One of the benefits of reading case studies from different organizations is that if they are well written, they usually focus on a problem and a solution. When you read case studies focused on your industry, you can really learn a lot from the struggles and successes of your peers. If anything, it helps to know you aren’t alone. Epicor recently published a Profitable Growth and Action: Seven Manufacturers reveal the secrets of their success, which you can download at the end of this article. These case studies really focus on the success each Epicor partner achieved with the help of their ERP system. What i want to focus on is the risks that every manufacturing company faces and needs to face head on before their future growth is affected.

When a business is faced with steady growth, it can often times take them by surprise. One minute you are a mom and pop shop and the next minute you are responsible for a large organization. When this happens, you may not be prepared for the challenges of managing this larger, more diverse business. If your technology was put in place as a small business, it is likely that wasn’t set to scale with you as you grow. If your technology can’t meet the demand of the growth you’ve experienced, then you probably aren’t getting access to the data you need, since it can’t keep up with your ever changing business processes.  When your organization can’t readily access the data it needs or the technology isn’t properly tracking the data, this should cause you to take immediate action. This means you have already outgrown your technology and your growth is at risk to be stunted or even could cause you to go backwards.
When you outgrow your technology and/or your business grows too rapidly, your staff starts to create new and individual ways to do their jobs and track information, which causes them to create multiple systems, duplicate work, and ultimately mass chaos. When you start developing practices that are not ideal, the harder it becomes to get your business practices back on track.
One other risk that your business faces when it’s facing growth, is that you embrace growth and start making bad business decisions. If you start taking on projects that you are not technically skilled for or don’t have the necessary resources to deliver quality results, you start to lose business and develop a bad reputation. Nothing can stunt your growth faster than a bad word spreading about your organization. If you can not properly take on a project or client, you owe it to both of you to turn down the sale. They will respect you for it in the long run, and your business will not take a hit. Growing by inappropriate means is not creating sustainable growth.
When you see an increased demand in your business, it puts a lot of pressure on your staff.  When this happens, you can start to see decreased productivity, efficiency, and quality; leading to unhappy customers. Everyone loses.  Are you ready to grow? Did you blink and the growth is already happening to you? In either case, Epicor ERP systems are engineered to help you do so. 2W Tech is a certified Epicor ERP partner and would be happy to discuss your technology needs with you.
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Profitable Growth in Manufacturing

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