Every manufacturing industry — from life sciences to medical devices, marine, automotive, robotics, and high technology — has its own way of producing products, and each individual company has its own specific manufacturing processes and regulations that need to be tracked and followed.

Manufacturers have some key strengths that make them ideally suited for the digital era. No matter how big or small your business is, from a multi-employee empire to a start-up biotechnology firm, every business needs a brand—a mark of character.

The Business Analytics Challenge
Managing sales territories across dispersed teams and product offerings for complex companies in the life science industry can be challenging. In order to drive better results, sales manager need a complete view of performance throughout the sales organization.

In a drastically changing market, Life Sciences firms are tasked with making smart therapy and acquisition decisions in order to grow their business. With rapid consolidation occurring in the biotech marketplace, firms are faced with needing to accurately track the performance of their product, while also keeping tabs on the competition.

Small and midsize food and beverage manufacturers are no stranger to narrow margins. At times, it can feel like an uphill battle to sustain profitability, especially when procurement costs suddenly skyrocket, or retailers are applying pressure to lower prices.

With business analytics you can take control of your complete manufacturing operation to maximize quality, efficiency, and output.

The Business Analytics Challenge
Life science companies in the manufacturing industry need to conform to regulatory compliances with GMP, cGMP, GLP, cGLP, and several other quality and safety guidelines - not to mention any manufacturers who need FDA regulatory compliancy. Doing more with less is a running trend in this sector.

How can ERP-enabled insights help small and midsize food and beverage manufacturers get ahead?

Today’s industry conditions can make it challenging for any small or midsize manufacturer to remain competitive. But for food and beverage manufacturers, there are hurdles inherent to the business. Perishable goods, strict safety standards and supply chain variability are all factors that must be contended with to be profitable.

The Business Analytics Challenge

Companies in the life science and FDA regulated industry often treat each compliance requirement as a separate management program. This could be a clinical trial reporting operation, manufacturing lot tracking, or one of many other requirements. Programs such as these tend to thrive in the industry. Each program develops their own approach to gathering data to report to regulatory authorities, however, this may increase the risk for additional compliance costs and potential mistakes. Life science firms can now build an approach to standardize compliance by building it into their business processes.

Which functions are needed to help you meet regulatory requirements and uphold quality and safety throughout your operations?

The past year has seen some particularly egregious recalls, including repeated outbreaks of E. coli, salmonella and hepatitis A. High-profile recalls such as the one involving romaine lettuce have impacted consumers’ trust, and regulators are doubling down to ensure such oversights do not occur again in the future. Likewise, food and beverage manufacturers are revisiting their sourcing and materials handling procedures to close any quality-related gaps in their practices.

Manufacturing’s digital transformation is the new place for the evolving role of ERP. From business analytics to artificial intelligence and the Internet of things (IoT), new technology is disrupting how manufacturers do business. One of the most time-consuming tasks, that requires a high level of expertise, has always been taking the raw operational data and turning it into actionable insights. If this analysis is done in house, your only option was to purchase an expensive business intelligence software separately and then, if possible, integrate with your ERP system.

ERP is playing a significant role in manufacturing’s digital transformation. From business analytics to artificial intelligence and the Internet of things (IoT), innovative technology is disrupting how manufacturers do business. Advanced technologies have affected the competition within the manufacturing industry both domestically and abroad. Manufacturers must continuously analyze how they do business to remain competitive. ERP systems have become critical to making operational improvements in the modern age.

Thanks to ERP software, we expect to see a number of trends take hold over the next year.

From operational efficiency to recall preparedness, a strong traceability system is critical to remaining competitive in today’s food and beverage market.

Traceability, or the ability to trace the flow of food and beverage products through production, has always been essential to operational efficiency. But in the age of mounting global competition and increasing regulatory oversight, it is more important than ever.
Today’s food supply chain has expanded, such that it is common for the production process to span continents. Given this added complexity, even small and mid-sized manufacturers must invest in the proper technologies to ensure traceability, both as a means of food safety and of remaining nimble in a competitive market.

In this blog, we review how ERP supports traceability and the must-have features to look for in your food and beverage ERP solution.

From business analytics to artificial intelligence and the Internet of things (IoT), ERP’s new place at the heart of Manufacturing’s digital transformation as the cutting-edge technology is disrupting how manufacturers do business.

What is blockchain? You have probably heard of its most famous application, Bitcoin, which is a blockchain-based currency system. It is actually the first digital currency system to work without a central bank or common administrator. Since its creation, it has been known as “the people’s currency,” and relies upon the unique security of blockchain technology to remain fully democratic in function.

Blockchain’s powerful technology has potential implications for next-generation ERP. Let’s discuss how it might be used within the world of manufacturing.

Learn about the advantages of using an ERP Software in an FDA-regulated industry. In this blog series, we will discuss issues ranging from organizing mission-critical documents to vendor management, as well as how an ERP system can help keep manufacturers in compliance and product timelines in place.

Manufacturing executives in FDA-regulated industries used to spend hours at their desks with stacks of papers awaiting their signatures. This practice can now be a thing of the past. Since executives are no longer sitting behind a desk daily, and the periodic approvals have now multiplied in frequency, eSignatures are a critical component of successfully doing business in a regulated industry.  

Learn about the three areas where an ERP system can support compliant supplier management. In an FDA-regulated industry, it’s not uncommon to utilize suppliers for components of their finished products.

As not all parts may be produced on site, the weight of compliance – and, ultimately, product quality – belongs to the company receiving the product or service.  The selection, approval and ongoing evaluation of suppliers is heavily regulated and a critical responsibility for manufacturers.

In this blog series, we are looking at the role of ERP in the digital transformation initiatives for today’s manufacturer.

Not that long ago, ERP was an extremely cumbersome software, used only by those organizations that had the personnel and capital to integrate the solution into their operations. Today, it’s fair to say that ERP has become mainstream. In fact, it is considered by many manufacturers to be the key technology for their overall operations. Last year, we took a look ahead at how ERP would factor into digital transformation. Let’s look back at our predictions and see how we did.

In this special blog series, ERP Software & FDA Validation, we’ll discuss the advantages of using an ERP system in an FDA-regulated industry. From organizing mission-critical documents to vendor management, you’ll learn how ERP helps keep product timelines in place and manufacturers in compliance.

From managing suppliers to delivering on your customer’s expectations, quality is a responsibility that is fulfilled by everyone at your organization, whether they realize it or not.

The Copley Consulting Group is proud to have been named a top CRN Tech Elite 250 company, having earned the highest number of advanced technical certifications from leading IT vendors. Copley Consulting has a commitment to building and maintaining the technical skills needed to provide our customers with the highest level of service across the Infor and Qlik ecosystems. We are honored to accept this award and will continue to improve our skill sets and vendor certifications to meet our clients' demands.

In this blog series, ERP Software & FDA Validation, we’ll discuss the advantages of using an ERP system in an FDA-regulated industry. From organizing mission-critical documents to vendor management, you’ll learn how ERP helps keep product timelines in place and manufacturers in compliance.

From food and beverage to medical device, manufacturers in FDA-regulated industries have a responsibility to maintain end-to-end lot and serial number tracking and management of inventory.