Bet you didn’t have “tariffs” on your 2025 bingo card. We didn’t, either. But tariffs are now a fact of life. Auto manufacturers in particular are grappling with the challenges of tariffs. The 25% tariff on imported automobiles and a similar one on parts has really been a bump in the road.
Fortunately, SYSPRO ERP can help. It’s designed for automakers in a way that other ERPs aren’t. SYPRO ERP can help make your company more efficient, so you can avoid raising prices. If you can cut costs, you can maintain margins. SYSPRO ERP gives you a powerful tool to navigate the new world of tariffs.
How Tariffs Impact Costs
Who pays for tariffs? Companies like yours pay them, of course, but they don’t just eat the costs—they pass them on to the customer. Whether you’re manufacturing tires or components for all-terrain vehicles, tariffs can take a chunk out of your profits.
- Product Costs Increase: The steep surcharge on imported materials can make it much harder to keep prices competitive.
- Supply Chain Woes: Some manufacturers are scrambling to find alternatives, either from countries with lower tariffs or within the United States to avoid tariffs altogether. But that raises new issues, since suppliers may suddenly lose business or find themselves facing more orders than they can handle.
- Quality Control and Compliance Issues: Cutting costs may lead to cutting corners. It’s important to keep strict quality standards and adhere to regulations even if the rising costs pinch your pocket.
So, what’s a manufacturer to do? Look for technology that can ease supply chain woes, help with forecasting, and more. That technology is SYSPRO ERP.
SYSPRO ERP Helps You Control What You Can
You can’t control tariffs. But with SYSPRO ERP, you can control many things that can help offset some of the effects of the tariffs.
With SYSPRO ERP, you’ll have better visibility into many areas of production from the shop floor to OEM delivery. Real-time insights into every nook and cranny of your manufacturing process, starting with raw materials and ending with delivery, can help you control costs to maintain profits in the face of tariffs.
Better Visibility Into Inventory
Let’s take inventory as an example. It’s an area where most companies sink a lot of money. If you’re overstocked, you’ve wasted money. If you’re understocked, you won’t be able to fulfill orders quickly enough, and customers may go elsewhere. Using SYSPRO ERP, you can monitor stock levels and avoid either extreme, maintaining a happy medium that lets you fill orders without wasting money.
Streamline Production
Are you wasting time and effort with poor workflows? These can be hard to spot, especially if you’re continuing to do things as they were always done. This is a great time to take a second look at workflows and processes and find areas for improvement. Data from your SYSPRO ERP can help you analyze production, discover bottlenecks, and make small changes with the potential for big results.
Track Supplier Performance—Build Strong Relationships
Here’s another thing to watch in your SYSPRO ERP: supplier performance. You can track and monitor suppliers, identifying the most reliable ones in your list, for example. Then, when you need them in a pinch, you’ve got the data to find them fast.
It’s also critical to build strong supplier relationships. When you look at the data in your SYSPRO ERP, you can compare delivery times, quality, price, and more across the supply chain. This information can help you negotiate better terms and deals with your suppliers and track any who seem to be a better fit for your company.
Never Sacrifice Quality
Never sacrifice quality or standards in this brave new world of tariffs. As your costs increase, the margin of error decreases. SYSPRO ERP can help you track materials from receipt to delivery, making it easier to identify defects. It can also help you adhere to manufacturing standards critical to the auto industry.
Tariffs Are Challenging—But You’ve Overcome Challenges Before
Sure, tariffs are challenging. But you and other automotive manufacturers have faced challenges before. Not too long ago, you faced supply chain issues from COVID. There’s always something to face when it comes to manufacturing. With SYSPRO ERP at the ready, you’ll be able to tackle these challenges and stay competitive.
PositiveVision
Positive Vision is an experienced ERP vendor with experience helping organizations improve their supply chain processes. We would be happy to assist you in choosing the right ERP for your business and ensuring that its launch is smooth and effective. Contact us to speak to one of our product experts about a customized solution today.