Benefits of Job Shop Manufacturing Software | MIE Solutions

Benefits of Job Shop Manufacturing Software

MIE Solutions’ founder and original software developer, David Ferguson, was born into the manufacturing family by virtue of his father, owner/operator of a fabrication job shop that is still in operation today. Now, with over 25 years of first-hand experience, he is considered an expert in the job shop arena. Numerous manufacturing companies around the globe to become more efficient and cost-effective thanks to MIE’s job shop software. 

There are many benefits of job shop manufacturing software, but sometimes they get buried in questions by job shop owners. 

  • Isn’t job shop software expensive? 

  • Should I wait until my business grows to start thinking about job shop scheduling and job shop management? 

  • I already have an accountant, why do I need job shop planning software? 

  • And the list goes on… 

Questions aside, it is important to first remember that job shop manufacturing software is an investment in the success of your company. The decision can be difficult, especially when what you have been doing up until this point is working, but adding job shop scheduling into your routine has benefits you might not realize. Don’t let the sticker shock of job shop software discourage you from investigating the real return on your software investment. It’s going to be worth every penny. 

Job shop manufacturing goes beyond accounting

 Accounting for your business is different than running your business. You may have someone who runs your books and does a great job keeping track of the cash flow, recording revenue and expenses and generating income statements and balance sheets, but there may be other useful information that you are missing out on. 

For many manufacturing shop owners, knowing which jobs made them the most money during the month is critical information. As a job shop owner, it is important to know which jobs were “winners” for your business and which weren’t. By adding job shop manufacturing software into your daily operation, you add a production planning and scheduling partner to your operation.

The reports from this job shop software transcend the general ledger you’re used to and give you more comprehensive data to fuel your success.Job shop management helps you understand more than payables and receivables. The reports address quoting, labor, materials, scheduling, inventory, equipment, shipment. The added information helps you make more informed decisions. 

Catch up with competitors who already use software for job shop scheduling and control

 More and more manufacturing shops have started using job shop software. You want to stay on top of your game and the best way to do that is to set yourself up with the latest tools for your industry. You already vouch for your product, now make sure you have the business operations to back it up. In a job shop, you have to balance a pool of resources and make sure you turn quotes into orders. A scheduling system may group jobs that are due within, say, a three-day range. These jobs may require lengthy setups for each run.

On the other hand, if the software looks out over 30 days of orders, it has more jobs to choose from, so it could group similar jobs together to help minimize setup times and get your shop running as efficient as possible. Take the guesswork out of job shop management and concentrate on creating the high-quality products you’re known for. 

Minimize your stress with job shop management

If you have ever felt the pressure of balancing too many tightly scheduled orders with a request for a last-minute, urgent job from a loyal customer, you might be happy to hear that job shop manufacturing software can help ease the stress you feel. A day in the life of a job shop can be unpredictable. From managing the shop floor to the customers, vendors and the front desk, there is sure to be a lot on your plate.

Software for job shop planning will help eliminate some of the worries and may out exactly what you have on your hands for the day. It’s been said that the only constant is change- which means schedules must continually adapt. Today, software is allowing job shops to ensure the production schedule reflects reality and, most important, continually changes to fit a job shop’s needs.