How SAP Business One Can Help Project-Based Manufacturers Run Smoothly

A smooth and efficient operation is the key to success for any small or medium (SME) manufacturing company that runs multiple projects. As a small manufacturing firm, you need a complete procurement and production-based solution that can be oriented with multiple projects. As an SME company, what do you think of SAP in manufacturing? Is it only suited for large enterprises? In reality, small firms can also leverage the functionalities of the manufacturing process in SAP solution by adopting SAP Business One, an ERP developed by SAP specially for the SME sector.

Also Read: 8 Reasons For Selecting SAP Business One Over Custom/Local ERP

Why SAP for Small Manufacturing Business is Beneficial?

Effectively, the production module helps in integrating and streamlining multiple processes across your manufacturing operations and removing any complexities. On the other hand, a standalone project management tool is restricted to working with individual projects.
Among the widely used ERP solution, SAP Business One offers multiple benefits such as:

• Designed for working for the enterprise needs of SME manufacturers.
• Faster and enabled decision making thanks to the centralized storage of all business data under a single system in SAP Business One.
• Scalable and flexible to grow as your manufacturing businesses continue to grow and handles increased sales orders and users.
• Enables automation that helps in freeing up valuable resources to focus on more important and strategic tasks.

This is just a short brief on how SAP Business One can help manufacturing process works for a small growing company. Next, let us look at how manufacturing companies can utilize project based manufacturing using the SAP Business One solution.
Project management in SAP Business One is also designed to integrate the following three “P” functions:

• Planning
• Procurement
• Production

With the planning component, you can assign the right materials (or components) required for the goods to be manufactured. For example, the SAP system can be used to generate the correct quantities for warehouse materials. In the event, there are insufficient materials to cover for production, additional purchase requisitions, and planning schedules can be generated.
How does the use of SAP Business One in project manufacturing benefit any manufacturing company? Let us discuss that in the next section.

Business Benefits of SAP Business One in Project Based Manufacturing

By integrating all manufacturing business processes within a single ERP solution, the overall manufacturing process in SAP Business One can be made efficient through real-time information. This helps in planning at different project levels, including:

• Main project planning
• Planning at departmental levels
• Budget planning

Here are some of the advantages or benefits of the SAP project management tool:

• • Reducing Costs
    Integrated project planning along with tools for budget based cost control SAP Business One con give proactive alerts to the project manager.

  • Improving project resource planning
    Manufacturers can plan their project resources efficiently through proper relationship management, project milestones, project delivery dates, and billing dates.

  • Faster creation of new projects
    Project managers in manufacturing can create new projects within few minutes using SAP Business One, either by copying and customizing from previous projects or by using in-built templates.

  • Tracking projects
    Through an online schedule, existing projects can be tracked efficiently for rendered services and managing employee workload.

Apart from enabling the project manufacturing process, SAP Business One also facilitates the production process. Next, let us look at the functionality of SAP Production for SMEs.

SAP Business One for Production

Small or medium production facilities can now optimize their production management process using the SAP Business One solution. Here are some real-life production-related challenges for manufacturers:

• Trying to cope with the manual systems for production and operations.
• Trying to integrate multiple software tools including accounting and manufacturing.
• Frustration regarding working with an old or outdated ERP tool for manufacturing.

With the constantly evolving manufacturing economy, small businesses are challenged to meet constraints such as reducing margins, expanding supply chains, and changing customer demands. To meet their business needs, small manufacturers expect their ERP to provide the following:

• Visibility and transparency into all their production-related processes.
• Generating and managing all production-related orders automatically through the electronic medium.
• Managing various types of Bill of Materials (BOM) including multi-level BOMs.
• Generating a work order for assembly and disassembly.
• Track automatically batch numbers for all manufactured products.

And so on.

To design an efficient SAP-enabled production process, the SAP Business One solution is packed with a wide range of features including:

• Product and production management with real-time and cross-functional reporting. It includes important elements such as managing logistics and manufacturing, accounting costs.
• Production order management that includes the current work in progress, backflush and issue materials management, production process, and finished goods.
• Production cost estimation related to the standard product quotations and for customized orders.

How does the production functionality of SAP Business One benefit any manufacturing company? Well, here’s how:

Business Benefits of SAP Business One in Production

Through the SAP B1 production module, SAP can help small-time manufacturers overcome the various challenges and manage their operations efficiently.
How do the various features of SAP Business One (listed in the previous section) translate into business benefits? Here is an explainer:

• Adhering to production schedules and deliveries
  Thanks to SAP Business One, production facilities can now stick to the estimated production schedules and delivery times. This helps in saving production costs and in optimizing the production processes.
  Also Read: How SAP Business One Helps in Managing Price Lists
• Reducing the pre-production time
  Through improved planning and responsiveness, SAP Business One enables manufacturers to adapt to changing markets and get started faster with manufacturing projects.
• Managing inventories efficiently
  With its advanced warehousing and location tracking feature, SAP Business One enables manufacturers to manage their warehouse and stock. It allows better inventory controls, smooth transfers between warehouses, and efficient pricing.
• Improving resource productivity
  SAP Business One enhances resource utilization and productivity. This includes labor and machine productivity through timely maintenance and repairs and by indirectly reducing working hours.

Conclusion

As an efficient ERP solution, SAP Business One has a broad range of functionalities that are designed to work for small to medium manufacturing facilities. As outlined in this article, SAP solutions can optimize project-based manufacturing by integrating its various project elements.
How can you make the most of the features of the SAP Business One solution in your production facility? Praxis Info Solutions can help you with that. Through simple and practical solutions, Praxis has empowered many small manufacturing companies to leverage the potential of SAP solutions. Just drop us a message on our website and we will be right with you.