The Complete List of the Best Manufacturing ERP Modules

This article defines and describes manufacturing ERP modules, how ERP modules enhance your manufacturing process and business operations, the best ERP solutions modules for manufacturers (including third-party add-on software integrations for procurement and finance automation), and when your manufacturing business should begin deploying business process automation.

What are Manufacturing ERP Modules?

Manufacturing ERP modules are optional functional software add-ons beyond core enterprise resource planning software in a manufacturing company. ERP manufacturing modules include functional software that handles and supports production with quality control, procurement and supply chain management, inventory control, accounting/finance, and sales order/fulfillment.

How Do ERP Modules Enhance Your Manufacturing Process?

ERP modules enhance your manufacturing process by adding functionality for production and supporting processes during the accounting, procure-to-pay, warehousing, sales order fulfillment, and cash conversion cycles. The cash conversion cycle spans the number of days from paying for inventory purchases with accounts payable credit terms to collecting accounts receivable for products sold to customers.

The Best ERP Modules for Manufacturing

The following list covers the best ERP modules as software solutions for optimization in manufacturing companies. Some of these manufacturing ERP modules are for industry-specific manufacturing operations, whereas others are for general business management of your manufacturing company. 

Consult the software providers to find the right ERP and add-on modules. Your manufacturing business can generally either add modules initially upon ERP implementation or later as business needs arise. Ask your ERP company whether decisions on using any modules must be made upfront. 

Production ERP modules

Production ERP modules include product manufacturing modules in ERP systems, including

Bill of Materials, Master Production Schedule (MPS), Material Requirements Planning (MRP), Shop Floor Control, and Quality Control modules. Some manufacturers may also use a Project Management module.

Bill of Materials Module

The Bill of Materials (BOM) manufacturing module of ERP software accumulates a parts hierarchy by subassembly constituting each top-level finished goods product. A bill of materials includes the part number and quantity of raw materials for each work-in-process level used to manufacture each type of finished product.

The BOM is used to order inventory through procurement, plan material requirements using MRP modules, and accumulate actual or standard costs as inventory and eventually cost of goods sold (CGS) when products are sold to customers.

Master Production Schedule and Material Requirements Planning Modules

Manufacturing companies use a master production schedule (MPS) module to determine production needs based on forecasted sales demand and sales & service orders.

The material requirements planning system (MRP) module uses the master production schedule as input. It considers current inventory levels of raw material parts and other planned uses of inventory, such as R&D, to determine ordering and issue inventory to production using the specific products’ Bills of Material.

Shop Floor Control Module

Manufacturers can save money by detecting production process error exceptions that could require rework and generate scrap if not detected as quickly as possible. Using Industry 4.0 / IoT sensors and a real-time notification system for production management discrepancies is the benefit of using a modern shop floor control manufacturing ERP module.

Quality Control Module

The Quality Control ERP manufacturing module should include many features to ensure that the products being produced meet your company’s manufacturing standards and that exceptions are detected promptly.

In manufacturing ERP systems, quality control can be performed:

• In the inventory-receiving process
• Immediately after procurement
• During and upon completion of the manufacturing process
• Before shipping goods to customers
• When customers return goods sold to them with an RMA (return merchandise authorization).

Quality Control features within a manufacturing module in ERP may include:

• Inspections with checklists
• Calibration
• Testing
• Exceptions Workflow
  • Non-conformance (NC)
  • Corrective and preventative actions (CAPA)
  • Root cause analysis
• Traceability forward and backward
• Certificate of analysis
• Quality data collection and compilation
• Vendor performance analysis
• Recalls

Procurement and Supply Chain Management Software Modules

Manufacturing companies purchase inventory parts through the procurement department, using approved purchase requisitions (PRs) from intended users and purchase orders (POs) that are sent to vendors or suppliers to create a contract when accepted.

The Purchasing or Procurement module of an ERP system includes purchase orders and basic procurement management functionality. To improve ERP for procurement, procurement automation can be added and integrated with the ERP system to digitize vendor and document management and purchasing processes and increase efficiency.

Inventory and Warehouse Management Modules

Your manufacturing company needs to track and control inventory by type, part number, and warehouse location. For proper inventory control, your manufacturing business needs to record receipts of inventory purchases and inventory by stage, such as raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods, with issuances to production through the accounting and bill of materials module system and a pick system in production and warehouse management.

Record inventory through the accounting module, conduct annual physical and periodic cycle counts, and reconcile physical and book inventories. For traceability, your business may require serial number and lot number tracking.

Sales Order Management, CRM, and Fulfillment Modules

Customer orders are generated in a sales order module. Sales pricing and order fulfillment through packaging and shipment from the finished goods warehouse location to the customer are necessary for manufacturing ERP module functionality. Your company will most likely include ERP integration with a CRM /customer relationship management system that is either from Salesforce or your ERP/CRM provider.

Ecommerce Module

If your manufacturing company also has online stores to sell merchandise and services, it may need an Ecommerce ERP module.

Business Intelligence Modules

Manufacturing ERP modules for business intelligence to aid decision-making may be available for your ERP system, which may include business intelligence in the core ERP system.

Global, Multi-currency, and Multi-entity Modules

ERP systems, like NetSuite, may have a special module for more complex global businesses. For example, some manufacturing companies use the NetSuite OneWorld module as an essential manufacturing ERP module.

Human Resources and Payroll Modules

Like other companies, manufacturing companies need Human Resources ERP modules. Larger manufacturing companies can consider using Payroll modules, although smaller companies may outsource payroll disbursements and management to a third-party service provider like ADP.

Accounting and Financial Management ERP Modules

The core ERP system includes a basic accounting module to record transactions and manage cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and other balances. The best ERP systems for manufacturing companies are cloud-based. They provide real-time visibility for financial results with reports, dashboards, business intelligence, and drill-downs for analysis.

Additional ERP modules support forecasting, financial planning, budgeting, and advanced cash management. Manufacturers need a strong inventory system that records inventory at standard or actual cost, with variance analysis for manufacturing-related processes, including material variances, labor variances, and overhead variances vs. standard costing expectations. The accounting system records actual expenditure amounts vs. budgeted amounts, with actual vs. budget variance computations by each master expense account in their chart of accounts.

For a fine-tuned, advanced, and efficient system with strong financial controls, integrate third-party add-on modules for finance automation with your manufacturing company ERP system.

Third-party Add-on Manufacturing ERP Modules

Third-party automation of business processes includes Procurement automation, AP automation, Mass Payments automation, and employee expenses and advanced FX add-ons (Multi-FX and FX Hedging) for foreign exchange and accounts payable invoice hedging that combine with AP automation software.

Tipalti software provides solutions that work as a unified software platform with your accounting or manufacturing ERP software. Tipalti software integrates with different types of ERP systems, including cloud ERP, on-premises, and hybrid deployments. Scalable Tipalti finance automation software provides multi-industry solutions, including serving manufacturing and wholesale distributors.

Besides its finance automation software, Tipalti offers the Tipalti Card, a virtual and physical corporate credit or debit card issued to employees to control maverick spending without requiring a purchase order through procurement. The Tipalti Card offers cash-back rewards on purchases.

Procurement Automation Add-on Integration

Tipalti Procurement automation software lets users create purchase requisitions through the system as intake, automatically gets electronic approvals (or denials) with a click by the approver, and automatically creates purchase orders from these approved purchase requisitions. It also helps your manufacturing company control business spend.

AP Automation Add-On Integration

Cloud-based Tipalti AP automation provides enterprise-grade security that has been recognized as best in class by the AICPA SOC professional organization for Certified Public Accountants. A list of Tipalti AP automation features follows, with a more in-depth look in the next section.

Tipalti AP automation handles these end-to-end accounts payable processes:

• Supplier onboarding and validation
• Invoice processing, consisting of:
  • Invoice verification
  • 3-way (or 2-way) line item PO matching and receiving data matching for purchased goods received
  • Fraud, error, and duplicate invoice detection prior to payment
  • Automated general ledger coding using AI
  • Routing for approval, with communications
  • Global payments via EFTs
  • Real-time batch payment reconciliation with the general ledger
• Automated global regulatory compliance
• Real-time spend analysis, cash requirements, and accounts payable visibility by entity, including using Ask Tipalti AI℠ queries

Tipalti Mass Payments Add-on Integration

Tipalti mass payments software is an ERP integration that automates payouts to freelancers, affiliates, and influencers. It’s also used to make payouts for ad networks and royalties to musicians, authors, artists, streamers, publishers, or other creatives through the Tipalti API. Tipalti mass payments software is integrated with some performance marketing systems that determine payout amounts. Tipalti mass payments software can create self-billing invoices for some payees for payouts.

Tipalti Expenses Add-on Integration

Tipalti Expenses works with Tipalti AP automation software for global expense claim creation and submission, approval, and reimbursement. It offers a mobile app for automated employee expense reporting with data from photo-captured receipts and mobile app approvals (or denials) of expenses through an approver’s click. Tipalti Expenses checks compliance with company expense policies, including travel and entertainment (T&E) policies.

Tipalti AP Automation in-Depth

Tipalti AP automation includes a Supplier Hub, automated digital invoice capture, invoice processing, approvals, global payments with real-time reconciliation, and business spend analytics. In addition to improving efficiency for cost savings, Tipalti AP automation offers enhanced financial controls. Tipalti has a 99% customer retention rate and 98% customer satisfaction rate.

Tipalti Supplier Hub in AP Automation

Tipalti AP automation software provides a self-service Supplier Hub for supplier management, beginning with onboarding. Suppliers enter their W-9 or W-8 information for tax compliance before receiving their first payment. They also choose their preferred payment method and provide payment information details in the Supplier Hub.

Suppliers and vendors can later check automated invoice and payment status so your accounts payable team won’t be unnecessarily interrupted when responding to numerous supplier-expected payment date inquiries. Supplier payments will be tracked in each calendar year for simple tax compliance reports for 1099-MISC, 1099-NEC, and 1042-S preparation.

Optionally, your company can purchase a SaaS subscription for partnered Zenwork’s Tax1099 software to automatically eFile 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC information returns with imported 12-calendar months of supplier payments information through the native Tipalti integration.

Automated Digital Invoice Capture

Tipalti AP automation captures invoice data digitally with AI technologies, including OCR enhanced with machine learning, by headings and line items.

This automated invoice digitization process eliminates:

• Paper documents, with less chance of paying duplicate invoices
• Inefficient manual data entry and paper routing processes
• Missing or lost documents, causing approval and payment delays and requiring follow-up
• Storage and invoice retrieval costs

Invoice Processing, including Approvals and Global Payments

Tipalti invoice processing automatically detects errors with thousands of automated payment rules and fraud with Tipalti Detect®. Tipalti AI℠ predicts approvers and routes invoices for approval. Tipalti lets you schedule and make batched global payments in 196 countries and 120 currencies with each payee’s preferred payment method, then automatically reconciles the payment batch in real-time.

Multi-Entity Payables with Real-time Spend Visibility and Analytics

Modern ERP systems provide multi-entity capabilities and real-time information. If your ERP system provides these capabilities, integrated Tipalti automation software provides multi-instance and multi-entity, real-time visibility for accounts payable and spend by entity and with combined views. Tipalti provides a real-time dashboard, metrics trends, and Ask Tipalti AI℠ analytics queries that include the use of generative AI.

Signs Your Business is Ready to Automate

Businesses are ready to automate their processes when they are:

• Pursuing digital transformation to eliminate paper and manual processes
• Wanting to streamline existing processes for time-saving efficiency and timely completion of routine tasks
• Reaching the required minimum headcount to implement and operate the system
• Expanding to multiple entities and global operations with increased complexity
• Needing to reduce fraud risks and human errors with additional controls
• Desiring a scalable system that can help them reduce future hiring needs
• Wanting more real-time spend visibility to control costs
• Willing to budget resources for add-on automation software (working with their ERP or accounting software) that will generate a return on investment (ROI) to reduce your calculated invoice processing costs
• Lacking time to work on strategic initiatives that would improve business results

Summing It Up

Although manufacturing ERP modules include BOM (bills of material), MRP (material requirements planning and MPS (master production schedule), and Shop Floor Control, ERP modules for manufacturing industry purposes aren’t limited to production planning and scheduling, materials inventory, and manufacturing process modules in an MRP system.

In a broader sense, your manufacturing company can consider other ERP modules and third-party software integrations for automation and added functionality as manufacturing ERP modules.
Tipalti AP automation software helps your business achieve digital transformation while saving money, simplifying tax and regulatory compliance and global payments, and reducing fraud and errors. Learn more to begin completing the last mile of your manufacturing company ERP with Tipalti finance automation software.