COVID-19. Chip Shortage. Suez Canal. War in Ukraine. Baltimore Bridge Collapse. Tariffs. Every year of the 2020s has unleashed events that have rocked multiple industries, causing manufacturers around the world to spend long days and sleepless nights wondering how to make it through. While manufacturers have used different strategies to survive, the most successful ones share one trait: adaptability.
As AI leads exponential acceleration and international trade disagreements stress global supply chains, agility has never been needed more. Many companies are struggling with AI and tariffs because they lack consistent, accurate, and timely data. Though the temptation may be to pause enterprise-wide projects, business leaders need to seriously ask: “What are the right conditions; when will we have them, and what do we miss between now and then by maintaining the status quo?” AI isn’t needed to answer that question – future macro conditions are impossible to predict; it’s impossible to retake historical opportunities, so the time to act is now. That said, enterprise data modernization, especially in an ERP project with the broadest reach and highest perceived risk, is notoriously hard to succeed with. Yet this is precisely where QAD excels. More importantly, success is what QAD customers experience.
Let’s explore concrete examples of manufacturers who have successfully become adaptable using QAD Adaptive ERP:
1. Gaining Actionable Insights Across All Sites
A key to adaptability is knowing exactly what you can do. Having a unified ERP strategy across sites makes the knowledge more accessible, particularly when it’s ERP designed for manufacturing. Spindex is a Singapore-listed precision component manufacturer with plants in Malaysia, China and Vietnam. The company leverages their engineering prowess, regional presence and QAD ERP to “do a lot of design in conjunction with our customers, and they like that a lot”. This model helps Spindex to be able to provide much shorter lead times. Senior leadership at Spindex recognize that “the successful implementation of QAD ERP helped a lot in the daily operations. One leader went on to say, “We have revamped using QAD ERP, which helped us a lot in inventory management and cost analysis.”
2. Recovering from Sudden Disruption
“It’s really bad. It’s really bad.” is uttered more and more often in reaction to disruptive external events. Autokiniton knows this stomach-tightening feeling too well when one of their production facilities took a direct hit from an EF-3 tornado. As the second-largest body and automotive frame manufacturer in the United States, this disaster could have impacted car production across multiple OEMs. What was once a direct pipeline to major automakers was turned into “carnage everywhere… debris all over the place”. Though local IT infrastructure was completely taken out, all of their critical data was safe with QAD ERP in the Cloud. Another facility seven miles away was able to “ship and do all of the normal business processes”. Their VP of IT added, “They would print product labels, do shipping paperwork and send ASNs. It’s really that teamwork from one facility to another that allowed us to do that.”
3. Making an Impact within Months
With an Acquisition
Mergers and acquisitions offer manufacturers new opportunities, but the realization of potential benefits is heavily influenced by how well the transition is managed. Rapak, a flexible packaging solutions company, acquired by TriMas in early 2020, had 10 weeks to transition off the previous ownership’s instance of QAD ERP, to complete the sale. At the height of COVID-19 travel restrictions, Rapak chose to engage with QAD Services to remotely implement QAD Adaptive ERP in the cloud. When reflecting on the project, a Rapak Systems Manager said: “I’m happy we were able to deliver a difficult project on time. We had very few internal resources, but our strong and supportive QAD project team helped make up for that. I’d call this a very successful project.”
With a Greenfield Expansion
There are times when M&A support business objectives, and instances when establishing a state-of-the-art site is the right decision. Tsubakimoto increased manufacturing capacity in Europe with a fresh build in the Czech Republic. Company leadership also decided that upgrading their UK ERP and aligning both sites on QAD was the best choice. After modernizing UK operations in a mere four months with QAD Professional Services and Effective On Boarding, Tsubakimoto was able to get the new Czech site live in just over three months. More important than the impressive timelines was Tsubakimoto’s resulting confidence, with management claiming they “are now in a great position for moving into the future”.
Adaptability is Critical in Modern Manufacturing
The last five years have demonstrated the critical importance of adaptability in manufacturing. From global crises to supply chain disruptions, the need for agility has never been greater. Companies that embrace enterprise data modernization and leverage systems like QAD Adaptive ERP are better positioned to navigate these challenges and capitalize on opportunities. Don’t wait for ‘perfect conditions’ that may never arrive. Act now to transform your business.
Contact QAD today to learn how our solutions can help you achieve greater adaptability and resilience in the face of uncertainty.
