Manufacturing Consultant Melbourne
Australian manufacturing operates in a challenging environment: global competition, rising input costs, skilled labour shortages, and customers demanding shorter lead times.
Success requires operational excellence, the right technology infrastructure, and clear strategic focus.
Challenges Facing Australian Manufacturers
Manufacturing businesses face a distinct set of challenges that require industry-specific expertise to address effectively.
Production Planning and Scheduling
Balancing production capacity against customer demand is a constant juggling act. Poor planning leads to missed delivery dates, excessive overtime, or idle capacity. Many manufacturers rely on spreadsheets and tribal knowledge for scheduling, making it impossible to optimise across multiple products, work centres, and constraints. As complexity grows, these manual approaches break down.
Cost Visibility
Understanding true product costs is fundamental to pricing and profitability decisions. Yet many manufacturers operate with outdated standard costs, incomplete overhead allocation, or no visibility into job-level profitability. Without accurate costing, you can't identify which products and customers actually make money.
Technology Gaps
Many manufacturers have outgrown their systems. Accounting software that can't handle manufacturing complexity, disconnected systems for production and inventory, manual data entry between shop floor and office. These gaps create inefficiency, errors, and limited visibility for decision-making.
Inventory and Materials Management
Raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods all tie up capital. Stockouts halt production; excess inventory consumes cash and warehouse space. Effective materials management requires accurate bills of materials, reliable supplier lead times, and systems that can calculate requirements across complex product structures. Many manufacturers lack visibility into true inventory positions across their operations.
Quality and Compliance
Quality issues are expensive: rework, scrap, warranty claims, and damaged customer relationships. For manufacturers in regulated industries, compliance adds another layer of complexity. Traceability, batch tracking, and documentation requirements demand systems and processes that many SMEs struggle to maintain manually.
How We Help Manufacturing Businesses
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Operational Improvement
Process analysis: Mapping production workflows to identify bottlenecks, waste, and improvement opportunities
Planning and scheduling: Developing approaches that balance capacity, demand, and constraints
Inventory optimisation: Right-sizing stock levels across raw materials, WIP, and finished goods
Shop floor data capture: Implementing systems to track production in real-time
Quality management: Establishing inspection points, documentation, and traceability systems
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Technology Enablement
Manufacturing ERP selection: Independent guidance on platforms like MYOB Acumatica, SAP Business One, SYSPRO, or NetSuite, matched to your specific requirements
Requirements definition: Documenting functional needs including BOM management, production scheduling, quality, and costing
Implementation oversight: Ensuring projects stay on track and deliver promised benefits
Integration strategy: Connecting ERP with CAD systems, shop floor equipment, and other manufacturing technology
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Commercial Effectiveness
Costing and pricing: Developing accurate product costs and pricing strategies that protect margins
Sales process: Building structured approaches to quoting, order management, and customer relationships
CRM implementation: Getting sales teams using systems effectively to manage pipeline and customer interactions
Manufacturing Sectors We Work With
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Businesses producing distinct items, from metal fabrication to machinery to consumer products
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Batch and formula-based production including chemicals, cosmetics, and food ingredients
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Custom and configured products where each order may be unique
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Manufacturers combining make-to-stock and make-to-order production