We spoke to several manufacturing teams at multiple industry tradeshows and conferences during the last year. It was evident there was a need for project management tools in the manufacturing industry to solve their use cases.
After coming back from these events, we analyzed that tools out there don’t fit and solve most use cases of this industry. We connected with different teams and subject matter experts to see how our project management software can align with their priorities.
We landed a customer who got interested in using our product. After a few months, we saw more interest in project management for manufacturing industry. We will try to uncover how teams use project management tools in manufacturing.
Importance of project management tools in manufacturing industry
We don’t want to be everything for all tools. We wanted to solve problems that can have maximum impact. Let’s understand how project management tools can be crucial for manufacturing:
- Increased transparency – Have a better understanding of the progress of projects, bottlenecks, production costs and stakeholders involved in the process.
- Reduction of error – Reduce errors with systematic tracking, assigning the right resources and managing tasks with clear start and end dates.
- Improved collaboration – Have a single place to communicate and store all docs related to your projects with all your stakeholders. This will lead to faster decision making.
- Better resource allocation – Have good resource utilization with clear timelines, work tracking and workload management. This will enable improved project delivery and reduced burnouts.
- Cost savings – Reduce wastages and increase efficiency with project management. This will minimize downtime, save costs and increase profitability.
Manufacturing project managers are using 5day.io as a go-to work tool to bring the same level of visibility and efficiency to their task management as they do in their machining centers.
What to look for in a manufacturing industry project management tool
Our users of 5day.io while shortlisting the tool suggested they wanted to solve the three most important constraints: time, cost, and project delivery. Workflows varied by user and product and same goes with priorities and end goal. These are some must haves that make an ideal fit for project management for manufacturing industry.
- Does the tool integrate with your existing software?
Project Managers want integration with their existing tech stack. These tech stack include ERP, CRM like salesforce, etc. Tool should help team scale and work with their favorite tools. - Does the tool solve both team wide visibility and department wide visibility?
Design specifications, team tasks, customer requirements, and production updates need to be readily accessible to all stakeholders. Everyone should know where the projects are, how these are progressing and real time insights of their stage. - Does the tool have customizable reports?
Tool should have built in reports and also allow teams to create and build various reports based on their roles, use cases and projects. It should have sprint widgets, so building reports can be smooth and easy for all.
Most checklists don’t work while selecting the project management tools in manufacturing. As most of the tools are tailored for Software and IT teams. So, with the above points, project managers can shortlist the right project management tools that align with their requirements.
Use of project management in manufacturing industry
There are multiple use cases that can be applied to the manufacturing industry. We will cover the most asked ones:
- Total project administration: Oversee projects from start to delivery, ensuring a seamless project kick-off, detailed plans, precise execution.
- Create customizable templates: Utilize industry-specific templates to standardize processes and save time in design, iteration and finalization process.
- Milestones tracking: Set and monitor key milestones of project such as – design approvals, iteration, and finalization processes.
- Advanced analytics: Build custom reports with multiple widgets and gain insights into project health, resource allocation and task efficiency.
- Client Involvement: Engage clients throughout the project lifecycle to provide visibility, feedback and ensure alignment with desired design specifications.
- File sharing: Upload all file types within projects, tasks, and subtasks and create a single source of truth.
5day.io is a powerful project management software for small businesses and manufacturing industry.
Here’s what a user of India’s leading machine tool industry has to say,
“5day.io is easy to use and implement. The support team is very good and responsive. We liked the time tracking and discussion features. It helped us in increasing our productivity and collaboration.“
~Divya R, Cosmos
Top manufacturing industry project management software
There are these questions when organizations are looking for adoption of project management solutions:
- Will there be overhead of managing projects? Does it require a specialist to manage the tool.
- Most of us are not IT engineers. Does it require heavy training to operate?
Our team did research to cover the most flexible, simple to use project management tool for manufacturing. Here is the list:
1. 5day.io
5day.io is an end-to-end project management solution for manufacturing. Many of our users have been able to save time and increase project delivery. One of our manufacturing clients saw a 40% reduction in emails and 50% less time spent on tasks.
How 5day.io supports manufacturing project management:
- Centralized platform: Provides a single source of truth for project information, docs, and discussion.
- Collaboration tools: Facilitates real-time communication and collaboration among project team members, regardless of location.
- Task management: Enables efficient task allocation, tracking, and progress monitoring.
- Time tracking: Helps manage project costs, track hours, and monitor budget adherence.
- Document management: Provides a secure repository for storing and sharing project documentation.
- Analytics and reporting: Offers insights into project performance, enabling data-driven decision-making.
Pricing
5day.io offers a free plan and growth plan with 3 months free trial starting from $8 per user/month.
2. Zoho Projects
Zoho Projects is project management tools for small businesses and manufacturers. It provides tools for planning, tracking and executing tracking manufacturing projects. It offers most of the basics of project management like Kanban, Gantt charts and reporting. Most importantly, it supports collaboration among teams and departments that is critical for the manufacturing industry. Top features include Issue tracking, Resource Management and Documents.
Pricing
Free plan for up to 3 users. It offers a limited Standard and Enterprise plan starting from $4 and $8 per user/month.
3. MRPeasy
MRPeasy is an easy project management software for small and mid-sized manufacturers. It offers planning, tracking the process, managing workloads and maintaining control over the manufacturing projects. Top features include CRM (Sales Management), Accounting.
Pricing
MRPeasy is a bit expensive. It offers multiple pricing plans – Starter, Professional, Enterprise and Unlimited. Starter plan starts from $49 /user per month.
Choose 5day.io as the best and most effective manufacturing project management software
For most of the manufacturing clients we work with, custom reporting and integrations are non-negotiable along with task visibility.
5day.io offers all this and much more. Our project management software allows you to efficiently manage and oversee your manufacturing projects, perfectly aligned with your goals.
Enable your manufacturing success. Start 5day.io in action
