Make-To-Order

Manufacturing
Driving growth through
greater visibility and insight
 What’s Inside Embracing the Future of
Make-to-Order Manufacturing
Embracing the Future of Make-to-order (MTO) manufacturers operate in a dynamic landscape where a
number of trends—new and old—are shaping the future. You need to keep pace
Make-to-Order
with these changes and take advantage of them—or risk falling behind.
Manufacturing. . . . . . . . . . . . 3

5 Trends in MTO In this eBook, we introduce five of the key trends.

We also look at how an enterprise resource planning
Manufacturing. . . . . . . . . . . . 4 (ERP) solution can help you address them by
delivering greater visibility and insight. As a result,

57%
Optimizing the you’ll be able to:

Customer Experience. . . . . . . 6 XXDeliver a great customer experience

XXMake operations as efficient as possible

Maximizing
XXDrive business growth and profitability
Operational Efficiency. . . . . . 8

Driving Growth and

57% of manufacturing is expected
Profitability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 to be engineer-to-order (ETO) or
assemble-to-order (ATO) because
The Smart Way Forward of increasing pressure to meet
customer demand1
for MTO Manufacturers. . . . 12

1
IDC Manufacturing Insights, 2017 Predictions

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 5 Trends in MTO Manufacturing Variations on MTO
manufacturing
MTO manufacturers must profitably address a “market or lot of one” with a
customized product. As several overlapping trends reshape the landscape, a
In MTO manufacturing, the
big question looms for MTO manufacturers. Will you struggle with increased
business manufactures customized
competition, or will you take advantage and become more competitive? products once they receive an order.
Many manufacturers handle one or
1. Mass customization 3. The Amazon effect more variations, including:

The techniques of mass customization can overcome Business buyers expect the same online purchasing Assemble-to-order (ATO)
many of the issues associated with a lot size of one. experience as consumers. They want to research, or build-to-order (BTO)—
Combining personalization with the low unit cost of order, and configure their items online—and they manufacturers stock basic parts or
mass production can help you meet customers’ needs want full visibility into shipping and delivery status. assemblies to fill customer orders.
and stay profitable. To succeed, you’ll need flexible Only an advanced MTO business can support this
work processes and the technologies essential for level of self-service and transparency. Configure-to-order (CTO)—this
mass customization. approach is like ATO and BTO, but
4. Globalization the buyer specifies the components
2. Lean manufacturing for Globalization can grow market share and that make up the product.
waste control 5. Digital transformation The role of ERP
revenues—but it also increases competition.
Digital transformation is accelerating these trends Responding to these trends depends on visibility
Engineer-to-order (ETO)—the
Research shows 60 percent2 of activities in a typical Products must outperform global competitors
in every area of business. For MTO manufacturers, and insight across your business and its value chain. business designs and manufactures
manufacturing operation are waste. Adopting on both price and quality—and meet the
local regulations of each new market. MTO as for all manufacturers, wise investment in new Thankfully, that is precisely what an ERP system one-off orders for customer-
practices like lean manufacturing can help you
control this waste so you can manage costs and manufacturers need a “global” level of visibility technologies is the key to: offers. This guide will help MTO manufacturers specified products.
preserve margins. that covers both the supply and demand chains. choose an ERP solution that will give you the
XXIncreasing efficiency and visibility Custom manufacturing—the
visibility and insight to:
XXAchieving insights that translate into smart
manufacturer makes standard or
decisions and action
XXDeliver a great customer experience custom products just in time to
XXMake operations as efficient as possible meet shipping dates.

XXDrive business growth and profitability

2
Lean Enterprise Research Center, www.leanproduction.com

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 Questions to ask
? Optimizing the Customer
potential providers
Experience
XXDoes your solution have mobile Smart manufacturers understand that buyers of MTO products have high
functionality that supports all expectations. Customers want an experience that’s as easy as any other online store.
roles and tasks?

XXCan your employees access Putting customers first Support for mobile working
customer and order status Customers want to be in control. Whether An ERP solution that works on any device will let
information in one place? researching options or placing orders and tracking your people respond to customers wherever they
progress, customers want manufacturers to provide are—at home, on the factory floor, or traveling.
XXHow easy is it to give customers the information they need at any time. To do this, Mobile capabilities add agility and responsiveness to
control through secure self- you’ll want an ERP solution that offers: formerly desk-bound or manual jobs. They help you
service functions? serve customers with instant access to scheduling,
XXCustomer relationship management
inventory, and quoting tools.
(CRM) integration

XXSupport for mobile working eCommerce capabilities

XXWeb capabilities Respond to the Amazon effect with an ERP system
that enables eCommerce for your business. You can
Integrated CRM easily enable customers to configure, place, and
track orders themselves. You’ll also gain insight into
Look for an ERP solution that integrates CRM
customer purchasing behavior, so you can modify
capabilities to provide a 360-degree view of every
your offer or have sales teams follow up in person.
FiFab’s ERP implementation has been transformational… customer relationship. That way, you can put the
customer at the center of your business—and enable
ensuring customer-focused departments can deliver the right easy access to enterprise data for efficient responses
product to the right customer at the right time—every time. to requests and queries.

—Roberto Morris, ERP Project Consultant | Fife Fabrications

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 Maximizing Operational Efficiency Questions to ask
?
potential providers
In the highly competitive MTO market, investing in an ERP solution helps ensure
operational efficiency.
XXDoes your ERP solution
incorporate manufacturing-centric
Optimizing capacity Operational insight
tools for planning and scheduling?
Your business needs a clear view of capacity and You’ll often have many orders in production at once.
accurate capable-to-promise calculations. To be Understanding whether you’ll meet your delivery XXWhat real-time analytics
successful, you’ll want an ERP solution that: dates depends on knowing the real-time status are available for day-to-day
for each order. Look for an ERP system that shows operational visibility and insight?
XXSimplifies scheduling
you how individual orders are moving through
XXProvides visibility and insight into operational the factory. It should provide insight into machine XXIs it easy to integrate
capacity and activity performance and usage so you can address issues or communication functions into
XXIncorporates tools to maximize productivity adjust workflows. dashboards and other everyday
and throughput ERP functionality?
Productivity and innovation
Planning and scheduling Choose an ERP solution that helps people be more
productive. You’ll want an easy-to-use interface,
To maximize throughput, you must boost machine
personalized work queues for “what’s next,” and
efficiency and run times, and correctly sequence
mobile access to information. Increase productivity
raw materials. You can’t afford to rely on disparate,
by choosing a solution that promotes collaboration
disconnected tools. Instead, choose an ERP system
through social networking tools.
that helps you manage production schedules, what-
if scenarios, and constraints.
Deploying Epicor ERP has allowed us to rely on systems rather than manual processes,
improve communication between departments, streamline operations, and ultimately
ensure that we deliver the highest quality product and service to our customers.
—Aiman Mahmoud, Senior IT Manager | Havelock AHI

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 Questions to ask
? Driving Growth and Profitability
potential providers
74 percent of manufacturers say that growth is a high or extremely high priority
for their organization.3 Ensuring profitability when you’re manufacturing in
XXDoes your ERP solution incorporate response to customer orders—rather than to meet product forecasts—requires
comprehensive estimating effective cost management.
functionality, including the ability to
quote for highly customized orders?
Accurate, agile quoting Optimizing low-volume production
XXDoes your ERP system help MTO Quoting too low for a customized product can To help manage the cost of producing high-quality
manufacturers develop a responsive lead to cost overruns and decreased profit margins. products in low volumes, choose an ERP solution
supply chain that reduces inventory Quoting too high risks loss of business to a that provides the visibility you need to:
requirements? competitor. If your ERP system offers quoting and
XXQuickly identify and fix quality issues during
estimating—including the ability to quote parts
production—avoid extra costs and overruns
XXIs work-in-progress inspection without inventory numbers—you can build accurate
that shrink profits
capability built in to your ERP system? quotes to win more bids and maximize margins.
XXIdentify opportunities for improvements that
Supply chain integration lower production costs

Since MTO production doesn’t start until a customer

confirm an order, it’s vital to keep inventory low. An
ERP solution that can integrate your supply chain lets
you quickly procure raw materials when you need
them—reducing stock and freeing up capital.

Epicor gives us real value. The whole team can access… appropriate information to
produce estimates and quotations. Contracts are immediately converted into production,
and we no longer have to visit the workshop three times a week to carry out an inventory.
—Richard van den Engel, Finance and Information Manager | Derako

3
KPMG Global Manufacturing Outlook 2016

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 The Smart Way Forward for
MTO Manufacturers
The most successful MTO manufacturers will harness the trends currently shaping
the industry to grow their business.

The power of digital transformation take advantage of advanced technologies when The role of ERP
you’re ready, such as:
It’s no surprise that digital transformation is one of Investing in the right ERP software will help you
the key industry trends. MTO manufacturers that XXThe Internet of Things (IoT)—opening drive the long-term success of your digital
don’t transform their work processes and methods new windows of visibility into the transformation program.
will struggle to keep up. manufacturing process
Epicor ERP is the result of more than 45 years of
Digital transformation helps MTO manufacturers XXAdvanced analytics—for better and more working with manufacturers. Unlike other generic
gain visibility and insight. You can optimize the informed decision-making ERP solutions, we built Epicor ERP to fit the ways
customer experience, increase operational efficiency, manufacturers work. It supports single-site,
XXCloud-based capabilities—enabling real-time
and drive profitable growth. It also enables you to visibility, improving information access, and multisite, and global operations. It also integrates
build a foundation for the future—positioning you to enhancing collaboration with other solutions to deliver new levels of
collaboration, visibility, and results.

Epicor ERP software is cloud-ready. You can use

Epicor ERP on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis
or deploy it as a hosted solution. That means you
can start experiencing the benefits of a cloud model
Epicor ERP is now opening up new possibilities for us. It’s set now, and migrate when you’re ready.

our business free. Now we can innovate, grow, and move our
business forwards—and the results are outstanding.
—Toon Meeuws, Head of Logistics and Application Manager | BUMET

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About Epicor

Epicor Software Corporation drives business growth. We provide

flexible, industry-specific software designed to fit the precise needs of
our manufacturing, distribution, retail, and service industry customers.
More than 45 years of experience with our customers’ unique business
processes and operational requirements are built into every solution—
in the cloud or on premises. With this deep understanding of your
industry, Epicor solutions dramatically improve performance and
profitability while easing complexity so you can focus on growth.

For more information, connect with Epicor or visit www.epicor.com.

Contact us today [email protected] www.epicor.com

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specifically disclaims, to the full extent of the law, any applicable implied warranties, such as fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability, satisfactory quality, or reasonable skill and care. This document and its contents, including the
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