Laser cutting technology has been widely implemented in many industries particularly the manufacturing industry. This technology is used in cutting most types of materials including metal, rubber, polymers, plastic, stone and glass among others. It comes with a lot of benefits such as reducing production cost and time, optimal utilization of materials and producing high quality designs.
However, Laser cutting systems are not fully efficient on their own and need to be integrated with Enterprise resource Planning (ERP) Systems so as to streamline the operations and to equip you with real time information at every stage. The ERP plays the following roles in the laser cutting industry
- Making estimates and quotations
Making estimations and quotes is a very important process in a business as it may make or break a deal with a prospective customer. Lesser time-to-quote translates to a good reputation and business opportunities amid stiff completion in the industry. The cost estimates should be arrived at in the shortest time. An ERP helps giving real-time information on the Bill of Materials to be used at every stage and the cost, enabling you to make cost estimates and issue quotations in the shortest time possible.
- Inventory management
Laser cutting operations are very dynamic and in most cases very unpredictable as they depend on what different customers want. An ERP is responsible for keeping track of materials (inventory) right from when they are purchased to when they are consumed. You are able to get timely alert as to when a particular inventory has reached a set amount and needs replenishing. The ERP helps you maintain a good amount of inventory, reduce costs for storage and restock in good time.
- Nesting and Integration with other Systems
Different customers’ orders vary in designs, dimensions and quantities. When the orders are simultaneous, absolute control of inventory is necessary to ensure there is minimum or no wastage. An ERP will help the cutting operation in optimizing inventory usage by integrating nesting applications to manage usage of inventory and reduce costs. The nesting module is able to track the remaining inventory after previous operations and the ERP is able to track the inventory and facilitate reordering when necessary. This will help your business in optimal material utilization and eventual reduction of the cost of inventory.
- Maintaining High Quality
Laser cutting needs to have mechanisms that ensure that high quality products are produced. Since most of these products are used in industries that are highly regulated, it is critical that the quality is controlled at every stage of the process. An ERP will ensure that these quality standards are enforced as it is integrated with a core manufacturing execution systems (MES). The ERP ensures there is continuous measurement of quality parameters at all stages so that corrective measures can be immediately effected when defects are detected.
- Interfacing with other Applications
To fulfil end-to-end operations, the ERP will need to interface with other applications. The ERP has to be integrated with other applications used in laser cutting operations that complement each other. You will be able to trace the products more easily when the ERP is integrated.
These are among the roles played the ERP solutions in the Laser cutting operations. Our company offers High quality CNC laser cutting services in Michigan. We use applications are integrated with ERP systems that ensure that we give you timely and accurate quotations, your orders are processed within the shortest time possible and our products meet the required industry standards and the requirement of our customer.
