Manufacturers are no strangers to complexity. Every day, operations teams balance incoming orders, material constraints, supplier variability, machine capacity, labor availability, and real-time shop floor conditions. While most plants already rely on a combination of ERP, CRM, MES, point solutions, and spreadsheets, these systems often operate independently. The result is a patchwork of partially connected tools rather than a unified operations ecosystem.
The challenge isn’t that manufacturers lack systems. The challenge is that they lack a single, trusted view of materials, capacity, and demand that everyone across procurement, production, sales, and operations can rely on.
This post explores what a connected manufacturing operations layer looks like, why so many organizations struggle to achieve it, and how platforms like Smartsheet can help unite existing systems into a clearer, more actionable view. Although the examples draw from common Smartsheet patterns, the focus remains on the larger technical and operational considerations that matter to manufacturers of all sizes.
Why Getting a Single Operational View Is So Difficult
Manufacturing organizations typically evolve their technology stacks over many years. ERP systems get upgraded or swapped, CRM systems change as sales motions mature, and point solutions get added to fill specific gaps. Teams often build workflows around these tools in isolation, which creates friction when processes span multiple systems.
Several challenges tend to appear across most plants:
1. Data Lives in Different Systems And Sometimes in Several Versions
ERP houses inventory balances, purchase orders, and work orders, but critical updates may also live in spreadsheets used by planning or procurement. Sales data often originates in CRM. Production updates may live in an MES system or in team-maintained spreadsheets.
Over time, these become competing “sources of truth,” forcing planners to constantly reconcile differences.
2. Manual Workarounds Fill the Gaps
Spreadsheets, shared drives, and email chains become the connective tissue for daily operations. While flexible, these manual tools introduce risks: version control issues, inaccurate data entry, delays, and limited visibility for leadership.
3. Plant Floor Realities Change Faster Than Reporting Cycles
Traditional reporting cycles often lag behind real conditions. By the time capacity issues, material shortages, or schedule conflicts show up in weekly reports, the team is already reacting to problems rather than preventing them.
4. Systems Don’t Communicate Natively
Even when ERP, CRM, MES, and purchasing systems contain good data individually, they rarely talk to each other cleanly. Integrations may be partial, outdated, or too rigid to adapt to evolving workflows.
Without a unified operations layer, leaders lack confidence in the data they use to plan, forecast, and commit to customers.
What a Connected Manufacturing Operations Layer Looks Like
Achieving a single view of operations does not require replacing your ERP or CRM. Instead, it requires adding an adaptable platform that sits between systems and unifies data, workflows, and stakeholders.
A connected operations layer typically includes the following components:
1. Integration First, Not Rip-and-Replace
Organizations should preserve existing systems of record. Instead of duplicating them, the focus is on connecting them using:
- Flexible APIs
- Prebuilt connectors
- Scheduled data pipelines
- Governed sync logic
This integration-first approach reduces disruption while enabling a more cohesive operational workflow.
2. A Single Source of Truth for Operational Decision-Making
Key data points (such as confirmed orders, projected demand, inventory availability, supplier lead times, and capacity by work center) must be consolidated into a shared logical view.
This doesn’t replace ERP or CRM; instead, it provides a unified lens for cross-functional teams to make decisions quickly and confidently.
3. Role-Based Visibility
Different roles need different insights:
- Buyers need supply risk alerts and open PO visibility.
- Planners need material requirements and capacity forecasts.
- Production managers need real-time WIP and priority jobs.
- Sales teams need accurate lead times and delivery commitments.
- Leaders need margin impact, throughput, and on-time delivery metrics.
A connected operations layer offers each role a tailored view without requiring them to live inside multiple systems.
4. Workflow Automation and Change Tracking
When changes occur, like a supplier delay, an engineering revision, or a large custom order, the system should automatically notify stakeholders and update downstream workflows. This replaces the manual “email scramble” many teams rely on today.
5. Dashboards and Real-Time Insights
Dashboards visualize operational health: material constraints, late jobs, upcoming bottlenecks, capacity issues, and customer-impacting risks. These views give leaders clarity without waiting for weekly reporting cycles.
How Smartsheet Fits into the Manufacturing Tech Stack
Smartsheet often serves as a flexible operational layer that bridges ERP, CRM, and the plant floor. Manufacturers choose Smartsheet because it combines collaboration, data structure, automation, and dashboards into one platform while still integrating with existing systems.
Here’s how Smartsheet commonly supports connected operations:
Integrating Procurement and Inventory Data
With scheduled data pipelines, manufacturers can sync:
- Open POs
- Supplier delivery dates
- Inventory positions
- Material availability
This gives procurement and planning teams better visibility into material constraints without logging into multiple systems.
Connecting CRM Opportunities to Production Planning
CRM systems handle revenue forecasts, but they rarely communicate with production schedules. Smartsheet can surface:
- Expected order dates
- Projected quantities
- Estimated start and finish dates
- Required material and labor
This allows sales, planning, and production to coordinate around shared data.
Enhancing Capacity and Scenario Planning
Using structured sheets and Resource Management, manufacturers can:
- Model demand spikes
- Evaluate the impact of custom orders
- Shift workloads between work centers
- Simulate labor or machine changes
Teams gain clearer foresight into operational trade-offs.
Delivering Real-Time Visibility for the Shop Floor
Dashboards present critical metrics such as:
- WIP status
- Top bottlenecks
- Late or at-risk jobs
- Material shortages
- Throughput by shift or line
This gives leaders a real-time pulse of plant operations without combing through spreadsheets or siloed systems.
Practical Use Cases Across the Manufacturing Lifecycle
Although every plant has its own mix of processes and tools, several scenarios consistently benefit from a connected operations layer.
1. Closed-Loop Material Planning
Procurement teams can unify supplier data, lead times, PO updates, and inventory balances into one view. Automated alerts flag shortages before they jeopardize production.
This reduces manual reconciliation and prevents last-minute expediting, a major cost driver for many manufacturers.
2. Sales-Driven Capacity Forecasting
By connecting CRM demand with production availability, organizations can quote more accurately and manage customer expectations proactively.
Sales reps gain visibility into real capacity constraints, while planners prevent overload and improve schedule reliability.
3. Integrated Production Scheduling
Changes in one area automatically flow downstream:
- Delayed material pushes back a job
- A custom order requires a line change
- A quality issue increases rework time
A connected layer helps teams adjust quickly and understand the operational ripple effects of each decision.
4. Shop Floor Issue Tracking
When machine downtime, quality issues, or labor shortages occur, teams need a standardized, transparent way to log and escalate problems.
Capturing these events in the operations layer provides both immediate visibility and long-term root cause analysis.
5. Executive-Level Operational Clarity
Leaders gain a consolidated view of throughput, labor efficiency, on-time delivery, order profitability, and aging jobs.
This supports more informed decision-making, especially in fast-moving or multi-plant environments.
A Technical Roadmap for Getting Started with Connected Manufacturing Operations
Moving toward connected manufacturing operations doesn’t require a massive transformation. Most organizations see early success by focusing on the following steps.
Step 1: Map Current Flows Across Systems
Document how a customer order progresses today. Identify where teams rely on spreadsheets, email, or tribal knowledge. This establishes a baseline for redesign and integration.
Step 2: Define the “Single View” Requirements
Agree on the specific decisions that need to be made faster and with more accuracy. For example, understanding material readiness, assessing capacity, or quoting confidently.
From here, outline the data fields needed to support those decisions.
Step 3: Choose Your Operational Layer
Select a platform capable of bridging multiple systems, supporting structured workflows, and enabling custom dashboards. Smartsheet can be a strong fit because of its flexibility and integration ecosystem, especially when paired with middleware or native connectors.
Step 4: Run a Pilot in a High-Value Area
Many manufacturers start with one product line or one use case, such as procurement visibility or capacity forecasting. A focused pilot allows teams to:
- Validate the data pipeline
- Refine workflows
- Measure improvements in decision speed
- Build internal confidence
Step 5: Scale with Governance and Integration
As adoption grows, establish role-based permissions, data governance rules, integration standards, and change management processes.
Want a Deeper Look? Join Our Manufacturing Webinar on March 26th
To explore real examples that illustrate how manufacturers are uniting procurement, production, and the shop floor, Optimum and Smartsheet are hosting a live session, Smarter Manufacturing Operations with Smartsheet: Connecting Procurement, Production, and the Plant Floor, on March 26th.
If you’re interested in how manufacturers practically integrate their existing tools into a cohesive operational hub, the session provides live walkthroughs and scenarios that you won’t want to miss. Sign up today!
Manufacturers Don’t Need More Systems; They Need Systems That Connect
Manufacturers don’t need more systems. They need their existing systems to work together in a way that supports fast, confident operational decision-making. A connected manufacturing operations layer (driven by integrations, structured workflows, and real-time insights) helps organizations reduce fire drills, eliminate manual reconciliation, forecast more accurately, and improve throughput.
Platforms like Smartsheet are most effective when they’re implemented with a clear architecture, a strong integration strategy, and processes that support cross‑functional collaboration. As a Platinum Smartsheet Partner, Optimum brings deep expertise in building connected, scalable solutions that enhance visibility and streamline operations, and our integration‑first, consultative approach helps manufacturers create systems that are both technically sound and built for long‑term sustainability.
Let’s talk about how your manufacturing operations can work better connected. Contact us for a free discovery call today!
