10 Benefits of Cloud Hosting For Manufacturers
Industries all over are learning about the benefits of cloud hosting, and watching as profits rise and IT costs fall. There is one industry where cloud hosting is making a big impact: manufacturing. 
The top manufacturers see why cloud computing is such a benefit to their business. They are trying to streamline the process for everyone along the supply chain, becoming easier to work with, and see cloud-based manufacturing applications such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and many have embraced cloud-based applications company-wide.
Why Cloud Computing? 10 Benefits of Cloud Hosting For Manufacturers
If you are a manufacturer, you must strive to bring a high level of accuracy to your operations. Interaction with services, distributors, and suppliers should be quick and easy, but still bring the most amount of information as possible available to everyone. Forbes' reporter Louis Columbus talked to manufacturers in the industrial, high tech, and aerospace and defense industries to figure out why cloud computing is vital to their day-to-day operations.
Here's what he found out:
- Cloud-based platforms make it easier to conduct configure-to-order, build-to-order, and engineer-to-order business. In other words, this platform allows the manufacturer to more easily access information pertaining to that specific custom order, minimizing the chances the order will be incorrect, thereby minimizing the chance time and money are wasted.
- Supplier-specific portals and platforms for collaboration are available instantly, making it easier to place orders without downloading and incessant updating of software. You can find out where that order is in real-time, and see other vital information exactly when you want to. In services are “it” right now for cloud integration. This can be iPhone integration, voice-activated controls like OnStar in your car, and other services. The more services you can bundle, the better. It's shaping the way manufacturers are strategizing their latest products and services, and breathing new life into an old product is as easy as adding cloud-based in services.
- Cloud platforms used in manufacturing, especially high-tech, aids the collaboration process during product development and accelerates the time-to-market goal. It's easier than ever to keep track of indirect and direct sales using a cloud platform that tracks sales results, comparing them against individual, group, and division quotas. A simple dashboard interface displays all pertinent sales information regarding each and every rep and the profits brought in by sales managers. Marketing in the cloud using automated applications that not only allow the planning of the next marketing campaign, but the execution and tracking of sales data as well.
- The cloud aids manufacturers when automating support, customer service, and order status inquiries online. Columbus notes that not all manufacturing industries are on board yet, but those in the high tech industry use the cloud for automated self-service the most. More and more, there is a reliance on two-tier ERP strategies in order to become more efficient when material planning, managing suppliers, and lowering the cost of logistics. Microsoft, Acumatica, NetSuite, and Plex Systems lead the way in ERP systems.
- Cloud-based Human Resource Management (HRM) systems allow headquarters to easily access information that is kept globally, making it easier to do payroll, hire, keep track of time, and manage the workforce. Cloud-based applications can help manufacturers streamline processes and tasks, giving them more time to focus on developing new products and save money needed to invest in these new ideas.
Can you envision cloud hosting helping your business?