Objective managers recognise wasted labor in their operations—people scrambling to compile information for meetings, time spent sorting out which numbers are the right ones to use, manual processes that slow down production. Ultimately, these can impair customer satisfaction.

Implementing smart business practices, such as delegating decision-making down the ranks of front line employees, can help control wasted labor. But these practices work only when managers provide their people with the right information at the right time so they can manage their responsibilities. This is especially true for employees in customer-facing roles.

Many opportunities for employee productivity increases can be found in areas that aren't part of direct manufacturing or production costs. That may seem counter-intuitive since the justification for many ERP implementations is reducing inventory and headcount. For example, if a company has been running lean anyway—let's say it has an efficient production workforce and carries minimal raw materials and work-in-process inventories—a manager may feel the opportunity for improvement outside those areas is limited. But the truth is that using a state-of-the-art ERP system, such as Microsoft Dynamics, can help create an environment that boosts indirect labor productivity.

Employee productivity in manufacturing operations

Until recently, a manufacturer could deliver products made entirely within its own walls. Global manufacturing has restructured the industry, taking advantage of low cost labor rates available in emerging countries and specialist firms. Shrinking opportunity windows and aggressive new competitors have forced manufacturers to use design, manufacturing, channel, and distribution partners, creating more complex, networked supply chains that employees must manage expertly. Tightly integrated ERP systems help successfully address these new management challenges.

• New product development and launch: New products are introduced faster and more effectively when employees have good information and collaboration tools. Your company must quickly assess if it's working on the right projects and coordinate projects and engineers. In today's environment, the organization must also manage intellectual property and collaboration, integrating marketing, sales, and all supply chain activity both internally and externally. The integrated nature of an ERP system makes the sharing and timely delivery of information easier.
• Building the right product at the right time: Inventory, by its very nature, is wasted investment. It consumes employee time, production capacity, and ties up valuable working capital. ERP tools for demand management, inventory visibility, and integrated scheduling are just some of the ways ERP can help you minimize inventory build-up and ensure more productive manufacturing operations.
• Making it right the first time: The analytics ERP systems contain can provide good visibility into manufacturing performance and quality, enabling production to stay on track and maintain the highest quality output. Identifying issues early helps ensure efficient use of your production and employee assets.
• Efficient supplier interactions: Supply chain visibility shrinks the time people spend on busywork and the cost of expediting materials. Electronic kanbans automate communication and eliminate much of the overhead of paperwork and messages. With access to key demand and schedule data, partners can often answer questions themselves, freeing your employees for other tasks.

In addition to helping improve productivity in production operations, ERP systems can help most well-run manufacturing companies realize more of their business potential by equipping them to manage overhead and support operations. Read “How ERP systems improve employee productivity (Part 2)” for the full story.

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About the Author: David Caruso
David Caruso is the founder and Principal of David Caruso & Associates, Inc, a consulting firm specializing in manufacturing, supply chain, and technology strategy. Before starting his own firm, David was senior vice president and director of research at AMR Research, and he has held several senior management positions in the ERP and supply chain software community. David has more than 30 years of industry experience, and he focuses his current research on analyzing the business value of IT and the effective use of technology to support the profitable growth of his clients.