Corona virus pandemic has tightly gripped the world right now. In the US, the total reported cases are 1336 as on 12^th March 2020 (Courtesy: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/). It has had a domino effect on crude oil prices that dropped down to 25% globally, lead to travel lock-downs by affected countries, and has sent the global economy into a downward spiral. 

Medical manufacturing & re sellers have seen huge demand spurts, especially for safety masks, bio hazard kits, medical components, testing kits, hand-sanitizers, soaps, disinfectants, medical tissues, toiletries etc. 

At the same time, demand has fallen sharply in other industry sectors such as, Airline, Supply chain & logistics, Retail, Automotive, Electronics etc. Major electronic companies are facing production delay and losses, as factories have shut down in China. Automotive manufacturers are facing difficulties in procuring spare parts for the same reason. Major sporting, technology, culture and trade events have been cancelled/postponed across the world. 

Due to lock downs in virus-affected regions and fears of it spreading in unaffected regions, consumers are stockpiling essential items such as food, medical items and staying at home. This means, they are cutting back on travel, entertainment and eating-out which has affected the airlines, tourism, and food & beverage industries. 

Enterprises mostly from IT/BT sectors have shut down their offices, asked their employees across the world to work from home and cut back on work-related travel. 

But what about Manufacturers?

Manufacturers are facing a two-headed dragon. On one hand, they cannot completely operate on a work-from-home model as manufacturing involves working with machines, overseeing shop floor operations, monitoring material movement, assembling parts, conducting quality checks and other activities that require human presence. On the other hand, they need to prevent virus infection within their factory premises and a total shutdown. 

However, taking preventive actions that will minimize the impact is better than taking no action at all. We agree that certain manufacturing departments such as the shop floor, and logistics department cannot work from home due to their nature of work. However, there are other manufacturing departments such as production planning, sales management, purchase management, customer support etc. that can work from home. Moreover, manufacturers have to act solely from a social & national responsibility point of view. 

But how? With OmegaCube ERP! 

OmegaCube ERP is a web-based ERP software, backed by a flexible browser technology that lets you access it from any supported browser and device (desktops, laptops, smartphones and tablets). This means, employees can access the ERP from anywhere, anytime, without hardware and network limitations.  

Modern ERP systems such as OmegaCube ERP have an integrated setup, where all manufacturing modules such as Inventory, HR, Payroll, Sales, Purchases, Accounting & Finance, Shop floor, Quality and Supply Chain management etc. are connected with each other and to a centralized database. This means, data can be accessed and updated in real-time from anywhere, anytime. 

With OmegaCube ERP, 

• Plant supervisors can easily perform their administrative duties by accessing real-time business intelligence and analytical reports. 
• Shop floor managers can track machine status, get live reports on downtime, cycle time, maintenance issues, quality problems and performance of the machine. 
• Sales personnel can easily access incoming sales enquiries, RFQs, product enquiries and respond to them online. 
• Procurement personnel get a real-time view of material consumption through work order tracking and initiate procurement from approved suppliers. 
• HR department can keep a tab on the attendance of employees, total worklog to be handled and how the delegated work is being carried out.
• Personnel can look up stock availability, locations, work order/job requirements, and stock shortage. It also facilitates instant reflection of incoming and outgoing stock.
• Work instructions specific to a part being manufactured, operating instructions, part drawings, quality inspection procedures, gage calibration procedures, etc. can be instantly shared to shop floor personnel. 
• Quality checks can be conducted via phones and tablets. The results can be instantly recorded and fed into the ERP, which reduces errors, quickens the process and makes analysis very easy.
• Personnel can easily communicate, share data and documents with suppliers, vendors through EDI. 

All this, from the confines of their respective houses. Personnel productivity can be monitored through seamless and continuous communication between the factory premises and individual employees who are remotely connected.

Conclusion 

Throughout the history of manufacturing, it has been believed that productivity is high when personnel work from the factory premises. This was based on communications technology that was limited to phone calls, emails and human-to-human interaction. 

With today’s ERP and communications technology, manufacturers can greatly reduce commute time of employees, administrative and overhead costs by encouraging their personnel (wherever applicable) to work from home, especially in the situation that we all are in today. 

With OmegaCube ERP and its flexible mobility features, manufacturers can definitely keep their enterprise afloat and drive away the risk of a forced shutdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Stay safe!