Productivity improvement Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution can significantly improve the productivity of the Manufacturing ERP sector. Use of ERP should not be looked at as a tool for automation of the transaction system. The major objective of ERP application should be improvement of business process.
ERP systems are designed to address the problem of fragmentation of information in manufacturing organizations. ERP systems promise to integrate an entire business with a suite of software modules covering activities in all areas of the business. Furthermore, ERP is now being prompted as a desirable and critical link for enhancing integration between all functional areas within the manufacturing enterprise.
ERP system has been defined as a packaged business software system that allows a company, to automate and integrate the majority of its business processes, and share common data and practices across the enterprise. Through integration of various functions in the organization, managers and staff alike can use timely information to make better decisions and to perform activities, which add value to the company.

Here are some of generic ERP capabilities that can be used in the Manufacturing sector:

ERP can transform unstructured processes into routine transactions such as electronic approval of purchase orders based on predefined company policies.
ERP can replace or reduce the human labour involved in processes, like matching of supplier invoices based on accepted purchase receipts.
ERP can transfer information rapidly and with ease over large distances. It is now possible for various offices and factories of an organization to perform transactions and analysis on the same server, reducing geographical distances.
ERP can help manufacturing companies in carrying out analysis such as: Forecasting of market demand based on statistical models; Capturing of hidden market trends through multi-dimensional analysis; Identification of potential improvement areas.
ERP can bring a vast amount of detailed information into the process.
ERP can enable changes in the sequence of task in the process, often allowing multiple tasks to be performed concurrently.
ERP allows the capture and dissemination of knowledge and expertise to improve the process.
ERP allows detailed tracking of task status, inputs and outputs.