Making manufacturing work for Vision and Vantagepoint
It is possible to achieve enhanced procurement and production within Deltek’s Vision and Vantagepoint products without the need for expensive customisations or standalone systems. The FMIS range of Solutions for Deltek delivers fully integrated comprehensive purchasing, materials management and asset management designed specifically for project-based firms.
Three common manufacturing pain points and how to overcome them
Below we look at the three of the most common challenges that firms come up against when using Deltek for production or materials management and how FMIS allows you to overcome them.
#1 Quoting
“Our engineers price up their projects in Excel” is a line we hear frequently. Excel can be a quick and easy way to price up a project, but it has some pretty big limitations. Without a product catalogue, it is almost impossible to standardise the names, costs, and suppliers for the assembly’s components. Central to FMIS is a product catalogue containing all previously used items and a preferred supplier, previous cost and current availability. Creating a proposal based on a previous template with accurate prices and standardised components cuts materials costs and saves time. With the quote already in the FMIS system, there is no need to duplicate work by adding the costs to a separate proposal document. You can just print it using a customised template.
#2 Purchasing
Deltek’s Vision and Vantagepoint solutions have existing purchasing modules, but these were never intended for heavy-duty procurement. Many firms that purchase inventory or stock keep this process outside of Deltek because of these limitations. The FMIS Purchase Order Processing module allows users to generate, approve and process orders directly from requisitions or sales orders within the system. FMIS enables purchasers to automatically generate a purchase order if stock is not available for allocation, automatically triggering an approval workflow for the order. Three-way invoice matching ensures that the purchase order can be matched to the invoice and goods receipt, preventing complications with accounts payable.
Managing change orders once the PO has been approved is one of the most common issues firms face. FMIS allows users to amend change orders subject to approval workflows rather than cancelling and re-starting the process.
#3 Bill of Materials
Project-based manufacturing is usually bespoke or templated. It is often complex and may take the form of kitting or assembly. Because neither Vision nor Vantagepoint can track production inventory effectively, this is often left to an Excel spreadsheet or third-party system. FMIS uses a multi-level bill of materials to handle even the most complex production work orders. Templates provide a helpful starting point and offer the flexibility to customise an assembly to match the specific project specifications by swapping out components.
Optimising your processes
To find out more about optimising your production processes without the need for standalone systems or workarounds using FMIS Solutions for Deltek, then please contact us via the website or call us on +44 (0) 1227 773003
