ERP Manufacturing

Process ERP

Process ERP is enterprise resource planning for process manufacturing. ERP is defined as the term for software solutions and applications that integrate the data from a business’ operational processes and make it accessible to departments such as: purchasing, sales, orders, inventory, shipping, billing, human resources, and customer relations. And, process manufacturing relates to the manufacturing industry that creates goods and products from raw materials and other components using machinery and manual labor where the assembly is based more on a continuous series of processes dealing with analog signals from sensors and meters that are transmitted to computers which cause the temperature, pressure and flow to be continually adjusted being applied to the raw materials than of parts being joined.  Some of the more common process manufacturing industries are: chemicals, gasoline, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, paint, and cosmetics; these goods are usually produced in bulk quantities and not in countable units like with discrete manufacturing.

The market for Process ERP software is a relatively small, particularly when measured against the market for discrete manufacturing plants. The reasons for this are really fourfold. First, plain and simple -there are many less process manufacturing plants than there are discrete manufacturing plants.  Second, process manufacturing is a highly specialized industry meaning ERP vendors electing to design resource planning for this market need a large amount of specialized knowledge about the workings of this type of manufacturing. The third reason hinges on the second. Because process manufacturing is so precise and particular, just fine-tuning ERP software systems for discrete manufacturing will not afford ample solutions to help process plants. And, the fourth reason is that process manufacturing consists of many vertical markets meaning that, in addition to deep, the ERP software systems must be broad.

Interestingly enough, these four reasons explaining why few vendors are in the Process ERP market have not prevented some vendors from attempting to make at least some money from that manufacturing sector. One of the ways they have done this is by relying on third party solution providers with some industry experience in the area of process manufacturing and integration systems integrate with their ERP.

About ten years ago, it was also more common to find vendors buying and changing ERP source codes in order to fashion some sort of process manufacturing add-on. This approach has died down for the most part because it greatly limited the ability to upgrade and customers will not be able to take advantage of advancing technology.

Written by :

Amy Cruz