Top Use Cases of Custom Software in the Manufacturing Industry

Frequently the manufacturing industry tends to get limited to the idea of assembly lines and rows of workmen sorting and shipping out items. The fact is, the business of manufacturing is a massive enterprise, which is made up of several sectors and operations. As compared to many other businesses, the manufacturing industry is highly dependent on software and that is why businesses in this sector opt for a range of software development services.

For the most part, manufacturing businesses tend not to have internal IT teams, which is why they outsource their IT requirements to top software development firms. These firms offer them applications on a project-by-project basis.

Let’s dive into a few of the frequently used software solutions among manufacturing companies:

Intranet Portals

Some of the pain points in a manufacturing company include a bottlenecked flow of information and no centralized platform for the give and take of important manufacturing data.

Various departments have to remain linked and gain access to crucial files and data from each other and this is where a corporate and employee portal can make a big difference. This software is scalable, which means its functionalities can be stretched or decreased on the basis of the business needs.

Software Managed Systems

With manufacturing pushing the boundaries and leveraging automation and robotics, it stands to reason that the need for the underlying software to manage this cutting-edge tech will also be great.

On the manufacturing floor, robotics requires sophisticated software that is equipped to perform real-time tracking of metrics of every machine deployed. Even a minor fluctuation of PSI for a robot joint has the potential to disrupt the whole operational flow.

In addition to tracking metrics, software development services are required to create solutions that can modify parameters as and when needed.

Automation for Invoicing

The manufacturing sector is heavily reliant on invoices. From supplies, order entries, packing slips, shipping, and so on, all items go through various transactions that have to be carried out and documented on multiple levels of the business.

This is why most manufacturing businesses have opted to bring in automation to tackle their invoicing needs. Not only are workers saved the trouble of carrying out the tedious task, but it also ensures that invoice data are systematically saved and stored.

Predictive maintenance

Data from sensors is consolidated with data regarding prior maintenance and malfunctions (received through various sources like ERP software) and scrutinized under Artificial Intelligence. This allows managers or business owners to foresee potential future machine failures. This empowers businesses to implement predictive maintenance, thereby cutting back costs and circumventing downtime that ordinarily would have been needed for repairs.

Tracking inventory

Just like the barcode scanners used at the checkout counter of stores, manufacturing businesses use the software solution to smoothly track inventory. For instance, workers are able to track each and every item in a warehouse simply by using scanning hardware to check QR codes, bar codes, or other types of tracking systems in a hassle-free process. The data is then saved to a cloud or local server and is accessed on an app as and when required. Thanks to software development services that the entire inventory tracking process is streamlined and is no longer taxing for workers.

If you own a manufacturing company, you’d be wise to realize that it can reap considerable benefits with the help of key software solutions for various operations. Once you find an experienced software development firm, they will create solutions that will not only be customized to your unique business but will also be flexible enough to grow and shrink along with your business needs.