August 01, 2024
Despite the number of technology solutions available to businesses today, spreadsheets and whiteboards are still frequently used in manufacturing. These familiar and flexible tools are relied upon for critical processes, with Excel handling data and service and production schedules often noted in dry-erase marker on whiteboards. Their endurance over four decades is understandable, as is the resistance to replacing tools that seem to work well. However, the time has come to move past these outdated methods.
The Need for Change
Manufacturers are striving for digital transformation, yet outdated technologies compromise data security and hinder real-time information flow. The future of manufacturing demands advanced tools that ensure data integrity and availability.
Consider the risks of continuing to use spreadsheets and whiteboards versus the benefits of replacing them:
Data Security: The Top Priority
Data security goes beyond protecting data from cyberattacks; it also involves ensuring data accuracy, integrity, and accessibility. Spreadsheets and whiteboards jeopardize data security in multiple ways. Information trapped in silos within Excel files or on office walls cannot easily exchange updates with external sources. This compromises information integrity, forcing users to transmit data through insecure channels like texts or emails. As data becomes a major competitive differentiator and a risk to operations, compliance, and revenue, ensuring data security is crucial. Therefore, spreadsheets and whiteboards must be phased out.
Real-Time Information: The New Standard
Manufacturing ERP systems can mimic the look and feel of traditional tools while offering real-time data exchange capabilities. By integrating people, processes, and data sources on a single platform, changes made in one part of the system are instantly reflected everywhere. This reduces the time spent on manual data management and ensures that the most current and complete data is always available.
In the era of spreadsheets and whiteboards, data often posed obstacles. However, with the right manufacturing ERP system, data becomes an asset, driving innovation and improvement across the board.
Guide Technologies: Manufacturing Technology Specialists
Convincing team members and stakeholders to give up spreadsheets and whiteboards depends on selecting the right ERP and implementing it successfully. This change must be seen as an upgrade that team members are equipped and excited to use.
Guide Technologies specializes in ERP solutions for manufacturers, helping hundreds of manufacturers replace outdated tools with superior alternatives. Step into the future of manufacturing with Guide Technologies. Contact us today to get started.
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