We analyzed 70 customer case studies to better understand the ERP experiences of small manufacturers. Here's what we learned and what electronics manufacturers had to say.
ERP Statistics: Insights From 70 Manufacturing Case Studies
Case Study from | MRPeasy
ERP implementation statistics at a glance
We analyzed 70 customer case studies to better understand what pushes small manufacturers toward ERP software, what challenges they encounter during implementation, and what benefits they see after going live.
Most small manufacturers don’t wake up one day and decide they need an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The need usually builds over time. Spreadsheets become harder to maintain, stock levels become less reliable, or important information gets too scattered across different tools and people.
To understand what drives ERP adoption and how implementation affects these businesses, we reviewed manufacturers across various industries, including electronics, medical devices, aerospace, precision components, and automotive manufacturing.
Here are some of the key takeaways from our research:
- 74% of small manufacturers report a lack of operational visibility before switching to ERP.
- 64% report a reliance on spreadsheets before adopting ERP software.
- 82% report improved inventory accuracy after implementation.
- 81% report reduced administrative work.
- The median ERP implementation time for small manufacturers is 2 months.
- Companies with 10 or fewer employees had a median implementation time of 1 month.
How we conducted the research
All of the case studies used for our research were based on interviews with MRPeasy customers. During the interview process, we asked our clients why they decided to implement manufacturing ERP software, what tools they were using before making the switch, what their implementation process looked like, and the main benefits they saw post-implementation.
- Sample size: 70 MRPeasy customer case studies.
- Company type: Small manufacturers.
- Company size: Median 15 employees; range 1–200 employees (Employee count known for 55 companies)
- Locations: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific Region
- Limitations: The sample is limited to MRPeasy customers who agreed to participate in the case study, so the results may overrepresent successful ERP implementations.
How are small manufacturers managing production before switching to ERP software?
Because our clients vary by size and industry, the ways in which they manage production can also vary greatly. It’s also important to note that many companies rely on more than one tool or workflow. For example, before switching to MRPeasy, Oceanic Saunas was using a combination of spreadsheets and accounting software to manage production.
According to our research, here are the most common ways small manufacturers manage their operations before adopting ERP software.
- 64% of small manufacturers rely on spreadsheets before switching to an ERP system
- 18% use paper-based systems.
- 50% rely on accounting software like QuickBooks or Sage
- 8% have a dedicated inventory management system.
For small manufacturers, managing production using these tools may work well at an earlier stage. However, operational efficiency begins to suffer when order volumes increase, products become more complex, or production schedules become too difficult to manage manually.
Why small manufacturers switch to ERP software
For every small manufacturer, the reason for switching to ERP software depends on different factors.
The most common issue, reported by 74% of small manufacturers, was a lack of visibility into operations. 54% of small manufacturers said they switched to ERP because they outgrew spreadsheets. In addition, 52% said that the administrative burden created by their systems led to ERP adoptions, 37% said multiple disconnected tools, and 35% pointed to lead time issues.
These results align with what we see with customers. Small manufacturers aren’t looking for modern software to improve efficiency. Instead, they’re looking for ERP software as a way to solve problems like operational chaos, lack of visibility, and spreadsheets breaking down.
“We needed a better way to handle it,” says Andy Nancollis, Co-founder and Chief Design Officer at Motion Impossible, a camera dolly systems manufacturer from Yate, UK. “The complexity of our new product compared to the older models was overwhelming for a spreadsheet-based system.”
Benefits of ERP implementation for small manufacturers
All clients in our study noted improvements after implementing ERP software, in one form or another. However, benefits vary from business to business and depend on factors like company size, industry, and the specific problems they’re trying to solve. Here are the most common benefits of implementing ERP software for small manufacturers:
- 82% of small manufacturers said that ERP software improved inventory accuracy
- 67% said that production planning time was reduced
- 49% noted an improvement in cost visibility
- 43% reported improvements in lead time accuracy and quoting
Many ERP systems also include customer relationship management (CRM) functionality, allowing manufacturers to manage customer records, quotes, sales orders, communications, and order histories alongside production and inventory data. In our research, 36% of small manufacturers reported increased customer trust after implementing ERP software, while 34% noted improvements in customer documentation.
Another benefit of ERP implementation is the reduction in administrative work and day-to-day stress.
- 81% of small manufacturers in our study said ERP software has significantly reduced administrative work
- 31% said ERP software has reduced day-to-day operational stress
“Since we started using MRPeasy, we have achieved over 100% growth in revenue. And we have almost tripled our employee count from 25 to 70 without adding the same proportion of administrative overhead,” says Chris Landen, Managing Director at Exacta Technologies, a computer hardware manufacturer.
Not all benefits were noticed immediately. In many cases, as teams use their ERP system more and more, they find new ways to improve daily operations.
“We’ve grown with it, and it’s grown with us. Realizing what we can do with it, we’ve put more and more into MRPeasy,” says Stephen Plumridge, Managing Director at air quality test systems manufacturer Cantium Scientific.
Common ERP implementation challenges for small businesses
While cloud ERP software like MRPeasy can make implementation more straightforward, it can still be difficult to move from disconnected tools or spreadsheets to a more structured system. According to our research, the following ERP implementation challenges are common for small manufacturers:
- 25% of small manufacturers cited data cleanup and migration as a major challenge
- 19% mentioned employee resistance
- 17% cited limited time and internal resources
- 17% said that internal alignment across teams made implementation difficult
Less common challenges included rebuilding BOMs and the learning curve when adopting the new system, both of which were reported by 10% of small manufacturers. Problems with integrations appeared less often, with only 4.3% of small manufacturers mentioning this as a challenge.
Overall, the findings suggest that the primary barriers to successful ERP implementation are data preparation and organizational readiness, rather than software complexity itself.
How long ERP implementation takes for small manufacturers
ERP software is associated with long implementation times, with large-scale systems like Oracle and NetSuite often taking years to implement.
Cloud-based solutions like MRPeasy, however, are built for small manufacturers, and can significantly reduce implementation timelines and reduce budget overruns. Of the 70 customers in our study, 46 of them reported their implementation timelines. Here’s what our research found:
- ERP implementation time ranged from 2 days to 12 months.
- The median implementation time was 2 months.
- Average implementation time was 14 weeks.
Implementation also largely depends on company size. Larger companies typically need more time for process customization, data migration, and team alignment, and also have more employees to train, and more products, parts, and BOMS to manage. Here are the median ERP implementation times, based on company size:
- 10 or fewer employees: median implementation time of 1 month
- 11–25 employees: 2 months
- 26–50 employees: 3 months
- 51+ employees: 6 months
KCL Manufacturing, a electromechanical device manufacturer, set MRPeasy up in two weeks. “MRPeasy was so easy to set up, we didn’t need any handholding,” says Jonathan Greenwald, VP of Operations and Manufacturing.
Summary
Our research suggests that ERP implementation among small manufacturers is usually driven by practical operational pressure rather than broad digital transformation goals or cost-saving initiatives. Most companies switch to ERP software only after outgrowing spreadsheets, accounting software, paper-based systems, or disconnected legacy systems.
The most common benefits were improved inventory accuracy, reduced administrative work, faster planning, and better cost and lead time visibility. At the same time, the main implementation challenges were mostly issues like data cleanup, change management, and limited internal resources.
Our findings show that ERP implementation can be manageable when the system fits a company’s size and project scope, data is prepared before going live, and there is strong alignment across an organization.
To learn more, please visit mrpeasy.com
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of ManufacturingTomorrow
MRPeasy
MRPeasy is a seriously powerful and easy to use ERP software for small manufacturers that gives you everything you need to manage your manufacturing and distribution processes. Integrating sales, procurement, inventory, production, finances, and your team, it provides you with an accurate real-time overview of your operations. MRPeasy is trusted by 2200+ small manufacturers worldwide, 900+ of which are based in the US and Canada. Our users report a 54% average improvement in the overall performance of their business and a 42% increase in on-time deliveries. Try for free, no credit card needed.
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