Greenwood Village, CO -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/20/2012 -- One of the tools that ETO manufacturers need to stay ahead of the competition and keep operational costs low is workflow management. ETO manufacturers often have unique, complex business processes that help them differentiate their products or services from their competition. The ability to handle business processes in a predictable and timely fashion means people spend less time on non-value added activities and more time delivering quality products to customers.

Workflow management provides an automated way of defining and managing a series of tasks or activities to produce a final outcome or result.

A common example is the need to automatically route a design document through several review or approval steps from designer to a technical director to engineering and ultimately to production staff. Each stage of the process represents specific activities and responsibilities assigned to an individual or group. Throughout the process individuals need to be notified of status or completion of tasks. The final step in the process may include an update to the business management system, or distribution of the document to affected parties.

With built-in workflow, this complexity is minimized or automated. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 critical processes are included out of the box. There are over 45 standard workflows. Most of them can be used as is or they can be configured and modified to meet your requirements. Standard workflows reduce design and implementation time and remove the issue of “where do we start”, another major obstacle to using workflow. It doesn’t require high cost technical resources to configure a standard workflow in AX 2012. A trained user can find a standard workflow and easily configure and deploy it using the graphical design tool. Ultimately this means you can access the benefits of workflow immediately.

Another challenge of workflow management systems of the past has been the highly technical nature of the design tools required to build the workflow. The startup costs to achieve effective workflow included both developer and subject matter experts involved in the effort to design, develop and test the business process. In many cases the significant effort and overall duration turned a simple business process into a major IT project, with disappointing results.

Workflow management and business process automation represent a significant opportunity for the ETO organization. Users receive instant notification of workflow tasks. Routine tasks can be automated to remove non-value added activities. Instant access to workflow status means you don’t lose track of important activities or miss critical deadlines. When review and approvals are involved automatic escalation or delegation is available to ensure activities keep moving. Streamline Systems is the AX 2012 expert that best understands the ETO sector and can help to ensure profitability in the way jobs are bid and scheduled.

The Streamline Systems’ ETO blog has quickly become the leading source of information about how AX 2012 serves engineer-to-order manufacturers. This content rich conversation is found at http://www.streamlinesys.com/blog/.

Additionally Streamline Systems just published a vital tool for Engineer-to-Order manufacturers; the white paper is objective and looks at the history, trends, and future of ETO manufacturing. The Streamline Systems ETO ERP white paper may be requested at: http://www.streamlinesys.com/engineer-to-order.php.

The most important interactive resource being offered currently is the engaging daily conversation about the unique characteristics and challenges of ETO manufacturers via Twitter. Tweets reveal how Dynamics AX 2012 is the most powerful, agile and simple ERP available.

Followers of ETO Tweets go to Twitter @StreamlineSysAX.