How to find the right OMS for you

Never has manufacturing faced so many customer demands as it has in the post-pandemic world. So how can we cope with these, coupled with an increased demand for ecommerce, digitisation and better supply chain management? Good news – this is where an order management system (OMS) can help.

Not convinced? You’ll find many benefits to an OMS, including:

• Time savings
• Reduced costs
• Better visibility.

But how do you know which OMS is right for you? A strong OMS will increase your margins and improve your customer service, so you’ll need to make a well-informed choice. Let’s start by uncovering exactly what an OMS does.

What is an order management system?

An OMS in manufacturing helps to coordinate the whole customer order process. This starts from initial order creation to production planning, inventory management and purchasing, transport scheduling, and receipt of goods.

With the right OMS, you’ll have all of this in one place. It should be able to integrate with other systems and processes to give you total visibility, including real-time data. This may include a custom dashboard with live reporting, as well as audit trails.

Everybody can use an OMS, from Operations Directors to workers on the factory floor. But no two businesses – and therefore systems - are the same. Some businesses might have more basic processes, perfect for an out-of-the-box solution, others may need something more bespoke. Whichever way your business swings, you should commit to an order processing audit first.

What should I look for in an order management system?

First things first – before you jump in and search for a new OMS, you should start by looking inwards. An order processing audit can help to identify the steps taken from customer purchases through to product delivery. The result? A better idea of what functionality and outcomes you’ll need from your OMS.

How to conduct an order processing audit

Want to see your business through your customers’ eyes? An order processing audit will detail each phase of the purchase and order fulfilment process. We’re thinking about financial transactions, order picking and logistics – looking at who does what. Your audit should go through these phases:

1. Looking at where you are right now – what is your order life cycle, and how do you document it? Does everybody in the business understand how long each phase takes?
2. Assigning tasks – who is involved in each phase, what does the process achieve, what are the next steps and what systems are you currently using?
3. Summarising and reviewing – whereabouts have you identified room for improvement, and how could you prioritise these? What tools do you need to get this done?

Defining your business needs

When you’re looking for an OMS, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available. Again, this is where a bespoke system may work, tailoring the functionality to your needs.

It helps to start by categorising your business needs into short, medium and long-term. For example:

• Short-term: installing a tool to automate laborious human tasks, such as manually uploading orders into a database
• Medium-term: reducing business costs by managing production waste, such as stock replenishment monitoring
• Long-term: growing the business by X% over X years, with a powerful dashboard showing real-time demand forecasting.

This means that change can be manageable, incremental and sustainable – and you’re likely to start to see improvements much quicker! For example, you might sign up for a scalable order management system that grows with you as you save time and money.

What is the most important feature of an OMS?

The most important feature in an OMS will totally depend on your business goals and what’s holding you back. You might be able to meet your goals with out-of-the-box functionality, or you may need something more bespoke.

To give you a flavour, some important features to assess may include:

1. Integration with your e-commerce stores
   Constantly synchronise your stores and marketplaces with real-time data for a seamless customer experience
2. Customisable functionality
   Complex manufacturing processes often mean you need the ability to customise your system with things such as multiple order statuses or production workflows
3. Inventory management
   Real-time data from your inventory will improve visibility for both employees and customers.
4. Scalability and integration
   If you’re planning to scale your business, your OMS should be adaptable enough to grow with you. Likewise, make sure it integrates with third-party software such as customer relationship management tools.
5. Custom dashboards
   These offer the most important data in one centralised location. Make those decisions faster.
6. Compliance and audit trails
   Certain industry verticals will rely on this more than others, such as pharmaceuticals, so there should always be strong, accessible record-keeping tools.
7. Customer service
   This could include database management, processing returns and updating customers on orders. These processes should be automated where possible to you save time.

How to roll out a new OMS

Now you’ve done the hard part with your order processing audit, it’s time to choose a tool. Again, this may depend on how complex your business is – simple processes may not require as large an investment.

You also need buy-in from your staff, which is where training comes in. Make sure you have a well thought out change management plan that includes all departments. Send out regular communications and arrange meetings to train staff or discuss the changes. Your teams need to be confident with this new technology – and how it will make their lives easier!

Finally, remember that, just like your business, your OMS should evolve over time. Schedule regular reviews. Look at how much waste you’ve prevented, and how much time and money you’ve saved. How does this align with your overall strategic business goals?

Take regular feedback from staff to make continuous improvements. Your OMS should remain fit for purpose – if it’s holding you back, it might be time to have a word with the team and discuss what needs tweaking or what additional functionality you might need.

Where might an out-of-the-box solution work?

While every manufacturing business is different, not everyone needs an entirely bespoke system. An out-of-the-box solution may work better if budgets are low or if your business follows fairly generic processes.

But make sure you’re not paying for functionality you’ll never use. Similarly, it may be better in the long term to use a solution with personal tech support.

Where might a tailored OMS solution work?

A custom-made OMS is ideal for manufacturers who have more complex processes. The system may need to integrate with more tools, or deal with larger markets and multiple suppliers.

Discuss your order management system with Flow56

Our systems help to minimise human errors and save time by storing all your order data in one centralised location. Book a discovery call today to discuss what you might be looking for.

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