The manufacturing sector in the United States has finally begun to regain its footing after a long and difficult few years that peaked in challenges around the time of the Great Recession and persisted up until far more recently. Watching the ways in which the industry fought back has provided a wealth of insights to businesses in other areas of the economy, especially given manufacturers' increased commitment to management frameworks such as lean and operational excellence. 

Now, demand has certainly started to resurface for American-made products, helping financial performances along in the process, but volatile markets are still a reality and manufacturers have had to focus on protecting themselves from erratic and sometimes unpredictable fluctuations. The ways in which operational processes are managed is part of the winning equation, but supply chain matters are also rising in prominence given the more global environments in which these firms are competing. 

Enterprise resource planning has been a higher priority as a result, and the ways in which manufacturers are optimizing these frameworks can provide very helpful insights to virtually any type of company that procures resources either domestically or internationally. Given the increased reliance upon digital technologies, ERP integration has been the real pressure test for manufacturers and others, as creating a seamless and intuitive workflow is reliant upon the centralization and accurate implementation of all management solutions in play. 

Sometimes the most revealing lessons come in the form of watching others commit errors and mistakes, and this has certainly been true when looking at novel technology implementation and integration, including processes related to ERP. Leaders should always be working to take intelligent, guided and informed approaches to new procurement and deployment procedures so as to maximize returns on investment and safeguard the solutions from misuse, poor functionality and the like. 

Helpful guidance
Manufacturing Business Technology Magazine recently explained some of the more common ways in which ERP integration and implementation go wrong for companies that are either just now beginning to incorporate the solutions or are working to overhaul dated systems. As a note here, virtually all of the mistakes listed in this article can apply to virtually any type of new technology deployment, but might be especially useful to keep in mind for firms that are going through their first ERP integration procedure. 

According to the news provider, planning needs to be tight, and companies will be tripped up when the initial strategies and roadmaps are not ironed out in detail and aligned with both best practices and internal objectives. Doing this type of thing on the fly will simply not fly in the long run, and can hold the firm back from realizing the full range of benefits a strong ERP investment ought to be delivering right from the start. 

The source also stated that requirements gathering and needs assessments will be critical to guiding the planning stages of these endeavors, as objective-driven processes and procedures tend to yield the strongest results in practice. This is another widespread issue that is more complex than many would think, as virtually all departments that will be impacted by the adoption of the new technology need to be involved right from the start. 

To this end, MBT Magazine noted that buy-in must be a high priority from the outset of ERP integration strategies, working to involve managers and corporate executives in the procurement, planning and execution stages of the deployment. When a collaborative approach to these matters is taken, the sky will be the limit for the advantages the company will enjoy in the end, especially when it comes to ERP integration given its importance in general, everyday operations. 

Finally, the news provider argued that understanding the solutions is important, providers should be selected following research with a fine-toothed comb, budget and timelines must be established and older applications once used for these tasks should be completely eradicated from the system. 

Proper ERP integration
The best ERP tools will have an intuitive interface that sits in front of workflow software and other solutions to ensure the most efficient and streamlined experience possible among all users and the business at large. Remember that implementation and integration of new technology is no easy matter, especially when the firm either does not have the time to complete the required tasks or is lacking in experience and relevant skills within the IT department. 

As such, leveraging an ERP integration solution that at once extends the functionality of existing apps and provides its own unique power is the first step, and utilizing professional implementation services to ensure these initial processes go smoothly will be critical to achieving high ROI. At the end of the day, taking a guided and intelligent approach to these matters can have a significantly positive impact on the ebb and flow of operations before long.