With over two decades of experience in the IT software industry and a specialized focus on enterprise resource planning, Göksel Sanbay has become a leading voice in navigating the shift toward industrial hyper-customization. Having spent 19 years in leadership roles at IFS Turkey before founding GUMA Business Solutions, he has orchestrated dozens of ERP and EAM implementations that bridge the gap between complex engineering and operational efficiency. His expertise lies in transforming fragmented business processes into unified, agile systems that can handle the modern demand for extreme product variety without sacrificing profitability.
The following discussion explores the move from standardized manufacturing to project-based and make-to-order models, highlighting how rule-based configurators and centralized data platforms mitigate the risks of high-variety production.
Customers are moving away from standardized products toward highly personalized options. How has this evolution changed the daily operational risks for manufacturers, and what specific metrics should leaders monitor to ensure that increasing variety does not lead to a drop in overall efficiency?
The shift toward personalization has fundamentally increased the complexity of risk management, as every deviation from a standard product introduces potential points of failure in the supply chain. In a make-to-order environment, the primary risk is no longer just about volume but about the precision of configurations; a single error in a customized order can lead to wasted materials and significant delays. Leaders must shift their focus toward metrics like resource utilization rates and order accuracy to ensure that variety doesn’t cannibalize the bottom line. By monitoring these KPIs through a unified lens, companies can maintain a 360-degree view of how thousands of possible combinations impact their operational flow. It is vital to track the ratio of “right-first-time” configurations to avoid the hidden costs of rework that often plague high-variety manufacturing.
In sectors like construction and engineering, every project involves distinct specifications and timelines. What are the practical steps for integrating resource management with financial tracking to prevent budget overruns, and how do real-time analytics change the way project managers respond to unexpected obstacles?
In the project-based world, the key to financial health is the seamless integration of planning, resource allocation, and real-time financial tracking within a single ERP ecosystem. This integration allows project managers to see the immediate cost implications of a resource change, such as moving a specialized piece of equipment or shifting a labor crew between sites. Real-time analytics provide an early-warning system, transforming how teams respond to the “unknowns” that naturally arise in large-scale infrastructure or engineering tasks. Instead of reacting to a budget overrun weeks after it happens, managers can use live data to adjust timelines or reallocate budgets on the fly. This level of transparency ensures that even when a project is inherently unique, the methodology for controlling its costs remains consistent and predictable.
Make-to-order industries now manage thousands of product configurations that go far beyond basic color or size choices. How do rule-based configurator tools reduce human error during order fulfillment, and can you share an example of how automating these workflows significantly accelerates lead times?
Rule-based configurator tools act as a digital guardrail, ensuring that only technically feasible and profitable product combinations can be ordered by the customer or sales team. By embedding complex engineering logic into an intuitive interface, we remove the burden of manual verification, which is where most human errors originate in high-variety environments. For instance, when a manufacturer automates the configuration of a complex piece of automotive equipment, the system instantly validates that every selected component is compatible with the overall design. This automation can slash lead times from several days of back-and-forth communication down to just a few minutes of processing. It empowers the organization to deliver thousands of variations with the same speed and accuracy as a single standardized product line.
Centralizing sales, procurement, and production data onto a single platform provides visibility across the entire value chain. What are the primary hurdles when synchronizing these disparate functions, and how does this unified approach improve decision-making during sudden supply chain fluctuations or shifts in demand?
The most significant hurdle in synchronization is breaking down the data silos that traditionally separate the sales office from the factory floor and the procurement warehouse. When these functions operate in isolation, a sudden shift in customer demand can leave procurement holding obsolete inventory while production lacks the components for new, popular configurations. A unified platform eliminates this lag by ensuring that a change in a sales order immediately updates the procurement schedule and production priorities. During supply chain fluctuations, this transparency allows decision-makers to pivot instantly, re-routing resources to where they are most needed based on real-time availability. It transforms a reactive organization into a proactive one, capable of maintaining service levels even when global logistics are in flux.
Modern businesses are navigating a landscape where customization is no longer a luxury but a requirement. How can companies balance the need for meticulous project planning with the flexibility required to handle client changes, and what role does data transparency play in maintaining those client relationships?
Balancing meticulous planning with agility requires a robust digital foundation where the project plan is a living document rather than a static file. By using advanced ERP solutions, companies can build detailed project frameworks that are modular enough to absorb client-requested changes without collapsing the entire schedule. Data transparency is the bridge that keeps these client relationships strong; when a client understands the cost and time impact of a change through shared data, the relationship moves from adversarial to collaborative. Providing clients with visibility into progress tracking and resource milestones builds a level of trust that is essential in high-stakes project industries. Ultimately, the goal is to show the client that you are managing their unique requirements with institutional precision.
What is your forecast for the future of customization in industrial manufacturing over the next decade?
Over the next ten years, I expect customization to evolve from a specialized service into the default operational standard for almost all industrial sectors. We will see an even deeper integration of artificial intelligence within ERP systems to predict which configurations will be most in demand, allowing manufacturers to pre-position resources before an order is even placed. The distinction between “mass production” and “customized production” will blur as automation and configurator tools become sophisticated enough to handle infinite variety at the cost and speed of traditional assembly lines. Organizations that fail to adopt these integrated, rule-based systems will likely find it impossible to compete with the agility of digitally transformed peers. For manufacturers, the decade ahead will be defined by the ability to master complexity through a single, unified source of truth.
