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Fishbowl

Fishbowl is the #1 manufacturing and warehouse inventory management software! Its powerful inventory control system gives your small or midsize business the exact tools needed to transform your inventory management and scale your ...Read more about Fishbowl

4.2 (819 reviews)

142 recommendations

NetSuite

With an integrated system that includes ERP, financials, commerce, inventory management, HR, PSA, supply chain management, CRM and more – NetSuite enables fast-growing businesses across all industries to work more effectively by a...Read more about NetSuite

4.1 (1364 reviews)

106 recommendations

Striven

Striven is a cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution suitable for many industries and organizations of all sizes. It offers features for accounting, inventory management, human resources, customer relationship mana...Read more about Striven

4.8 (116 reviews)

63 recommendations

DELMIAworks

DELMIAworks (formerly IQMS) ERP is developed specifically for SMB and large discrete and batch process manufacturers in the aerospace, medical device, automotive, food and beverage, consumer products, plastics, packaging, and elec...Read more about DELMIAworks

4.1 (287 reviews)

22 recommendations

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Mar-Kov Chemical Management System

Mar-Kov CMS (Chemical Management System) is a cloud-based process manufacturing solution for process, batch, and formulation based manufacturers. The solution can also be installed on-premise to automate daily routine processes of...Read more about Mar-Kov Chemical Management System

5.0 (2 reviews)

14 recommendations

QT9 ERP

QT9 ERP is a highly-scalable manufacturing platform for connecting and automating business data from multiple systems into one scalable and intuitive solution. QT9 ERP integrates inventory management, accounting management, sales ...Read more about QT9 ERP

4.9 (14 reviews)

13 recommendations

Intellect QMS

Intellect provides a flexible enterprise Quality Management Software (eQMS) solution and platform designed to meet any FDA and ISO compliance requirements, as well as digital transformation goals. Built on the Intellect Compliance...Read more about Intellect QMS

4.6 (76 reviews)

11 recommendations

Vicinity

Vicinity Software is a cloud-based or on-premise solution designed for process manufacturers with a specific focus on food & beverage (VicinityFood), chemical (VicinityChem) and breweries (VicinityBrew). Features include MRP, cent...Read more about Vicinity

4.3 (4 reviews)

11 recommendations

NutraSoft

NutraSoft Premium/Ultimate is a food & beverage manufacturing ERP for small to medium sized food & beverage businesses who are looking to manage and grow their operation, increase margins, analyze and improve their production proc...Read more about NutraSoft

4.2 (12 reviews)

9 recommendations

Lead Commerce

Lead Commerce is an integrated order management suite that offers applications like inventory management, merchandise planning, and customer relationship management. The solution helps small and midsize businesses streamline and a...Read more about Lead Commerce

4.1 (14 reviews)

8 recommendations

Deskera MRP

Deskera enables fast growing businesses to operate more efficiently by providing them with an integrated platform that connects manufacturing, accounting, erp, inventory and warehouse management, order fulfillment, procurement, sa...Read more about Deskera MRP

3.7 (3 reviews)

7 recommendations

ERPAG

ERPAG is a cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. It is suitable for small and midsize businesses in various industries, including automobile, retail, education, information technology and more. Primary features ...Read more about ERPAG

4.6 (305 reviews)

5 recommendations

SafetyChain

SafetyChain's digital plant management platform gives process manufacturers the flexibility to rapidly address urgent challenges while offering scalability to expand and drive long-term value. • Gain visibility and control of qua...Read more about SafetyChain

4.6 (34 reviews)

5 recommendations

BatchMaster ERP

BatchMaster Software offers process manufacturing software solutions for the food, chemical, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries. Users can run the manufacturing application with QuickBooks, Sage 100&300, Microsoft Dynamic...Read more about BatchMaster ERP

4.8 (5 reviews)

5 recommendations

Katana Cloud Manufacturing

Katana offers a cloud manufacturing platform that makes daily life easier for your business. Bring your manufacturing operations into a single platform for visibility over everything you do and data to make more informed business ...Read more about Katana Cloud Manufacturing

4.7 (155 reviews)

3 recommendations

MRPeasy

MRPeasy is a cloud-based AI-powered ERP/MRP software for small manufacturers (10-200 employees). Our MRP system comprises production planning, CRM, procurement, supply chain management, and inventory control modules, all of whic...Read more about MRPeasy

4.5 (82 reviews)

3 recommendations

Datacor ERP

Datacor ERP (formerly Chempax) is an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) application designed specifically for chemical process manufacturers and distributors. The solution can ...Read more about Datacor ERP

4.2 (50 reviews)

3 recommendations

Cetec ERP

Cetec ERP is a manufacturing enterprise resource planning software built for small and medium sized businesses. Cetec ERP's cloud-based software is designed to help these companies efficiently manage all aspects of their manufactu...Read more about Cetec ERP

4.5 (43 reviews)

3 recommendations

IFS Cloud

IFS Cloud is a composable enterprise software application that orchestrates customers, people, and assets to reduce complexity, cost and risk as you plan, manage and optimize critical asset availability, strive for operational exc...Read more about IFS Cloud

3.8 (28 reviews)

3 recommendations

aACE

aACE offers on-premise and cloud-based business management software for small and midsize businesses. Modules include accounting, customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), inventory management, or...Read more about aACE

5.0 (25 reviews)

2 recommendations

Buyers Guide

Last Updated: March 16, 2023

Gartner defines process manufacturing as, “manufacturing that adds value by performing chemical reactions or physical actions to transform materials, or by extracting, mixing, separating or forming materials in batch or continuous production modes.”

Process manufacturers generally deal with products that pour, such as liquids or powders, and are produced in bulk quantities. It includes industries, such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages and gasoline.

A process manufacturing system must balance four constraints. First, the batch size is constrained by the amount of product on order and stock quantities to be kept on hand. This is particularly key when using materials or creating a product with a limited shelf life. The second constraint is ingredients, as the most limited ingredient determines how much product can be made. Then, there’s packaging inventory, and one of the challenges of process manufacturing is that you need to store the final product in something. The fourth constraint is capacity—or the ability to make a product within the production facility itself.

The critical function of a process manufacturing system is inventory control. One important feature of the inventory system is the ability to manage different units of measurement, for example, determining how many liters of an item are available when it is received in 55 gallon drums. Related to inventory is recipe management, that is, how to alter the formula to make a certain amount or to use available inventory.

On the other hand, a process manufacturing system can be part of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, or be part of a best-of-breed set of solutions. It is also possible to integrate with a manufacturing execution system (MES). Accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll and general ledger are the standard features of these systems. While most installations use on-premises equipment, cloud-based options are also available. Software as a service (SaaS) viability is primarily dictated by the value of installed technology base, but projected maintenance costs of both hardware and software is an important factor as well.

In this buyers guide, we'll cover:

What Is Process Manufacturing Software?

Henry Ford once said, “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Manufacturers must heed these words and always strive to make business processes more efficient. Some of the major concerns they face include:

  • Increase in production cost

  • Highly competitive local and global environment

  • Short product life cycle

  • Reduction of profit margins

  • Considerable improvement in quality assurance metrics

Process manufacturing software is designed specifically to manage these complexities. For manufacturers, fulfilling regulatory compliance by tracing ingredients and industrial waste is pivotal. Therefore, across the globe, executives are considering process manufacturing platforms to monitor business processes from end-to-end, that is, from production to delivery.

It is important to note that manufacturing executives can extend process manufacturing capabilities with their existing ERP or MES solutions as an additional module or integration. Furthermore, numerous vendors in the market offer specialized solutions for process manufacturing businesses. Executives should involve all the stakeholders to list out the requisite capabilities in a solution. In addition, buyers should evaluate the suitability and capability of the solution vis-à-vis their requirements before adapting the solution.

Process manufacturing professionals should focus on resolving the following challenges via a process manufacturing platform:

  1. Mitigate product risks and recalls

  2. Increase a product’s time to market

  3. Track and monitor business performance

  4. Accurately forecast product demand and supply chain issues

  5. Achieve regulatory compliance

There are many objectives that can be achieved with the help of a process manufacturing application. Manufacturing organizations with mobile employees and remote workstations should ideally look for solutions that also offer mobile applications.

Common Features of Process Manufacturers Software

In evaluating software, process manufacturers should consider the following functions to meet their unique requirements:

Delivery-driven production

Delivery-driven production matches the batch size to the amount on order plus the quantity to be kept on hand. The system should also verify that all other constraints are met.

Ingredient-driven production

Ingredient-driven production matches the batch size to the available quantities of the ingredients on hand. The system should also verify that all other constraints are met.

Packaging-driven production

Packaging-driven production matches the batch size to the finished amount that can be packaged with materials on hand. The system should also verify that all other constraints are met.

Capacity-driven production

Capacity-driven production matches the batch size to the maximum capacity that the floor can produce. The system should also verify that all other constraints are met.

Critical path production

If the process has stages with delays in between, such as a fermenting stage, then the system can match orders of ingredients to the time when they are required. This can save money in initial production costs by delaying purchases until required but runs the risk of loosing a batch if a required ingredient is not available in time.

Expiration tracking

Both ingredients and products can have limited shelf lives. The system needs to track expired and close-to-end-of-life inventory.

Recipe management

The system should include recipe management, including ingredient substitution. In some cases, ingredients are encoded to keep recipes secret.

Lot management

Each lot must be identified and tracked. The ingredients of each batch must be tied to their individual batch number as well.

Yield variances

The system should track actual yield versus expected yield for each batch. The system should report excessive variance based on user-defined thresholds and indicate if variances are so large that regulating agencies should be notified.

Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) compliance

cGMP compliance is required for many regulatory agencies at the state and federal levels as well as for insurance purposes. The system should produce required compliance reports.

Units of measure management

The system should convert units of measurement as required for inventory management, order processing, receiving and batch production.

Available to promise, capable to promise

Available to promise (ATP) and capable to promise (CTP) are measures of manufacturing capacity. The system should calculate the ATP and CTP for any stock item, accounting for ingredients on hand and any work in process.

EPA and OSHA compliance

Manufacturers that make, use or have byproducts that are highly hazardous chemicals (HHCs) must comply with the EPA’s Risk Management Program (RMP) and OSHA’s Process Safety Management (PSM) regulations. The system should produce required compliance reports.