MRP has been in use at manufacturing organizations for the better part of a century now, but never delivered full value for the complex needs and processes of the job shop. Often, a manufacturing solution will offer way too much functionality at an exorbitant cost. Unfortunately, this left job shops relying on a mess of unfocused or undersized software that left them facing the above challenges.

A solution is presenting itself, at long last. Cloud ERP solutions bridge the gap by no longer requiring a job shop to invest in on-premises infrastructure. They offer accessible, optimized and easy-to-use ERP functionality with little to no capital expense (CapEx) and comparatively low operating costs.

Cloud ERP that encompasses MRP functionality is similarly gaining traction with job shops. MRP calculates the components needed to manufacture a product. Job shops actually need this even more than steady-state “build to inventory” and “build to ship” continuous production facilities. Jobs are unpredictable, by their very nature. MRP helps, optimize job shop production processes by taking inventory of the materials and components on hand, identifying additional materials and components needed, and scheduling production or purchase of those materials and components.

Too often, these challenges boil down to back-office software. Many job shops rely on disconnected technologies, spreadsheets, and entry-level software to handle their activities—not because they fail to understand the options available, but because the well-known products weren’t built for them.

Seeing the lack of job shop-focused technology, we set out to create a light manufacturing solution to handle the needs of the job shop. Our job shop manufacturing software can help you:

Coordinate Activities

Production planning and the shop floor integrate with customer management sales orders, inventory, purchasing, accounting and financial reporting. Acumatica’s Manufacturing Edition provides real-time information for operations to easily manage a job shop’s entire business. It enables managers to coordinate labor, machines, and inventory to optimize job shop processes. Employees can use phones and tablets to capture material issues, move transactions and labor through a mobile app and scanning, or real-time data access from anywhere at any time.

Meet Schedules

Errors in inventory management and production can be costly. They can result in delays that disrupt delivery schedules—damage customer relationships in the process. Acumatica’s Manufacturing Edition leverages MRP planning for effective cost controls while optimizing inventory and resources. The software tracks material and labor costs and manages products, allowing managers to compare estimated, planned, and standard production costs to actual production costs.

Integrate Production Planning with Customer Management and Financial Reporting

Job shops need specific functionality—not a massive solution with more bells and whistles than necessary. That’s where we came in. Seeing the lack of job shop-focused technology, we set out to create a light manufacturing solution to handle the needs of the job shop.

Simple to use, the solution for job shops and manufacturers who require a production system without full MRPII. ASC’s Job Shop Module supports work orders, BOM’s (& sub-BOM’s), serialization, lot control, labor collection, replenishment, routers, kit labeling, job costing and robust reporting. Get to know more about how this works and give us a call at (877) 590-4ERP to discuss it with the experts.

Additional Job Shop Resources

A Day in the Shop: Common Hiccups in Common Job Shop Processes

Four Challenges in the Growing Job Shop