How Well does Visual Enterprise Fit Your Business?

Visual Enterprise fits lots of manufacturers, but not all.

There is no piece of business software, no matter how complex, that is a perfect fit for every business. The circumstances of your business and the capability of the software vary in a myriad of ways that determine whether your business can effectively use it. This is true even when the software is marketed as “manufacturing” software.

Manufacturing is a rather broad category of activity that ranges from shops that produce millions of the same part day after day to small, almost craft, shops that produce one-of-a-kind products for niche markets.

No single piece of software is going to be equally effective at helping to run a given business. Yet I have been surprisingly successfully at implementing Visual in a huge range of business types. While Visual does not belong in every manufacturer, it does fit well in a surprisingly broad range of manufacturing companies.

“If the shoe doesn't fit, must we change the foot? “
-- Gloria Steinem

I have helped companies making products as diverse as roofing screws (cold headers) to manufacturers of custom machinery (capital equipment manufacturers) use Visual to effectively manage their activities.

That said there are certain types of companies that probably shouldn’t be using Visual. To effectively use Visual your production needs to be organized in batches. If you run an assembly or process line you are going to get frustrated with Visual very quickly. Or if you manufacture one-off fully custom products (custom artisan furniture for example), you are not likely to find your investment in Visual to be money well spent.

Visual fits best in high-mix/low-volume manufacturing environments; where its ability to manage the complexity and chaos of a shop floor in constant change-over shines. Whether you manufacture complex machinery or nuts and bolts; Visual has the potential to work well in your business.

Key Characteristics of a manufacturer that Visual fits well:

Large variety of products that are produced in low to medium volumes,
Production is organized in batches or jobs,
There are a large number of batches active at any point-in-time,
There are few or no continuously manufactured part numbers,
Bills of material and routings are somewhat complex,
Frequent setups and changeovers,
Difficult to schedule because of product-mix complexity

I am Kurt B. Carr and I have years of experience in teaching companies how to use Visual Enterprise as a tool to operate effectively and achieve success. Call (941.776.3830) or email me today to learn about our Fit Assessment for Visual Enterprise.

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