A question that constantly lingers in the IT industry is the need for a custom application for the manufacturing sector. This is because there are quite a few ready-to-deploy solutions available, ranging from your large-scale ERP systems to systems catering to individual functions of any manufacturing set up. However, there are used cases where it has been evident that a ready-made solution may not serve the purpose. There could be many reasons behind this such as, organization structure and processes, complexities in the nature of the business, etc. Hence, it is inevitable for them to go for a bespoke application that is tailor-made for their specific environment and requirement. There are a few more benefits that custom application development brings to the table. Let us go through some of them with specific focus on the manufacturing sector.
One thing is clear, technology is a key component of any industry and this includes the manufacturing sector. The software can help the sector in many areas, right from planning and designing to employee management and invoicing. It is a wide spectrum that any software that is custom made can cater to and the organization has a choice on the area to be focused upon. Here are the key benefits of going for custom software.
1. Improved production planning
Today organizations are feeling the pressure of faster response time and optimized price. Moreover, there is a burgeoning demand of custom-made products, which puts extra stress on the production process. Hence, having a custom software helps organizations to cater to such demands by managing the overall production process effectively. This can be done by the optimized utilization of raw materials, manpower.
2. Better monitoring of process and machinery
Every manufacturing process must be a meticulously designed one with machinery that is designed with utmost precision. Catering to custom demands requires changes in the process. Having a good custom software will help in tweaking this process and run it through the machinery to ensure all varied demands are catered to.
3. BI for Decision Making
A custom software empowers organizations to set up their analytics and intelligence in the way they want. This will allow the management to make decisions based on the insights that they receive from the software. Through the right AI tool combined with machine learning tools and business analytics dashboards, bespoke software can deliver inputs to the management.
4. Effective customer relationship and customer management
Having a bespoke application can help any manufacturing set up to manage their customers effectively and efficiently. Handling queries, calls and email inquiries and responding to them in quicker time ensuring the organization SLA can be maintained and adhered to by everyone.
The only challenge for having a custom software is that unlike the ready-made version, this is relatively expensive because of the effort taken to build the software. Hence, organizations must be prepared to fork out the money if they plan to invest in custom applications. The objective is to have a competitive advantage by bringing scalability and improved performance, by implementing a bespoke application.
