FEW THINGS DETERMINE SUCCESS IN THE METAL SERVICES MARKET: COMPETITIVE PRICING, A GREAT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, AND VALUEADDED SERVICES. TO SUPPORT THESE PURSUITS, RELIABLE SOFTWARE SYSTEMS ARE INCREASINGLY BECOMING CRUCIAL. It all boils down to efficient stock management, waste reduction, accurate and timely deliveries, and handling operational complexity. To top all that, businesses need to plan for scalability as the business capacity, as well as customer needs, change with time. A good software system must provide the following capabilities: • Manage, track, plan and sell inventory based on attribute sets, including heat certifications and test report information • Maintain inventory costs broken down by material, labor, subcontract, or shipping costs • Make stock checks more efficient by equipping warehouse and yard workers with wireless mobile capabilities • Create new stock items as needed, including for offcuts to avoid waste. An intelligent system must also bring information together to make the right decisions in a manufacturing
environment, which explains why disparate software products and simple spreadsheets are no longer dependable. A well implemented system provides visibility to crucial information for various owners, like stock movement for the operations team, order transactions for the finance community, up-to-date quality control for the production group, and finally, powerful analytics for management staff. Here is the bottom line: customer loyalty is built on satisfaction and experience. Today customers generally have options, and they can be quick to look elsewhere when their needs are not met. With growing competition, metal and steel manufacturers must improve their delivery in these areas: • Supply rapid and accurate estimates with every new order • Empowered salesforce that is mobile and responsive to customers’ requests • Customer self-service interface that enables configuration, order tracking, and account review • Accurate deliveries, scheduling, picking, shipping advice and efficiency
Finally, always consider planning ahead, be it expansion, security, or system robustness. Whether this means in the cloud or on-premises deployment, and anticipate integration with other nesting systems currently in use. It pays to map out all the needs, present and future, with a knowledgeable and reliable vendor, who understands the industry and future trends. Epicor has 50 years of experience delivering industry focused, world-class solutions, and ongoing customer care and service to over 20,000 customer installations. It is a true global solutions partner with support offices worldwide. The key vehicle that transforms Epicor Kinetic into a successful business solution is our Signature Implementation Methodology. Epicor delivers one of the most cost effective and efficient techniques to plan, design, validate, and deploy your Epicor solution. Visit www.epicor.com or reach out on info.anz@epicor.com today to learn more.
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS | STEEL AUSTRALIA | WINTER 2022
WHY RELIABLE SOFTWARE SYSTEMS ARE CRUCIAL FOR THE STEEL INDUSTRY
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