The overhead costs in the manufacturing industry can be difficult for any organization to overcome. At large factories, the facility costs can be overwhelming and, if operations are not tightly managed, can hinder profit growth and damage the long-term viability of a manufacturer. That's why companies must find ways to alleviate this burden, by reducing their IT infrastructures.

While manufacturers must process endless lines of data every day, most lack the resources to properly store it on physical machines. Server maintenance can be a major expense, and one that most businesses cannot afford. So, when implementing a manufacturing solutions such as ERP, it's crucial to think about how it is stored. One way to do that is through server virtualization.

Virtualized servers allow organizations to run multiple servers and operating systems on one physical machine. This will reduce maintenance spending and allow companies the flexibility to operate freely without allocating a significant amount of physical space to IT infrastructure.

The online publication Manufacturing Business Technology recently spoke with Frank Hill, a manufacturing business development director, about the benefits of virtualization in the industry.

"What virtualization allows companies to do is leverage the processing horsepower capabilities of today's modern servers to run multiple applications without any conflict," Hill said. "When I say applications, I'm referring to virtual machines (VM). A VM is basically an operating system and an application (or a couple of applications) that are isolated so a company can run them on VMware or a single server. Each server can run multiple applications." 

This allows companies to optimize the value of their ERP or manufacturing software investments because they can run efficiently on virtual machines. Of course, manufacturers will want to work with a business solutions provider to ensure they are obtaining the right solutions for their needs.