ERP in Complex Manufacturing

An improving economy, and the view that growth is returning is fueling a shift in business drivers in complex manufacturing. Complex manufacturing includes Aerospace and Defense (A&D), Industrial Equipment Manufacturers (IEM), capital equipment manufacturers, and some telecommunications equipment producers. These types of companies have several common traits:

• High amount of engineering cost and effort in design and installation
• Low volume and high complexity of product
• Companies are consumed by change management
• Highly iterative and collaborative customer engagement model

Aberdeen's ERP in Complex Manufacturing: Improving Collaboration and Visibility, October 2008 showed that cost far outweighed other business drivers in influencing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) decisions. Even though cost was still the number one driver in 2010, managing growth and focus on customer management show that complex manufacturers see 2011 as a time to take advantage of the growth of their customers. Best-in-Class complex manufacturing companies are using ERP to enable standardized and disciplined process, especially around the service and the quoting process. But these same Best-in-Class companies are focused on this growth without adding significant capacity or cost.