A constant state of disruption characterizes the manufacturing industry. As more disruptors continue to enter into the market, engineer-to-order manufacturers must pivot quickly to deal with the shifting industrial landscape to stay ahead in this competitive environment.
According to the 2016 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Ranking, while the U.S. currently ranks as No. 2 on the survey published by the Council for Competitiveness and Deloitte, experts anticipate the U.S. will surpass China, the current holder of the No. 1 spot, within the next five years. The survey’s authors cited U.S. manufacturers investing more in research, technology and innovation as the main drivers for this increase in competitiveness.
“While manufacturing may be slightly down in the U.S, the long-term trends are positive,” explained Deborah Wince-Smith, president and CEO of the Council on Competitiveness. “We predict that the U.S. will overtake China and become the number one manufacturing nation within five years.”
Big data gets bigger
The increasing interconnectedness of materials, people and operations is providing companies with the means to track and analyze a whole new, massive subset of data that was previously inaccessible or simply untraceable. However, the increase in popularity of highly specialized systems is giving all of this big data a much more prominent role in daily operations for all companies, including engineer-to-order manufacturing organizations.
According to a recent report from SCM World titled “The Digital Factory: Game-Changing Technologies That Will Transform Manufacturing Industry,” one of the main factors to impact manufacturing in the immediate future will the usage of big data. The report noted 57 percent of respondents think real-time factory performance analysis will be a main driver for the application of big data. Meanwhile, 53 percent of respondents cite real-time re-planning, including materials requirement planning and factory scheduling.
A lot of big data analytics relies on the continued growth and adoption of systems across all industries. Incorporating RFID tags to materials during shipping or utilizing intelligent equipment with networked sensors and software is one way that companies can collect and use this big data. With access to this crucial information, manufacturers can make more accurate purchases, boost productivity, trim waste and ultimately increase revenues.
As more engineer-to-order manufacturers anticipate utilizing big data analytics to streamline operations and boost productivity, those companies that fail to take advantage of this information might find themselves falling behind their competitors who do use this data.
Three-dimensional disruptions
One of the trends currently impacting every sector in the manufacturing industry is the adoption of 3-D printing. According to the report “3D Printing comes of age in US industrial manufacturing” recently published by PricewaterhouseCoopers, 71.1 percent of manufacturers have implemented some form of 3-D printing.
According to the source, only 17.4 percent of manufacturers are dabbling in 3-D for experimental purposes to incorporate this technology into their regular operations – down from 28.9 percent who said so two years ago. With 31.4 percent of respondents saying they are already using this method for prototyping while 6.6 percent currently employ 3-D printing for the production of end-products.
“The shift to 3-D printing should continue to increase among engineer-to-order manufacturers.”
This shift to utilizing 3-D printing should only continue to increase among companies that build uniquely designed, engineered-to-order products. As this technology becomes more accessible and easier to use while prices continue to fall for printers, this method will only become more attractive for manufacturers. Further, the source also noted that the overwhelming majority of manufacturing executives and managers anticipate 3-D printing to grow tremendously in this sector in the coming years.
The print-on-demand feature may be especially compelling for engineer-to-order companies that want to reduce inventory and streamline their supply chains. Further, due to the nature of the specially tailored product designs offered by engineer-to-order manufacturers, the virtually limitless possibilities afforded by 3-D printing options opens the door for a whole host of new product offerings. However, it’s important that these companies keep pace with their peers and other competition. Not all engineer-to-order manufacturers will be able to make use of 3-D printing, in which case these companies will need to find other ways to boost their competitiveness.
Configurable ERPs
As new technologies and other innovative disruptions create increased competition in the manufacturing industry, engineer-to-order manufacturers must have the right tools on hand to remain successful. One way to ensure these job shops stay agile and flexible enough to respond to rapidly shifting industry trends is by implementing a configurable, enterprise resource planning system.
According to Industrial Distribution, due to the nuanced complexity of manufacturing companies that consist of hundreds of unique processes, from warehouse management to production, having an ERP system that conforms to the company rather than forcing manufacturers to alter their operations to fit the ERP system creates more long-term benefits and increases the chances for success. This keeps the engineer-to-order manufacturer competitive and allows the company to remain flexible enough to rapidly pivot to address a changing industry landscape, or quickly scale operations to meet higher demands.
Other ERPs and MRPs claim to tackle ETO challenges, but in truth, they are built for the traditional manufacturing organization. Total ETO is the only ERP | MRP system built by and exclusively for engineer to order organizations. An affordable and configurable ERP and MRP system that’s intuitive and easy to use for small to mid-sized custom design manufacturers. Total ETO allows ETO companies to stay competitive in an industry constantly undergoing disruptions.
Learn more about Total ETO by requesting a demo today.