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South Lower Hall, Booth 6107 see when our customers leverage our platform as a vehicle for transformation and innovation,” Bengtsson says. “For example, one of our customers just went live with a yield optimization involving artificial intelligence and machine learning, positively impacting their profitability.”

Batch processing requires different ERP capabilities than discrete manufacturing, particularly if goods are produced across multiple facilities.

Batch hurdles

Batch processing presents a number of significant challenges for ERP software vendors, particularly when customers make the same products in multiple locations. “A food manufacturer will use one formula to produce their product in their North Carolina facility and since the water chemistry is different at their California facility, for example, they use a different formula so the taste to the consumer will be exactly the same,” explains Jen Childress, director of marketing for Vicinity Software.

The same finished good could have two different SKUs depending on which facility manufactured it, so the ERP software needs to be able to differentiate facilities. “Most discrete manufacturing software does not support making the same item using different BOMs [bills of material]. This is because batch manufacturers are more affected by variation or availability to raw materials,” Childress notes. “The software should tie a formu-