Sales Order Management & Production Scheduling

December 10, 2021

by a searcher in Toronto, ON, Canada

I'm currently evaluating a food manufacturing company and have realized, through observing the owners operate day-to-day, that the current process for managing workflow could and should be improved upon. The method for entering a sales order, translating this demand into a production schedule, which is then used to manage plant personnel, inventory, purchasing, etc. involves manual entry, basic spreadsheets, pen and paper, and essentially the owners decades-worth of experience.

I'm curious if anyone has implemented solutions specific to this problem and may have suggestions on how to improve the process. I'm fairly competent in excel and in using Solver and feel that this is beyond it's capabilities. An algorithmic production scheduling system that updates in real time would free up a lot of time and optimize across several departments. I've looked into solutions offered by AnyLogic and Shopify and wasn't convinced the problem would be solved using these.

Open to any and all suggestions - thanks in advance.

Reply by a searcher
from University of Colorado at Boulder in Camas, WA, USA

I have a background in food manufacturing, technology and finance. There are three elements to your situation: the people, the process and the systems. As Will pointed out, you will need to determine what processes you want your business to have (automated or manual) and then look for an ERP system that will allow you to do that. Most times, the ERP is selected and then a company will build the processes around the capabilities of the system. Bad idea. Lastly, the right ERP system will have an MRP module that, once configured correctly, will drive purchasing, inventory, scheduling and personnel requirements in real-time.

Reply by a professional
from University of Dayton in Columbus, OH, USA

Depending on the size and complexity of the business you are looking at an ERP system. Along the lines of Microsoft Dynamics, Netsuite, Infor, etc. There are solutions for small businesses.

There is way more to cover off about ERP implementations than anyone would want to read on this post. They can be expensive and time consuming and you only get out of it what you put in (think from a data perspective). The question quickly becomes does the investment of time and money generate enough return or is the less technology focused solution the right one for business.

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