Empowering Production Excellence with M1 ERP
In the ever-changing world of manufacturing, production processes are the cornerstone of success. M1's production management solutions provide a comprehensive suite of tools to empower manufacturers of all sizes to achieve operational excellence.
By using a production tool tailored to your industry, ensure efficiency, quality, and profitability.
Job Management
Are you really keeping track of everything on each job, or do you feel like money might be slipping through the cracks?
The job management module provides a centralised platform to manage the entire production lifecycle, from job creation to completion. With its intuitive interface and robust features, M1 simplifies job tracking, cost control, and quality assurance.
- Assemblies: Seamlessly manage complex assemblies with M1's bill of materials (BOM) management capabilities. Track component usage, optimise production planning, and ensure accurate cost calculations with the ability to create child and parent relationships.
- Production Ops/Routings: Manage production operations efficiently with M1's real-time visibility into job status, resource allocation, and production progress. Identify bottlenecks, optimise resource utilisation, and keep production on track.
- Materials: Maintain accurate inventory levels and ensure timely material availability with M1's material management capabilities. Track material consumption, optimise replenishment strategies, and minimise inventory costs.
- Subcontractors: Manage subcontractor relationships effectively with M1's subcontractor management module. Track subcontracted work, maintain detailed records, and ensure on-time delivery of subcontracted components.
Scheduling
Optimise product with a scheduling module that helps consider factors such as customer demand, machine capacity, labour availability, and material availability. Create and manage production schedules that maximise resource utilisation, minimise downtime, and meet customer delivery deadlines.
Become more strategic with your scenario planning by copying your existing schedule, making adjustments to see what will work, and then utilising that as your primary schedule.
Product Configurator
If you have to make a change to how you build a product, how are you keeping track of that from costs to assemblies to parts?
Utilising an intuitive product configurator empowers manufacturers to create custom product configurations quickly and easily. With its drag-and-drop interface and dynamic pricing calculations, the product configurator simplifies complex product offerings and streamlines the order entry process.
Shop Floor Entry
Could you use a flexible way to track everything that goes into each job from anywhere?
Optimise your shop floor with the M1 data entry mobile application and its intuitive interface and barcode scanning capabilities. Capture labour time and attendance, track machine costs, record material issues to jobs, and maintain accurate production records – from anywhere, at any time.
- Labour Time and Attendance: Accurately track employee hours and attendance with M1's time-tracking capabilities. Ensure accurate payroll calculations and identify labour utilisation trends.
- Machine Costs: Track machine usage and associated costs with M1's machine cost tracking feature. Optimise machine utilisation, identify areas for cost reduction, and make informed decisions about machine maintenance and replacement.
- Barcode Scanning: Streamline data entry and reduce errors with M1's barcode scanning functionality. Quickly capture product codes, lot numbers, and other relevant data, ensuring accuracy and efficiency.
- Material Issues to Jobs: Track material usage and ensure adequate material availability on the shop floor with M1's material issue tracking capabilities. Minimise stockouts and prevent production delays.
Job Costing - Production
The M1 integrated job costing capabilities provide production managers with real-time visibility into project costs, enabling them to make informed decisions that enhance efficiency, reduce waste, and improve overall production performance. In post-production, log your activities directly into the General Ledger to make sure your entire business is in sync. By leveraging job costing effectively, you can drive operational excellence and contribute to your company's bottom line.
Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP II)
Do you find yourself and others in production juggling spreadsheets?
The Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II) functionality within M1 is your intelligent production co-pilot. It optimises demand with laser precision, automatically calculating the exact materials, personnel, and machines needed for every order. No more stockouts and overstocking – M1 optimises inventory levels, ensuring just-in-time availability for a smooth production flow.
Manufacturing Execution System (MES)
Are you constantly trying to figure out how to optimise your entire production process from raw materials to finished product? M1 can help.
By using the MES features and functionality within M1, you will be able to have a complete and comprehensive process for control and optimisation and manage the entire manufacturing chain from planning to procurement to production within a single, unified platform.
So, what MES capabilities does M1 ERP offer? Here are some key highlights:
- Real-time Production Visibility: Gain instant insights and real-time data into your production with Shop Floor Entry. Monitor work orders, track progress, and identify potential issues before they impact outcomes.
- Advanced Work Order Management: Create, schedule, and track work orders efficiently. Ensure materials, resources, and personnel are readily available for each step of the manufacturing process.
- Production Workflow Optimisation: Automate and optimise production workflows with built-in rules and triggers. Eliminate bottlenecks, minimise downtime, and maximise throughput.
- Quality Control and Traceability: Implement robust quality control measures with real-time inspection data and defect tracking. Trace materials and finished products throughout the production chain for complete transparency.
- Data-Driven Decisions: Instantly gain actionable insights and historical production data. Analyze trends, identify improvement opportunities, and make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement. You can go further down the rabbit hole with business intelligence dashboards powered by Cognytics.
Calculators
Can you accurately estimate cycle times and material usage? Is it a manual process that leaves room for error?
Make quick use of production-related calculators to aid in decision-making and cost estimation. Calculate material costs, labour costs, and production cycle times to make informed decisions about pricing, resource allocation, and production planning. Utilise four different kinds of calculators: Laser, Bar, Punch, and Sheet.
Job Assembly Consolidator
In complex assembly job shops, it is not uncommon to have a subassembly used in several places throughout the Bill of Materials (BOM). Recurring sub-assemblies can create challenges when executing the job, and cause inefficiencies in overall setup/production times. Improve both production and operational efficiency by providing the following:
- Add a button to the Job Entry screen making it easy to access and use
- Searches for any assemblies flagged as "Make to Order" then find other instances of the same part, and converts them to "Pull from Stock"
- Modifies the first instance of the assembly to have a “Make to Order” quantity that is equal to the needs of that instance, but the "Make to Stock"
More Features to Optimise Your Production Management
Document Management
Are you still pushing piles of paper from one desk to another? Time to save some trees.
The document management system in M1 provides a centralised repository for storing and managing all production-related documents, including BOMs, routing instructions, quality control checklists, and engineering drawings. Easily access and share documents with authorised personnel, ensuring consistent and up-to-date information across the production process.
Engineering Change Order (ECO)
Streamlining change amidst production complexity?
M1 ERP's Engineering Change Order (ECO) function tackles that head-on. Seamlessly manage any product or process alterations, from initial request to final implementation. M1 tracks every modification, ensuring accurate BOM updates, routing adjustments, and cost recalculations. Say goodbye to chaos and hello to smooth transitions with M1's intuitive ECO function, keeping your production on track and quality impeccable, even when changes fly.
Refresh Schedules
What if an unforeseen issue hits your process? Can you quickly make adjustments to jobs?
The Refresh Schedules tool helps you mass update your schedule for your busy shop. Use the tool to meet manufacturing demands, and create a plan to meet necessary due dates. This application has a built-in capability to schedule forwards or backward and use finite or infinite capacity planning to assign appropriate schedule start and end dates to meet your customer orders.
Inspections/Non-Conformances
Do you face issues with inconsistent inspections, unrecorded defects, or ineffective corrective actions?
Facilitate quality control and nonconformance management with M1’s inspection and non-conformance module. Conduct inspections, record defects, and track corrective actions to ensure product quality and minimise defects.
FAQs about the Production Management M1 Tools
Does M1 provide comprehensive job management capabilities?
Yes, M1's job management module offers a centralised platform to manage the entire production lifecycle, from job initiation to completion. It includes features for assembly management, operations tracking, materials management, and subcontractor management.
How does M1's product configurator simplify complex product offerings?
M1's intuitive product configurator streamlines the order entry process by allowing customers to create custom product configurations quickly and easily. Its drag-and-drop interface and dynamic pricing calculations make it a powerful tool for managing complex product lines.
How does M1's document management system improve production efficiency?
M1's document management system provides a centralised repository for storing and managing all production-related documents, ensuring that everyone has access to the latest information. This streamlines collaboration and reduces the risk of errors caused by outdated or incorrect documents.
What scheduling capabilities does M1 offer to optimise production?
M1's scheduling module considers factors such as customer demand, machine capacity, labour availability, and material availability to create and manage production schedules that maximise resource utilisation, minimise downtime, and meet customer delivery deadlines.
How does M1 streamline shop floor data entry and reduce errors?
M1's shop floor entry capabilities include intuitive data entry screens, barcode scanning functionality, and real-time updates to production records. These features streamline data collection, minimise errors, and ensure accurate tracking of labour time, machine usage, material consumption, and other shop floor activities.
What quality control features does M1 offer to ensure product quality?
M1's inspection and non-conformance module facilitates quality control by providing tools for conducting inspections, recording defects, and tracking corrective actions. This helps manufacturers identify and address potential quality issues early on, preventing defects from reaching customers.
What production-related calculators does M1 provide for decision-making?
M1 offers a range of calculators to aid in production planning, cost estimation, and resource allocation. These calculators help manufacturers make informed decisions about material costs, labour costs, production cycle times, and other critical aspects of the production process.
Can M1 integrate with other ERP modules to provide a holistic view of operations?
Yes, M1 can integrate with other ERP modules, such as supply chain management, sales order management, and customer relationship management, to provide a comprehensive view of the entire business process. This integration facilitates data sharing, streamlines workflows, and improves decision-making across the organisation.