Manufacturing

Microsoft Dynamics for Manufacturers

Success in the manufacturing industry requires producing the right products, in the right quantities, at the right time, with good quality, and at a price the customer is willing to pay. The flexibility to respond to compliance standards and the ever-changing needs of customers, such as providing real-time visibility into global operations, is also imperative for success. Meeting these demands requires the ability to make quick decisions based on accurate data.

Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM solutions work like and with familiar Microsoft software. They automate and improve financial, customer relationship, and supply-chain management.

Integrate collaboration and communication

• Deliver a single, real-time view of data from multiple facilities and departments

• Synchronize communication between engineering, manufacturing, and subcontractors

• Optimize planning to minimize inventory while meeting customer requirements

• Share information within your systems through the Web

Efficiently manage projects

• Provide an accurate overview of project status

• Track activities and resources at many levels of detail

• Leverage knowledge and content from existing or prior projects

Deliver superior customer service

• Gain a comprehensive view of customer information

• Eliminate isolated silos of information

• Create customer self-service opportunities

• Coordinate multichannel communications with customers

• Collaborate with customers on new product designs

Estimate and quote accurately

• Provide accurate quotations based on a real-time view into operations

• Align customer requirements with your capabilities

• Record customer requirements accurately

Provide flexible production planning

• Use data from the entire supply chain to respond effectively to changes and problems

• Access data through familiar desktop tools

• Support various manufacturing modes, such as engineer-to-order, make-to-order, make-to-stock, and mixed/hybrid

Lean manufacturing

Maintaining efficient operations in today's manufacturing environment isn’t easy, but putting into practice the principles of lean manufacturing can further hone your organization’s competitive edge. Typical manufacturing plants have multiple vendors, multiple interfaces, complex information flows, and asynchronous processing, all of which can lead to limited visibility into orders, materials, and production. To achieve peak performance, manufacturers must systematically identify and eliminate plant floor inefficiencies.

This lean manufacturing strategy requires a four-step cycle of continuous improvement:

• Value-stream-mapping documents each step in the process, its inputs and outputs, across the entire supply chain.

• Analysis and modeling identify tasks that could be simplified or cut altogether.

• Implementation and continuous improvement actualize change on the plant floor.

• Management and reporting evaluates the results and begins the cycle again.