Executives understand the value for adaptability and speed to effectively optimize processes across the value chain in a fast-paced and uncertain business environment. People, processes, and technologies must be aligned throughout engineering, manufacturing operations, quality, distribution, and service along with external suppliers and customers. Depending on your IT capabilities, though, mapping, executing, and optimizing end-to-end business processes can be a challenge.
Market leaders are meeting this challenge head on by leveraging emerging technologies such as quality management software and manufacturing operations management (MOM) software that is architected on a BPM platform and easily interoperates with ERP and other enterprise applications such as PLM or CRM. The below analysis addresses this issue more in depth, touching on challenges with mapping end-to-end processes and then diving into the benefits of implementing a BPM-based MOM platform.
Challenges with Mapping End-to-End Business Processes
Without the right tools, a considerable amount of custom IT work is needed to connect resources that traditionally don’t talk to one another. For instance, significant coding effort is typically needed to share data between ERP and MOM software. When dealing with a large enterprise that has tens or even hundreds of distributed facilities, where each may bring its own unique requirements, this challenge becomes even more significant.
In the above situation, standardizing business process across plants can become too costly and time consuming to even consider. However, executives recognize the value of business process standardization including lowering the risk of compliance, improved quality and flexibility to rapidly move production capacity. Consequently, organizations should start to consider the effectiveness of existing IT architecture and whether or not a rip and replace scenario is needed to meet these goals. With the right toolset, mapping end-to-end business processes can be a reality without ripping and replacing.
Connecting the Enterprise with a BPM-Based Software
By implementing a BPM for manufacturing or process-based MOM, EQMS, or ERP solution, manufacturing and industrial organizations can connect manufacturing and quality processes to one another as well as to the broader set of enterprise applications. Leveraging service-oriented architecture (SOA), these solutions create an environment for taking a workflow approach to mapping processes that’s more intuitive and less dependent on highly skilled technical resources.
There are many benefits that can be achieved by embracing a process-based approach to manufacturing operations and quality management, both from an IT and operational perspective. In my next post, I will go into detail on what those specific benefits are.
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