Out of office, but not out of control: Why browser-based ERP solutions can help you stay on top of your shop floor

Short summary:
A browser-based ERP solution brings real-time shop floor visibility to managers wherever they are. It replaces unreliable spreadsheets and slow remote desktop access. By connecting production, purchasing, sales and finance in a single browser accessible platform, it speeds sign-offs, reduces admin and helps manufacturers respond faster to delays, quality issues and changing demand. Discover how Ridder iQ and Ridder iQ Essentials let small and mid-sized manufacturers stay flexible and in control. On-site or off.

You might think there’s no better way to check that production is on track than seeing it for yourself. But production planning is a complex task that goes beyond the shop floor.  

While you might not always hear the whirr of machinery in the factory office, it’s still a hive of activity. Desk-based tasks, like production planning, materials purchasing, managing customer relationships and invoicing, keep your teams busy and they still tend to happen on-site. But they don’t have to.  

Clunky remote desktop connections may be the only way you can access key information when out of the office, but the speed, user-experience and scalability can be poor. Spreadsheets also offer little more than a place to store information. Even then, they’re not always reliable because they’ve not been updated or maintained correctly, and they certainly don’t help you to anticipate potential production problems.

Outdated software and spreadsheets stored on servers. Or worse, locally on desktops, are a barrier to good decision-making. However, a web-based ERP solution frees up managers to respond, whether they're working from home, at an event, on the road meeting customers, or back in the office. It gives even the smallest manufacturers flexibility to work from anywhere, without losing oversight. 

Sticking with the status quo can seem like the safest thing to do, but cracks start to appear when customer demands change, external supply chain pressures hit, or you scale up production. Particularly in discrete manufacturing, activities must be carefully orchestrated to ensure that resources are used as effectively as possible without becoming overworked. It only takes one delay to throw everything off course, something that can happen when decision-makers are tied to the office.

1. Parts/materials arriving late or defective: It only takes a single part to arrive late or defective to cause bottlenecks and delays during production. While supplier issues may be out of your control, the last thing you need is further hold-ups because a manager isn’t able to report a quality issue, re-order or update inventory levels because they’re not at their desk.  
2. Admin headaches: If purchasing, stock control, customer orders and finance processes aren’t connected then someone has to chase up information from colleagues manually by email or on the phone, or go searching for it in spreadsheets. It’s time-consuming at the best of times. And if someone is out of the office, perhaps off sick, the impact is felt across the business. 
3. Lack of visibility: Just because you’re on-site doesn’t mean you know exactly what is going on all of the time. Humans have blind spots and can’t retain every piece of information in their heads.  Disconnected processes aren’t only an admin burden, they also reduce your ability to plan ahead. Data may not tell the full story, or may be out of date, so you can’t make effective decisions based on current events, whether they be staff shortages or supply chain pressures.  
4. Sign-offs stall: Any change to the production schedule must be signed off by a manager. If they’re not around, teams aren’t able to adapt quickly, which could make it more difficult to fulfil customer orders or make better use of their resources. 
5. Smaller talent pool: Employees, particularly younger ones, expect technology to ‘just work’ wherever they are. Anything else will lead them to feel frustrated. Without modern systems in place, you may struggle to attract and retain skilled people who can take your business forward. 

In an industry that has traditionally been on-site, even during Covid, the shift to more flexible ways of working can feel like uncharted territory.  

But it doesn’t mean you lose control of your shop floor. Web-based ERP solutions help you to solve the challenges outlined above by improving visibility, joining the dots between departments and allowing managers to respond quickly to unexpected events and opportunities. Here are just a few of the ways it can help you maintain control of your shop floor.  

1. Real-time visibility from anywhere: A good ERP connects your shop floor with your wider operations – creating a central hub with everything you need to make the right decision at the right time. By choosing a web-based solution, you get all this on any device, in any location.  
2. Act fast, minimise disruption: With instant access to the production schedules, authorised staff can make adjustments in response to challenges like staff shortages or machine breakdowns, or to accommodate new or urgent orders. 
3. Share knowledge, reduce risk: Making information available to relevant people ensures they can take appropriate action where needed, rather than relying on a few experienced members of the team who store everything in their heads. Not everyone can make big decisions – but they can spot problems and alert the right manager to take action even if they’re off-site. 
4. Standardise your processes: You’re more likely to stay in control of your shop floor when everyone is doing the right thing at the right time. Software should be easy to use – something that enables employees to complete tasks efficiently – not a barrier in itself. You’re more likely to achieve this with modern web-based software compared to clunky remote desktop connection. Users just need to log on securely via their browser, as they would with any other website.  

Ridder iQ (for 25+ employees) and Ridder iQ Essentials (for up to 25 employees) is now available as a web-based solution. Get in touch to find out how it can help your company work more flexibly and productively.