Knowledge Base

Microsoft SharePoint first launched in 2001, and has been associated with document management and collaboration.  Since then large manufacturers implemented SharePoint, most often when they needed to set up collaboration with all their plants.  Bundled "for free" with other Microsoft enterprise software, SharePoint mostly sat unused at small and mid-market manufacturers.

Lately however, manufacturers are discovering that SharePoint is actually a web technology platform, capable of being configured into business process integration and workflow automation solutions.   SharePoint is becoming the IT infrastructure for custom developed applications and third-party products, like Infor's Workspace.  With the latest version, SharePoint 2010, manufacturers are reducing IT costs and increasing productivity.

Three Levels of SharePoint Use in Manufacturing:

1. Company, plant, department and project team sites - Web portals for collaboration, document management and project management
2. Point Solutions - Internal business applications using SharePoint infrastructure with custom functionality for data management, reporting and distribution
3. Line-of-business application integration - Organizing ERP transactional data, sales and operations data, quality data and customer service data together in one place and adding work flow automation

Using SharePoint

SharePoint is becoming the preferred choice for project management, even for manufacturers that haven't standardized on other Microsoft platforms.  Without a collaboration system, employees exchange ideas and plans mostly through e-mail, which overloads inboxes and creates document versioning issues. Instead, project leaders use SharePoint to easily set up a portal where team members manage tasks, store documents and post status reports and news.  SharePoint also is the central repository for all the company policy, HR and other business documents.

A packaging manufacturer using SharePoint for managing documents saw SharePoint as a natural extension for IT business tools.  When the business needed to track operations performance on the shop floor and provide a quoting tool for sales, SharePoint was the technology platform for those two custom point solutions.  In three weeks, employees had the tools with better access to information in one system, increasing productivity and visibility of information.

A petrochemical industry service provider required its project teams to track their time following the business rules in its financial system.  A custom timesheet management application housed in SharePoint and integrated with Microsoft Dynamics GP and ADP Payroll Services provides a familiar interface for employees.  The application formats and delivers the timesheet data to the Dynamics GP project accounting module.

Which SharePoint

SharePoint 2010 Foundation, Standard or Enterprise - At a glance, Foundation provides all of the base functionality, Standard adds the social elements, better search and advanced metadata functions, and Enterprise includes more advanced business intelligence and reporting.

For small and mid-market manufacturers the decision is simple - SharePoint 2010 Foundation.  This "free" edition contains all the core functionality and architecture drawn on by the other two commercial editions.

SharePoint Foundation includes document management and collaboration, wikis, discussion boards, blogs and the ability to organize data and control access.  It includes integrations with Microsoft Office, and a mobile interface.  It also includes all the Office Web Apps - web-based versions of the standard Office applications.  Most importantly, manufacturers have a web technology platform to quickly and cost-effectively implement internal business applications.

TwinEngines and SharePoint

At TwinEngines, SharePoint 2010 Foundation is our repository of all the information we want to share.  We use a custom project management template to easily create a web portal for each customer.  We track our project labor costs with a custom timesheet application tied to Dynamics GP for invoicing.

For our customers we have created .Net Windows application technology that is tried and tested over the past 15 years.  We have transitioned that proven .Net Windows platform to a web technology platform using SharePoint Foundation 2010.  Today there is still a place for each platform for manufacturers, but the line between them is blurring.

Our value is business process work flow automation, integrating data from ERP, MRP or financial systems into the SharePoint platform with custom development.  SharePoint Foundation provides a common interface for sales, operations, quality, customer service employees, and connects customers and partners to your business.

Bringing all internal manufacturing applications into one platform and providing a single view of data across ERP/financial, CRM and operations systems - including cost estimating, configurators, production scheduling, work order processing, inventory and shipping - enables manufacturers to be agile, effective and connected. 

Using the SharePoint technology platform, TwinEngines solutions enable more efficient operations and reduce your IT costs.