June 05, 2025
Regulatory demands put extreme financial pressure on manufacturers; federal regulations are estimated to cost manufacturers over $350 billion per year or around $50,000 per employee according to the National Association of Manufacturers. Compliance also takes tremendous amounts of time; 2,000 hours annually for most manufacturers, and over 10,000 hours for 17% of the industry. Already much larger than they were a decade ago, these numbers are all poised to increase.
In addition to meeting stricter standards for things like workplace health and safety or package labeling and handling, new regulations are coming online around green energy, data privacy and protection, and supply chain resilience. No one knows exactly how manufacturing regulations will evolve in coming years. Regardless, all signs suggest that manufacturers will need to comply with more regulations than before and face greater penalties and losses for non-compliance.
Manufacturers across the spectrum should be tracking these developments closely and preparing in advance. That said, it’s not a foregone conclusion that increasing regulatory demands will result in higher costs and time requirements. With the right technology in place, ensuring compliance and proving that products meet consistent quality standards becomes not just possible but efficient and accessible at any scale.
Infor CloudSuite Industrial for Compliance & Quality
No matter what compliance frameworks and reporting requirements manufacturers are held to, they have traditionally proven compliance using manual processes, piecemeal solutions, and, inevitably, some Excel spreadsheets. A manager would round up data from different sources and stakeholders, manually combine it into a singular document, then painstakingly prepare the data for regulators. As with any process where people are handling large amounts of data by hand, issues like errors and inefficiencies are not just inevitable but common, which becomes extremely problematic when compliance hangs in the balance.
Manufacturers adopt ERP solutions for many reasons, including to reduce their reliance on Excel, streamline the compliance reporting process, and lower the risk of non-compliance. Unfortunately, many ERPs don’t have functionality for quality control and process management built into the system, especially if they’re not manufacturing-specific ERPs, forcing managers into the same situation as before: moving data manually to fill in gaps.
As an ERP solution built specifically for modern manufacturers, Infor CloudSuite Industrial (CSI) understands the importance of compliance and knows the challenges of dealing with disconnected data sources, incomplete audit trails, and rigorous reporting requirements. Eager to tackle such challenges, this ERP makes compliance a central part of the platform.
“CloudSuite Industrial is different in that quality control and process management is thoroughly and natively provided in the solution,” says Kyle Meyers, a Solution Consultant at Guide Technologies, “This applies to vendor, in-process, and customer quality control. There are even solutions for managing audits and product development processes such as PPAP and APQP.”
The biggest advantage of CSI is that it combines compliance and quality data with everything else. Having a single source of truth transforms the compliance process, which in turn transforms a company.
Taking Advantage of CloudSuite Industrial
By replacing a functional tool like Excel with a powerful solution for compliance like CloudSuite Industrial, manufacturers gain advantages that extend beyond the realm of regulations:
● Streamline Compliance Reporting – Replace manual data handling with centralized data and automated tools that simplify the process of locating, organizing, and distributing regulatory information—freeing up your team’s time for higher-value activities.
● Respond Quickly to Audit Requests – Whether the audit request comes from a regulator, partner, customer, or investor, CloudSuite Industrial provides a built-in audit trail that’s always accessible, detailed, and easy to report on.
● Stay Ahead of New Regulations – Quickly adapt to emerging regulatory requirements and enter new markets with confidence by using CloudSuite Industrial’s flexible tracking and reporting capabilities—without overhauling internal processes.
● Identify Opportunities Through Compliance – Uncover how compliance and quality initiatives impact efficiency and profitability, then use those insights to drive process improvements and product innovation.
● Avoid the High Costs of Non-Compliance – Mitigate both the immediate financial penalties and the long-term reputational risks of non-compliance with an ERP system that embeds compliance tracking and regulatory reporting into every level of operations.
A Whole New Perspective on Compliance and Quality
At a time when compliance is weighing heavier on manufacturers, CloudSuite Industrial provides a comprehensive solution that not only takes the complexity and challenge out of meeting regulatory demands but creates new opportunities to expand, improve, and evolve in the process.
At Guide Technologies, we help manufacturers implement CloudSuite Industrial and enhance the solution around their compliance requirements. And for any manufacturers that need to track metal origin, we’ve even built a solution called RollPro 360 that works seamlessly with CloudSuite Industrial and makes one of the most challenging aspects of compliance easier than ever.
How are you currently meeting regulatory demands? Contact us to explore an upgrade.