Cash is king for manufacturers, from the owner down to the machine operators. If you visit any manufacturer, you’ll see that most have a keen eye on how everything is being used. Machines are generally only running if they are making parts; employees are typically only working if orders are coming in; and scrap is only examined carefully to determine, “How did this happen? How can we prevent it from happening again? What else can we do with this?”

Even the best manufacturers make mistakes. But rarely do they make the same mistake twice. If you ask them what some of their biggest mistakes have been, the answer is often about inventory management—that is, if it’s in the past and they’re now doing something different.

What’s different? After speaking with many manufacturing owners and many subject matter experts, the difference is that their business is choosing to live and die by the following 10 inventory must do’s with the help of ERP software.

 …