Whether you’re launching or growing your metal fabrication business, it’s imperative that you keep costs low and production high. The margins in this industry are incredibly fine, and one misstep or missed opportunity could eradicate them and leave you struggling to balance the books.
Here are some key steps to optimize production in metal fabrication.
1. Integrate an Efficient ERP Solution
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are used throughout the steel and metal fabrication industry. They provide a complete solution with a single source of truth that can optimize all aspects of your business.
ERP systems can incorporate metal fabrication software, pipe and tube software, coil processor software, metal framing software, and more, all while optimizing departments such as human resources, accounting and finance, and customer relations.
In terms of production optimization, ERP can assist with the following:
Automatically Route and Track Jobs
Work orders run smoothly and are tracked throughout the production cycle, accounting for aspects such as materials, labor, overheads, and outside processing, while providing complete visibility throughout the entire workflow.
By understanding what’s happening during each stage of production, you can highlight areas that need to be optimized, potentially helping you to clear bottlenecks, improve efficiency, hasten production, and reduce costs.
Automate Complex Operations
ERP systems offer various automation integrations that can take menial and even complex jobs away from your workforce, letting them focus their skills on areas that require human input.
ERP automations include:
- Streamlined inventory management
- Work orders
- Resource availability
- Sales forecasting
- Material requirements and resource use
- Payroll and invoicing
Easy, Low-Cost Scaling
By switching to a cloud-based ERP solution, you don’t need to worry about expensive servers or setup costs. If you grow your business, your systems will grow with you. You can stop thinking about where you might be in the future and focus on what you need right now.
Keep Everyone on the Same Page
Multiple programs create disconnects across the organization. Different departments are looking at different datasets, and this complicates communication and collaboration.
It’s hard to study the whole picture when you’re looking at various fragments.
As a complete software solution, ERP brings all of these programs and applications together. Everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet, working toward the same goals, and studying the same data. It’s much easier to see what’s going wrong and find areas that need to be improved.
2. Stay Organized and Realistic
Setting strict goals for yourself and your team can result in a stressful working environment, with production that constantly falls behind.
Stay realistic in everything that you do, whether you’re focusing on aspects of production, trying to appease demanding clients, or thinking about growing your business.
You want to create challenges for yourself and your team. You want to get the best out of everyone. However, setting unrealistic goals will have the opposite effect.
Good organization is key to maintaining order and ensuring that jobs are completed on time and within budget:
- Upgrade and Maintain Your Equipment: Don’t let old and poorly maintained equipment slow you down. ERP integrations can monitor the current condition of key machinery and advise on maintaining and replacing it. It’s expensive in the short term, but by keeping operations running at an optimal level and preventing future breakdowns, it will save you money in the long term.
- Organize Your Production Space: Your employees should have easy access to all of the tools and equipment they need, as well as an uncluttered space in which they can do their work.
- Collect, Study, and Use Data: ERP systems are data-heavy and collect information about all aspects of your business. The data is there for a reason, so use it! You can learn more about production and operations, helping you discover inherent flaws in the business.
Incorporate Lean Management Principles
A lean management principle is a complete framework for metal fabrication. It’s a strategy that encompasses various aspects designed to optimize all departments and processes and create minimal waste.
Aspects of a lean management strategy include:
Use Your Employees Smartly
Use the right workers at the right time and on the right machines.
It seems like a no-brainer, but companies easily fall into the habit of randomly assigning workers. It means that unskilled and inexperienced employees perform key tasks while better-positioned employees are put to work elsewhere.
Create a Good Company Culture
You want to promote a culture of hard work and ambition, but not at the cost of being unappreciative or disrespectful. Keep your employees happy, and you’ll get more out of them.
Keep Improving
You should constantly be looking at ways of reducing costs and optimizing production. It doesn’t matter how small the change is—if it improves your bottom line, it’s worth it.
Keep Your Customers Happy
Speak with your customers, learn what they want, what they’re unhappy with, and what improvements they would like to see. Improve aspects of the business that align with those customer expectations to keep them on your side.
Stock What You Need
Another benefit of ERP integration is that you’ll know at all times how many materials you have to hand and in production, which in turn will tell you whether you need to restock. It saves on overordering, which can get very costly.
Standardize Your Business
Standardization is the process of creating processes, rules, and methods that apply across the whole of your business. It means that everyone involved with design, production, and delivery is working to the same set of rules, thus eliminating confusion and streamlining the business.
Summary: Optimize Your Metal Fabrication Business
ERP systems are essential for all metal fabrication businesses. They bring various aspects of the business together, reduce the strain on your resources, optimize production, and result in happier customers and employees. Thanks to the ease of cloud-based solutions, they are also available for companies of all sizes.
To discover how enterprise resource management solutions can help your company, click here to learn about RealSTEEL™, a state-of-the-art management solution that was designed for the steel and metals industry. You can also contact us directly to arrange a demo and discuss your needs and expectations.
