Welcome to Part 3 of our 3-part series on ERP for specialized manufacturing. So far, we have looked at two areas of specialization: ERP for the Aerospace and Defense sector and ERP for the Industrial Machinery and Equipment sector. If you missed either or both of those articles, no worry, you can still access them here:
ERP for Specialized Manufacturing, Part 1: Aerospace and Defense
ERP for Specialized Manufacturing, Part 2: Industrial Machinery & Equipment
Having covered a lot of ground in Parts 1 and 2, we now move into another significant manufacturing area, Healthcare Manufacturing, which includes life sciences, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and biotechnologies.
Having covered a lot of ground in Parts 1 and 2, we now move into another significant manufacturing area, Healthcare Manufacturing, which includes life sciences, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and biotechnologies.
Let us start by looking at the industry and its contribution to the United States economy.
The Healthcare Manufacturing Sector
We already mentioned several significant areas that might be included in this sector, yet there is more. For example, Contract Research Organizations (CROs) or Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMOs), sometimes called Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations (CDMOs). These organizations are critical in supporting the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical devices industries. CROs and CMOs support clients’ efforts to research, test, refine, manufacture, and market drugs, drug products, and medical devices.
We would be remiss if we did not remind our readers that:
- The coronavirus pandemic is not entirely behind us.
- Let us take a moment to recognize the remarkable accomplishments of the healthcare/Life Sciences industry.
- So many companies in this sector took on this public health crisis and collaborated with partners, often competitors, to lead the global pandemic response.
- These companies set an example for what can be achieved by overcoming political, financial, and legal challenges.
The numbers are not yet for 2022, but the medical device sector alone was valued at $186.5 billion in 2021 and is forecasted to show revenues of $262.4 billion in 2028. And that does not include pharmaceuticals or biotech products.
So, let us agree that it is a vast sector and move on to discuss…
How Strategic Systems Group (SSG) Supports Healthcare/Life Sciences Manufacturing
There is nothing simple about manufacturing. Every form of manufacturing has its own complexities, and healthcare manufacturing is no exception. Over the course of the 31-plus years that Strategic Systems Group (SSG) has been catering to the ERP needs of manufacturers, we have learned that lesson well. That is why we specialize in only four major manufacturing sectors:
- Aerospace and Defense (AD)
- Industrial Machinery and Equipment (IM&E)
- Healthcare and Life Sciences
- Apparel Manufacturing
That is also why for 31 years, we have provided not just ERP Implementation Services but ERP Consulting Services and ERP Software Selection Services as well. Manufacturers hire us to help them choose the ERP solution that suits them best. It is a consultative process that yields the information we need to help them decide.
Our clients skillfully use accurate and timely information and Intelligent Systems to drive improvements in eight (8) critical cost and performance areas:
- Manufacturing throughput
- Material shortages/substitutions
- Material scrap
- Production scrap
- Excess and obsolete inventories
- Labor and machine utilization
- On-time delivery to customers
- Machine downtime
Our healthcare manufacturing clients choose us to integrate and support their ERP systems because they know we are passionate about deploying technology to solve business problems and find better ways to do things.
Top 3 Ways We Help Our Healthcare/Life Science Manufacturing Clients
1. Supply Chain Management – As we have seen during the pandemic, a disruption in the supply chain of a healthcare manufacturing enterprise can have significant long-term effects. Therefore, we help ensure that our clients can:
- Effectively utilize a single, fully integrated ERP system that provides real-time visibility into all parts of the supply chain
- Accurately track material availability, cost, and quality by supplier
- Optimize inventory levels based on forecasted sales
- Minimize the cost of holding inventory
2. Planning and Scheduling – Material ad production scheduling are vital activities in a healthcare manufacturing company. Advanced planning and scheduling are required, especially when customers must have delivery by a specific date. Our clients benefit from:
- Efficient utilization of human resources, materials, and machines
- Advanced scheduling systems to plan, manufacture, and deliver on time
- Balancing work center capacity and delivery based on actual and projected demand
- Advanced warning when subcontract manufacturing is needed to meet delivery dates
3. Discrete, Batch, and Configure-to-Order (CTO) Manufacturing – These are 3 of the most well-known modes of manufacturing in the healthcare sphere.
- Implement discrete, batch, or configure-to-order modes of manufacturing to deliver quality products in the most cost-effective manner
- Develop and execute optimized business processes to utilize additional methods of manufacturing, including contract, assemble-to-order, make-to-order, and make-to-stock
- Optimize business processes to increase productivity and reduce waste
- Reduce inventory and working capital requirements
In Conclusion
Getting the correct functionality to meet the unique requirements of every different specialized area of manufacturing is a challenge that experts can only meet with depth and breadth of experience. Since Strategic Systems Group (SSG) has been implementing, maintaining, and supporting ERP software solutions for manufacturers for 31 years, we can safely say that we have that expertise.
And we put that expertise to use every day for manufacturers like you!
Take the next step
To learn more about the benefits of workforce and business process optimization… Call Strategic Systems Group (SSG) at (310) 539-4645 or reach out via our contact form today!
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