5 Reasons Email Is No Longer the Way for Sourcing

I still remember when every important document in our factory lived inside thick paper files. Then came Excel spreadsheets. At that time, it felt like we had modernized everything. Soon, we realized spreadsheets weren't enough. We moved to our first CRM. As the business grew, we outgrew that too and migrated to a second CRM. Then came a standard ERP. Today, we're building and expanding a custom ERP that truly reflects how our manufacturing business operates. This phase is exciting because we're bringing almost every critical business function under one roof: • Product catalogs • Component BOMs • Product definitions • Production records • Quality approvals • Customer complaints • Inventory • Purchase management • Inward Quality Control Every step of this journey has taught us something. Digitization isn't about replacing paper with screens. It's about creating a business where information flows seamlessly, decisions are based on real-time data, reports are available when you need them, and forecasting becomes far more reliable. Looking back, it's amazing how far we've come from searching through filing cabinets to having business intelligence at our fingertips. And I know this journey is far from over. How has your business evolved over the years? What did your journey look like? Paper files to Excel? Excel to ERP? Or are you still somewhere along that path? I'd love to discuss your experiences and lessons learned or any tips for us as well.

Here is the story we are hearing from many companies coming to OpenBOM. It is a story about how product data actually moves in most manufacturing companies: - A CAD assembly becomes an Excel BOM. - The Excel BOM becomes a purchasing spreadsheet. - The spreadsheet becomes an email thread. - The email thread becomes a manual ERP entry. - A change request becomes a document attached to another email. Six months later, nobody is completely sure which version is correct. When companies hit this wall, they usually describe it as a BOM problem, a PDM problem, or an ERP problem. I think all three descriptions miss the point. They have a product data flow problem. The data is fine. The tools are fine. What is broken is the path between them, and the fact that people have become the integration layer: copying, pasting, exporting, checking, correcting, and explaining. This week I am publishing a five-part series about exactly this. One short post per day, each showing how connecting the flow from CAD to BOMs, changes, procurement, inventory, and ERP changes the way teams work. If your team is still reconciling spreadsheets by email, this series is for you. Link in the comments

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗻𝗼 "𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗾𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲" 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗥𝗠. The prospect submits a request. The rep logs into the ERP, emails pricing, waits, builds a document, exports to PDF, sends. By the time the quote lands, the buyer has already shortlisted someone else. It doesn't appear as a lost deal. The prospect just goes quiet. The quoting workflow is one of the highest-ROI automations for manufacturers because it runs on every deal, every time. One workflow change compounds across every opportunity in the pipeline. Free guide on building automation as a program: https://lnkd.in/guPuUmKr Full workflow breakdown: https://lnkd.in/getwCvgw #Automation #Manufacturing #Operations #B2BMarketing

🏭 𝐈𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠... 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭? 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧: 📄 Paper Production Sheets 📊 Excel Reports 📞 Phone Calls 📦 Manual Inventory Tracking 𝐀𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬. ❌ Production Delays ❌ Raw Material Shortages ❌ Inventory Mismatch ❌ Machine Downtime ❌ Quality Issues ❌ No Real-Time Visibility 𝐀 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐑𝐏 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦. ✅ Production Planning ✅ Inventory Management ✅ Purchase & Vendor Management ✅ BOM (Bill of Materials) ✅ Quality Control ✅ Machine Maintenance ✅ Warehouse Management ✅ Sales & Dispatch ✅ Finance & Accounting ✅ Live Dashboards & Reports With real-time insights, you can reduce costs, improve efficiency, and make faster business decisions. Smart Manufacturing Starts with Smart Software. At Prilient Technologies, we develop customized Manufacturing ERP solutions tailored to your business processes and industry requirements. 📩 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? 𝐋𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭. #Manufacturing #ManufacturingERP #ERP #FactoryAutomation #Industry40 #ProductionManagement #InventoryManagement #DigitalTransformation #CustomSoftware #BusinessAutomation #PrilientTechnologies

The customer shouldn't have to repeat themselves. A customer shares a special requirement with Sales. Engineering needs the information. Production needs it. Quality needs it. Customer Service needs it. When those teams are working from different systems or different versions of the same information, mistakes become much more likely. The best manufacturing operations aren't just connected on the shop floor. They're connected across the entire business. How does your team make sure important customer requirements follow the order from quote to shipment? #Manufacturing #Quality #CustomerExperience #HardwoodFlooring #ERP

86% of manufacturers say manual quoting has cost them business. That isn't just a sales problem. It's a growth problem. When quoting depends on emails, spreadsheets, disconnected systems, or tribal knowledge, the impact reaches every part of the business: • Slower response times • Inconsistent pricing • Margin leakage • Frustrated customers, dealers, and sales teams • Missed revenue opportunities In this short clip from our recent Epicor customer portal webinar this week, our team of Patty Loessberg and Robert Kelen discuss why manufacturers are rethinking the way they quote, sell, and serve customers - and how modern, ERP-connected customer portals can eliminate friction without replacing the ERP. How much revenue is manual quoting and selling costing your business?

🚨 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. 𝗜𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. If you're still managing your operations through: 📊 Excel Sheets 📱 WhatsApp Chats 📞 Phone Calls 📑 Manual Registers, then you're likely losing valuable time, productivity, and business opportunities every single day. A Custom Manufacturing ERP brings every department onto one unified platform, helping you manage: ✔️ Sales & CRM ✔️ Production Planning ✔️ Inventory Management ✔️ Purchase & Vendor Management ✔️ Dispatch & Delivery Tracking ✔️ Real-time Reports & Business Dashboards When every process is connected, decision-making becomes faster, operations become smoother, and your business is ready to scale. What's the biggest operational challenge your manufacturing business is facing today? Let's discuss in the comments. 👇

In wire and cable manufacturing, quality doesn’t start at the shipping dock, it starts on the production floor. One often-overlooked process that has a major impact on product performance is wire annealing. By relieving internal stresses and restoring flexibility after drawing, annealing helps ensure the conductivity, durability, and reliability customers expect. However, achieving consistent results isn't just about heat and metallurgy. Manufacturers must also manage production scheduling, material traceability, work-in-process inventory, quality records, furnace capacity, and delivery commitments - all while navigating volatile commodity costs. This is where modern ERP solutions like Dynamics 365 Business Central make a difference. When production planning, inventory, purchasing, quality, and finance operate from a single system, manufacturers gain the visibility needed to: - Improve production scheduling - Increase traceability from raw material to finished product - Optimize capacity utilization - Monitor costs in real time - Reduce bottlenecks and manual processes In this industry, operational excellence isn't just about running equipment efficiently, it's about connecting every stage of the process with accurate, actionable data. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gzNuge_Q