Just read this interesting article relevant to Manufacturing companies who use ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) computer systems in their business.
In my 30 years of working in Business Software implementation the spreadsheet has been a boon and a bane. So often it becomes the tool of choice for a newbie who joins the company, and doesn't understand how to use the incumbent ERP software. This invariably creates what I refer to as "Islands of Information" that may work well for the person who created them, but when they leave the company it becomes useless.
I encourage people who have spreadsheet expertise, to use it as a repository to temporarily place information for further analysis. Not as the source of the information. Use the ERP system as the source of information.
Syspro's interesting article:
Is it time to ditch the Excel spreadsheet?
Supply chain management enables you to meet customer demand. It manages the production and delivery time it takes to get products to the customer. Ensuring that your supply chain management processes perform flawlessly and efficiently is critical to customer satisfaction—and the cornerstone of any successful manufacturer.
Supply chain automation accelerates the rate at which this all happens. However, many small to medium-sized manufacturers in particular look upon automation as a daunting task. Instead, they rely on outdated, manual processes—especially that old standby, the Excel spreadsheet.
While spreadsheets are free and work well for small tasks, they are not suitable for managing more complex order fulfillment, inventory, and supply chain management processes. According to Ventana Research, 90 percent of spreadsheets with more than 150 rows contain errors.
https://ca.syspro.com/supply-chain-strategy-demand-driven-mrp-ddmrp/
