Pune and the Chakan industrial area form one of India's major automotive manufacturing clusters, with vehicle makers and a large base of component suppliers. Suppliers here work under demanding conditions: tight delivery schedules, strict quality expectations and full traceability.
What Automotive Customers Expect
- On-time delivery against schedules.
- Consistent quality with documented inspections.
- Traceability from finished part to raw material batch.
- Correct packaging and labelling.
- Prompt response to quality issues.
Many suppliers also follow automotive quality management standards, which require disciplined records.
ERP Capabilities Suppliers Need
Schedule Management
Capture customer delivery schedules and plan production and purchase against them.
Part Master and Revisions
Manage part numbers, drawing revisions, customer part codes and routings.
Production Planning
Plan by machine and shift, track work orders and monitor output.
Job Work
Track parts sent to job workers for processes such as heat treatment, plating and painting, including pending quantities and GST documentation.
Quality Management
- Incoming inspection of raw material.
- In-process and final inspection.
- Rejections, rework and root cause records.
- Customer complaints and corrective actions.
Traceability
Link heat numbers, batches and lots from raw material through production to dispatch.
Dispatch
Packing standards, labels, e-invoices and e-way bills, and integration with customer supplier portals where required.
Costing
Part-wise costing including material, machining, job work and overheads.
"For automotive suppliers, traceability is not paperwork. It is how you protect your customer relationships."
Shop Floor Data
- Barcode labels on bins and lots.
- Tablets at machines for production and inspection entries.
- Real-time dashboards for supervisors.
Common Questions
Can ERP record inspection results by batch? Yes. Inspection results linked to batches and lots support traceability and customer audits.
Can it handle customer portal requirements? Many customers have their own supplier portals. Plan how schedules and dispatch data will be exchanged to avoid double entry.
Where should implementation start? Often with inventory, schedules and dispatch, followed by production, quality and traceability.
Implementation Checklist
- Clean up part masters with customer part numbers and drawing revisions.
- Define routings and machines for each part.
- Map job workers and the processes they perform.
- Set up inspection plans for incoming, in-process and final checks.
- Design barcode labels for bins, lots and finished goods.
- Agree on how customer schedules will be received and updated.
Mistakes to Avoid
Treating traceability as an afterthought makes it hard to add later. Plan lot and batch tracking from the first phase.
Measuring Success
Track on-time delivery against customer schedules, internal rejection rates, customer complaints and the time taken to trace a part back to its raw material batch. These are the measures automotive customers care about most, and improvements strengthen your position when new business is awarded.
How ITELLIC Helps
We build custom ERP for manufacturers, including automotive suppliers, designed around your parts, processes and customer requirements.
Custom ERP Systems
One system for purchase, production, inventory, sales and accounts.
