If you’re running a manufacturing business, you know there are a lot of moving parts to juggle. You need to keep track of your inventory, production schedule, and more.
But as your business grows, it can be tough to keep track of everything and continue to get your product out the door, profitably and on time. That’s where MRP software comes in.
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What is MRP software?
MRP software stands for “Manufacturing Resource Planning” software. It’s a type of production scheduling software that helps businesses manage their resources more effectively and take control of their inventory situation.
While in the past MRP software was exclusively the domain of large, enterprise businesses with vast production lines (i.e. Sage and NetSuite), there are now thankfully a large number of great value MRP software solutions available for small and medium-sized businesses.
Spreadsheets are often used by small businesses to track inventory, production schedules, and other data. However, as businesses grow and become more complex, spreadsheets quickly become insufficient for managing the entire supply chain. This can lead to errors and inefficiencies in your manufacturing process.
MRP software, on the other hand, is designed specifically for businesses with complex supply chain management and inventory management needs. MRP software can help you keep track of all your resources in one place, and provides a number of features and tools for streamlining your manufacturing process.
See also: What are the differences between an MRP and an ERP system? →
Some of the features you can expect from MRP software include:
- Inventory management
- Production planning and scheduling
- Capacity planning
- Demand forecasting
- Quality control
- Cost analysis
And because MRP software is designed specifically for manufacturing businesses, it’s much more effective at managing all of your data than a spreadsheet.
So what can production planning software do for your business?
By using MRP software, you can keep track of inventory levels, manage customer orders, forecast future demand, and more. With MRP software, you can streamline your production scheduling process and grow your business in a deliberate and sustainable way.
Let’s go through exactly how MRP software can help your small business. We’ll do this by going through a couple of great reasons why production scheduling software is a game changer for small manufacturing businesses:
Keep track of inventory levels and reorder when necessary:
As you likely know, running out of key raw materials can throw off your entire production schedule, which is frustrating for you, your team, and your customers.
With MRP software, you can keep track of your inventory levels in real-time: showing you exactly what is on your shelf in your warehouse, in any location. This allows you to know what materials you have on hand, and how many finished products you can produce with those materials.
It also allows you to know exactly what raw materials and components you are running low in stock on so you can ensure you have your reorders in place with your vendors long before you run out.
This way, you can ensure you are on top of your inventory management and can avoid production delays before they occur: leading to a happy, more productive team and delighted customers getting their orders on time.
Manage customer orders and forecast future demand:
MRP software can also help you manage customer orders and forecast future demand.
Most MRP products will import or allow you to create lists of orders and assign statuses reflecting what stage in the production process they are up to. You can also add key dates so you can see if you are meeting targets and managing expectations, and also assign manufacturing orders to your shop floor team.
By forecasting your inventory needs, you can ensure that you always have the supplies you need on hand to create your products and that your production schedule is realistic.
Track material costs and manufacturing expenditures:
Manufacturing can be a costly process, even more so if you aren’t paying attention to your COGS and costs.
It’s important to ensure that you know your real-time costs of production, along with your margins for each product in your line.
This is simple if you are using production scheduling software. Most MRP systems will allow you to create Bill of Materials (BoM) records for each of your products: this contains how much of each material you use to create a batch of your product. Using real-time inventory calculations, you can then see how much it is currently costing you to produce.
Plan and manage your production schedules:
A production schedule is a plan that outlines when and how products will be manufactured and delivered to customers. Having a clear production planning schedule is essential for any manufacturing business.
This planning process includes figuring out the manufacturing process, identifying the necessary resources, and estimating the time it will take to complete each task. By creating a production schedule, businesses can ensure that their products are being made on time and that their team is meeting their deadlines.
With MRP software, you can create a production schedule and manage your team’s progress easily. This way, you can avoid production delays and keep your customers happy.
Analyze data to improve production efficiency:
MRP software can help you collect and analyze data about your manufacturing and production scheduling process.
This data can help you identify areas of improvement, such as where there are bottlenecks in your production line - this could require tweaking your manufacturing process to make the process easier for your staff, or it could be a case of switching a raw material to another that isn’t so time-consuming to apply.
Production scheduling software is also really useful for analyzing your costs as they occur: you’ll have the data you need to make decisions that can have significant impacts on your bottom line. As an example, you might see that you can significantly reduce your COGS by switching material suppliers.
Scale your small manufacturing business
Finally, production scheduling software will help you as you scale your manufacturing business.
As your business grows, it’s a given that you’ll need to increase your production to meet demand. Without the processes and data in place that we have discussed above, it’s quite a challenge to scale a business and retain profitability.
MRP software can help you plan for this growth and make sure that your business and your supply chain is able to meet customer demand effectively.
Conclusion
Investing in production scheduling software is a smart move for any manufacturing business. By using MRP software, you can keep track of your inventory, production schedules, and more. This way, you can avoid production delays and keep your business running smoothly.
Production scheduling software can help small businesses scale by making it easier to manage their resources. With the right MRP software in place, you can focus on growing your business without worrying about losing track of your inventory or production schedule.
Introducing Craftybase, the MRP for small manufacturers
If you’re looking for planning software to help your manufacturing business scale, look no further than Craftybase MRP. Craftybase is planning software for manufacturing and is designed specifically for small businesses.
With Craftybase, you can easily track your inventory levels, production schedules, and costs. Plus, it’s free to sign up for a 14-day trial. So why not give it a try today?
