ERP for manufacturing and motorcycles: Where you look is where you go

Image source: Triumph motorcycles

Here's something most people don't know about me: I'm obsessed with motorcycles.

Not the Sunday-ride-to-the-café kind. I mean the proper stuff, the off-road adventures, long-distance touring, the kind of riding where you and the machine become one entity making split-second decisions at speed.

My bike of choice? The Triumph Tiger Explorer. It's an absolute weapon of engineering where traction control that reads the road surface, throttle modes that adapt to conditions, hill-start assistance, and weather-responsive braking systems. This thing has more computing power than the Apollo missions.

But here's what most riders don't think about when they twist the throttle: this machine is itself a miracle of modern manufacturing. Thousands of components are sourced from supply chains spanning multiple continents. Precision-engineered parts are manufactured to tolerances measured in microns, all meticulously planned through effective production scheduling. Assembly processes are coordinated across factories, suppliers, and logistics networks. Every Tiger that rolls off the line in Thailand represents a symphony of manufacturing operations working in perfect harmony.

The bike performs flawlessly because somewhere, a factory is performing flawlessly.

Every rider knows the fundamental rule: where you look is where you go. Look at the obstacle, and you'll hit it. Look at the corner exit, and you'll make it through. Your bike follows your focus, whether you intend it to or not. This happens frequently in the Dakar Rally, where riders focus on the tree on the horizon and what do you know? They hit it. Where you look is where you go.

It's not magic. It's physics and psychology combined. Your body makes thousands of micro-adjustments based on where your eyes are focused. Fix your gaze on the tree at the side of the road, and you'll steer straight into it. Look through the corner to where you want to be, and you'll carve through it beautifully.

Which brings me to the uncomfortable parallel I want to draw today: your manufacturing operation is probably looking at the wrong things.

ERP for manufacturing technology exists, but are you actually using it?

Think about what it takes to build a motorcycle like the Tiger. Triumph's factories don't operate on gut instinct; instead, they incorporate effective financial management to ensure each component of their operations is cost-efficient and value-driven. They have real-time visibility into every component, every assembly step, every quality checkpoint. They know immediately when a supplier shipment is delayed, when a production line needs adjustment, when inventory levels are critical, and when quality metrics drift outside tolerance.

That's not luck. That's ERP for manufacturing in action, seamlessly integrated with inventory management to ensure efficiency and precision.

Here's what I've learned consulting with manufacturers over the years: most factories are sitting on goldmines of potential efficiency, and they're not extracting an ounce of value from it.

They've got machines. They've got systems. They've got ERP solutions that cost them a fortune. And yet, when you dig into the numbers, they're operating blind.

The modern factory should function like my motorbike, where I'm constantly reading conditions, adapting in real-time, optimising performance across dozens of variables simultaneously. Sadly, most don't. Most are still running on gut instinct, clipboards, and monthly reporting that tells you what went wrong three weeks ago.

This is where Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) software comes in, the evolution of ERP for manufacturing that brings real-time intelligence to the factory floor. Think of it as the nervous system your factory needs to make intelligent decisions in real-time.

The four pillars of an intelligent factory

1. Visibility creates velocity (but only if you're looking at the right things)

The first principle: you can't improve what you can't see.

But here's the deeper truth, straight from the motorcycling world: where you look is where you go. Most factories are looking at lagging indicators like last week's production numbers, last month's quality reports. By the time you see the problem, you've already hit it.

Modern MOM systems, such as Syspro, give you a browser-based, real-time window into every aspect of your manufacturing process. Not spreadsheets. Not reports. Live data, from any device, showing you exactly what's happening right now.

This is about digitising the factory floor, embedding sensors and intelligence into your equipment so that data flows automatically into your decision-making systems. Visual planning boards, production dashboards, equipment status that are visible to the right people at the right time.

Think about it: in what other area of business would you tolerate making decisions based on week-old data? Your factory is where you transform capital into product. Why would you operate it blind?

The manufacturers who are winning are the ones who've learned to look ahead to see issues forming before they become failures, to spot opportunities before their competitors do.

2. Automation isn't the future, it's the baseline

Here's the uncomfortable truth: if you're still manually tracking production data, you're already behind.

Your machines should be talking to your systems automatically. Start times, stop times, downtime incidents, job assignments, operation status, parts count, performance metrics should flow into your systems without human intervention.

The smart factory doesn't just collect this data; it revolutionises production management. It interprets it. It spots patterns. It flags anomalies before they become problems.

This isn't about replacing people. It's about freeing your best people from data entry so they can focus on the high-value work of continuous improvement.

3. Measure what matters (or watch your competitors do it better)

There's an old maxim in business: what gets measured gets managed.

The best MOM systems provide you with laser-focused analytics on the metrics that actually drive profitability: Overall Labour Effectiveness (OLE), Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), and Total Effective Equipment Performance (TEEP).

One framework I particularly recommend is Six Big Losses analysis. It helps you identify and quantify the most common causes of lost productivity in discrete manufacturing:

• Availability losses (breakdowns and setup time)

• Performance losses (minor stops and reduced speed)

• Quality losses (defects and startup losses)

When you can see these losses clearly, you can attack them systematically. Every percentage point improvement in OEE flows directly to your bottom line.

4. Lean isn't a programme, it's an operating system

The factories that dominate their markets don't treat Lean and Six Sigma as initiatives with start and end dates. They build these principles into their daily operations through the integration of tools they use.

Management alerts that catch issues before they cascade. Messaging systems that connect the shop floor to decision-makers instantly. Issue workflows that ensure problems get assigned, tracked, and resolved.

One feature I'm particularly fond of: paperless shop floor management. Digital job cards, online forms, video links to training materials are all accessible right at the point of work.

No more hunting for the right paperwork. No more outdated procedures. Just the right information at the right time.

This is what continuous improvement actually looks like when it's embedded in your systems rather than stuck in a binder on someone's shelf.

The ERP for manufacturing principle that changes everything

Where you look is where you go.

On a bike, that's the difference between making the corner and hitting the gravel. In manufacturing, it's the difference between market leadership and wondering why your competitors are eating your lunch.

Think about it: Triumph doesn't build motorbikes by looking at last month's production reports. They're looking at real-time data flowing from their suppliers, their assembly lines, their quality systems. They're looking at where the market is going, where their competitors are weak, where their next innovation needs to be.

The manufacturers I work with who are dominating their markets all have one thing in common: they've trained themselves to look at the right things. They're not fixated on last week's problems. They're looking at real-time data, leading indicators, and the opportunities ahead.

But here's what I see too often: companies invest in ERP for manufacturing and MOM systems, then neglect updates, skip training, and wonder why they're not seeing results. Or worse, they're looking at the wrong metrics entirely by focusing on yesterday's problems instead of tomorrow's opportunities.

The technology isn't the problem. It's about making sure your team is looking at the right things, at the right time, with the right context to make intelligent decisions.

Your competitors aren't sleeping on this. The manufacturers who are winning market share right now are the ones treating their systems like critical infrastructure. They're updating them, training their people, and continuously optimising their operations. More importantly, they're looking ahead.