the plastic manufacturing unit, supporting growth can become difficult, and it could affect the user experience.
Challenges of Plastic Manufacturing ERP Scalability
Here listed are common roadblocks that a plastic manufacturing company must overcome when incorporating scalability into the ERP approach.
Non-aligned technology plan and strategy
Before evaluating vendors, the project team must start with the pre-implementation planning phase. While it’s impossible to determine where your plastic manufacturing facility will be in the next five to ten years, you can use existing data to make fairly accurate projections. Look at all scenarios that could affect the company’s growth and what tools your team might need in the future.
You shouldn’t start formulating a tech plan without a roadmap. Doing so will lead to the investment in ERP software meeting your immediate, short-term needs. And as your company grow, you might figure out that the software no longer serves the business as it did before.
Underestimating the business and functional requirements
Not having a clear understanding of how your plastic manufacturing unit plans to use the ERP, you might be unable to emphasize scalability. It’s specifically true when the company is in the infancy stage. Sc scope creep can usually occur when a company doesn’t prioritize software scalability. You might deploy an off-the-shelf integration but realize that your company needs more advanced functionality beyond the initial request.
You might realize all this during the final testing phase or even after the go-live date. And then you will have only two options-
- Adapt by letting semi-manual processes work around flaws
- Pay for ongoing improvements as and when your company encounter issues or faults.
These solutions will waste your valuable time and funds, resulting in lower productivity.
Too many players
The larger your plastic manufacturing company software network, the more players will be involved, including software providers, consultants, integrators, development experts, and more. While all these professionals can help when juggling with production project, it can make it difficult to identify exactly where scalability issue is occurring and who can solve it.
Sometimes, the plastic manufacturing unit can’t avoid having multiple software systems. The key to preventing ERP failures in such a situation is to get each player to acknowledge his responsibility and identify potential issues at a faster pace.
Communicating scalability needs with the vendor
Consider scheduling conversations with prospective vendors when planning to implement a new ERP software. Ask if the software is scalable and flexible enough to work with future systems and accommodate the latest integrations with business expansion. Moreover, ask for the vendor’s availability and support in the longer run.
Final Thoughts
With so much data passing through in plastic manufacturing organizations on an ongoing basis, you need ERP software that’s flexible enough to keep up. It’s crucial for the software to serve multiple devices and data streams at any given time.
However, the challenge lies in anticipating the problems or options a manufacturer must consider to ensure system agility. Your company can avoid many challenges of the ERP for Manufacturing Company scalability with proper planning. By preparing for future business growth, you will know the features and capabilities you need in the ERP for today and the future.
