When asked by manufacturing businesses to explain the importance of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Material Requirements Planning (MRP), and other important manufacturing programs and software, we’ve found that a seemingly strange rhetorical question can help emphasize why all businesses should consider investing in such software: what is the most important part of your hand?
Taken at face value, this is a difficult question to answer. One might be tempted to say the thumb: after all, opposable digits are extremely useful, and our hands would not be nearly as capable without them. At the same time, the flexor tendons on the back of our hands are what actually allow for fluid, controlled motion. And without the rest of our fingers, it would be difficult for those opposable thumbs to achieve anything. The truth is, sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of the parts: when the entire anatomy of our hands works together, we can accomplish a lot.
Why this analogy? Simple. Over the years, we’ve witnessed many businesses that function as one single, cohesive unit–and we’ve seen many others in which each department works separately with its own systems and philosophies. Imagine a hand in which each component had a mind of its own!
There seems to be a disconnect within many manufacturing businesses (both large and small), which fosters a lack of communication and an air of superiority between departments. This ultimately leads to failure across multiple procedures, and difficulty with the implementation of standardized processes. (Or, in some cases, even the creation and use of disparate systems that leave each department working with an entirely different set of managerial tools.)
The business environment is dependent upon each department and process being well defined and then put into practice through standardization, with the understanding that they are all part of a greater whole. In simpler language–a well-run business should work together just like the parts of a hand! That’s SMARTer. Intelligent, well-oiled software can help your business work as a single unit and achieve incredible things. Contact SMe Software for more information on our various demo programs today–you’ll be glad you did!
