4 Things Manufacturers Need to Modernize to Enable Remote Work

The pandemic has taught us that all companies need to be able to support remote work for their employees wherever possible. While most manufacturers won’t be able to go 100% remote, there are quite a few job functions that can—IF they have the technology in place to support it. Manufacturers need to invest in automating manual processes and modernizing legacy systems to make them accessible to remote users. Employee retention and recruitment is at stake.

At SharpQuest, we are a development partner to many manufacturing companies who recognize the need to adapt their systems and find new ways to make employees more productive, regardless of location. We’ve reviewed the manufacturing projects we’ve worked on over the past ten years and recognized four things that are key to making remote work possible for manufacturing.

#1 – Automate Manual Processes

One of the biggest things keeping manufacturers from enabling remote work is the bevy of processes that are still manual. A development partner with manufacturing workflow experience  can help identify opportunities for automation such as approving technical drawings, supplier ordering and invoicing, part auditing, and more. Doing this not only enables more tasks to be done remotely, but it also improves employee productivity and accuracy.

#2 – Integrate Disparate Systems

Another key issue for remote workers is having too many disparate legacy systems that require different logins and don’t “talk” with each other. For instance, if your EDI incoming files are manually uploaded to your MRP system and folders are available in local network only then user has to be in person to do this. If your packaging and weighing systems are not integrated with single database, then approving shipping labels can be an issue. Looking at those disconnects is a great place to start improving productivity and making more jobs possible to be done remotely as needed.

#3 – Make Systems Accessible

Even more debilitating to remote work is when the systems being used are only accessible on-site. Moving existing applications to the cloud in a secure, performant way is critical to ensure that business operations can continue even if employees can’t be at work in person. Moving to the cloud is a very common project to combine with integrating systems so that applications are accessible and available when they need them, wherever they are located.

#4 – Improve User Experience

It is very common that manufacturers have legacy applications that may not make sense to newer employees or to how work gets done today. When changes are being made to automate and move to the cloud, it just makes sense to modernize the user experience both to match it to current processes, but also to make them easy to use. This goes a long way to enabling workers to use systems independently and therefore remotely.

Enabling Remote Work Improves the P&L

Enabling remote work is just part of the benefit of modernizing manufacturing applications.  Across the board we hear that employees are happier and that it improves the onboarding experience for new hires. One of our clients said that they lowered costs by 10-20% thanks to more productive employees and making fewer mistakes. Another client that focused on workflow automation saw big increases in revenue by increasing supplier onboarding volume and sales proposal capabilities.

At SharpQuest, we have over a decade of experience working with automotive suppliers and manufacturing operations . We understand workflows and how to automate and bring efficiency to all employees. And a big benefit of our work is making remote work possible for manufacturing operations. Check out some of our manufacturing projects and watch videos from our satisfied clients here. You can also contact us to schedule a consultation with our Manufacturing Project Lead here. We’ll help you modernize your applications while enabling remote work so your business can keep moving forward.