Article by Andrew Mamonitis, Vice President – APAC, Manufacturing Division, ECI Software Solutions
Becoming smarter and more efficient will help your enterprise combat the myriad of challenges the upcoming 12 months have in store.
For local businesses in general, and manufacturers in particular, FY2026 has been quite the year.
From rising labour costs and skills shortages to the global fuel shock which sent the price of diesel soaring in March, and the interest rate hikes economists believe will keep coming down the pike, the manufacturing sector has been buffeted on multiple fronts, mostly by forces beyond its control.
Then there’s the rising incidence of cyber-attacks, with their potential to cause serious operational disruption and sizeable financial losses – an average of $56,600 and $97,200 per report, for small and medium businesses respectively, according to the Australian Signals Directorate’s Annual Cyber Threat Report 2024-25.
Against that backdrop, it’s little surprise some once thriving manufacturers have gone to the wall during the past 12 months.
They include the likes of Price Plastics, a long-established supplier to the industrial and consumer markets, which collapsed into administration in September 2025, and luxury caravan manufacturer Zone RV which went into liquidation in January.
With conditions likely to remain uncertain and challenging, maintaining high visibility and tight control over your operations could help your business avoid joining their unfortunate ranks in the upcoming financial year.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going
The strength of your financial management can mean the difference between sinking and staying afloat. Forecasting accurately, keeping accounts up to date and maintaining an iron grip on your outgoings and cash flow will help you deal with fluctuating demand and unexpected changes to your cost base.
Understanding your production capacity and monitoring your productivity and output will allow you to maximise the efficiency of your operations and ensure you’re extracting peak value from your assets and employees.
Robust stock control and scheduling systems can help you keep a lid on inventory costs, minimise bottlenecks and delays, and create the capacity to accommodate new customers or rush orders.
And strong cyber-security safeguards will reduce the risk of costly disruption, should your business be targeted by hackers or scammers.
Why working in manual mode can make tough times tougher
Ensuring your enterprise is lean, mean and ready to respond to rapidly changing conditions can be difficult if you’re operating in manual or semi-manual mode.
That’s still the status quo for a sizeable proportion of small and medium sized local manufacturers that haven’t documented and systemised key practices and processes.
Typically, they rely heavily on spreadsheets, or even paper-based systems, with a surprising amount of intellectual property – including critical customer and operational information – stored in owners’ and long-term employees’ heads.
Not having that data consolidated in an accessible ‘single source of truth’ can make it tricky, if not impossible, to extract the insights you need to optimise your operations and monitor your position at a granular level.
Turning to technology
That’s where cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software can be a real game changer.
Eliminating legacy processes and practices and pulling all your operational and financial data together on a single platform – preferably one that’s been custom built to address the unique requirements of small and medium sized manufacturers – will help you bring greater efficiency and rigour to all aspects of your operations.
You’ll be able to maintain a bird’s eye view of how your business is tracking – in the here and now, not months ago when reports were last run – and use sophisticated, AI-powered analytics technology to identify emerging issues.
From managing your stock levels and cash flow to minimising downtime and overtime while boosting your output, you’ll have the tools and insights you need to make your business more productive, profitable and resilient.
Ideally, you’ll elect to work with a vendor that provides a comprehensive range of safeguards to keep your data private and safe. These should include multi-factor authentication, firewall protected servers, the latest encryption technology and hourly back-ups to help you recover quickly, should your enterprise fall victim to an attack.
Stronger and smarter in FY2027 and beyond
Taking steps to make your manufacturing business more resilient will see it better placed to withstand whatever shocks and setbacks FY2027 has in store. Deploying ERP technology that allows you to monitor and manage every facet of your operations will help you boost productivity, pre-empt issues and pivot rapidly when circumstances change. If you’re committed to sticking it out for the long haul, it’s a critical asset that should sit at the heart of your IT stack.
