Examples of products developed in Discrete Manufacturing industries include: cars, household items, industrial appliances, electronics and computer equipment as well as accessories, medical equipment, toys and multiple other varieties of mass - produced goods used in modern society. It should be noted that these products are obviously manufactured at a high or low volume of units depending on the ratio of supply and demand, and also on how efficient and appropriate the applications of the ERP manufacturing software are in the promotion of “lean – oriented” manufacturing process techniques to avoid what are known as “Work In Progress” procedural operations.

Employing ERP Manufacturing Software Solutions for “Discrete Manufacturing” or “Process Manufacturing”

The Innovative Strategy of Delivering a Product Well in Advance of Scheduled Customer Deadlines (Part I)

As is well known by industry professionals, such WIP strategies are used often by manufacturers and distributors as well as vendors of software and ERP systems, in order to justify delivery delays to customers that are really due to imperfections found in the finished product – and which would have been resolved if each product component had been tested thoroughly and properly, before total product assembly, through the implementation of efficient and fully customized ERP manufacturing software solutions with multiple applications directed towards that specific purpose. The ultimate purpose comprising, of course, the elimination of WIP processes and high inventory levels, diminishing back-logging, and lowering overall ERP cost as a result.

Other Strategies for Dealing with Product Imperfections or Complications in the Factory lines: Releasing a “Limited Edition” of a Product to test on a Small Customer Audience Before Full Product Commercialization Because the Vendor Lacks an Adequate ERP Manufacturing Software System (to regulate company functions)
Complications, then, worsen if the manufacturer does not employ an efficient and appropriately customized ERP manufacturing software solution, or does not even posses one. And this may lead inevitably to delivery delays which would force a vendor to adopt one of two strategies. The first, resorting to the common practice of releasing a number of units in limited edition of the product into the market to test their full functionality first on a minor customer audience, while the vendor works to resolve the issue before releasing the product on a mass scale for full commercialization.

Secondly, relying on Work- In- Progress operations and informing customers that the vendor will not be able to meet a specific deadline due to whatever reason or excuse they may come up with, in order to not only mask their specific product imperfections, but also to protect their market presence and reputation, and- even more revealingly - especially maintain the customer loyalty and allegiance they have acquired over the years.

This latter point is a significant observation since it supports the high value placed on the standard concept of customer relations and how customer support is still considered the central aspect of any successful business enterprise and of successful ERP manufacturing software implementation and deployment - and is regarded as such by all sectors of the Manufacturing/ distribution and information technology/ ERP industries, which view it as the founding principle of Enterprise Resource Planning operations.