Visibility Powers Growth for Consumer Products Manufacturers

Growth remains strong across the consumer products and retail manufacturing sector, but growth alone does not guarantee profitability. Today’s manufacturers must navigate sourcing shifts, pricing pressures, inventory complexity, and evolving customer expectations. For CFOs, controllers, and operations leaders, success increasingly depends on having the visibility to make faster, data-informed decisions.

Citrin Cooperman’s 2026 Manufacturing and Distribution Pulse Survey Report underscores this reality. While 80% of consumer products and retail manufacturers report revenue growth, companies continue to face challenges that require greater operational agility and financial insight. As a result, enterprise resource planning (ERP) modernization has become a strategic priority for organizations seeking to improve visibility, drive efficiency, and support long-term growth.

Growth Brings New Operational Challenges

As businesses expand, they often encounter greater complexity across operations. More products, customers, suppliers, and inventory locations create additional demands on financial and operational processes. Without access to timely, accurate information, leaders may struggle to identify risks or capitalize on opportunities quickly enough.

Pricing management provides a clear example. Our survey notes that 65% of consumer product manufacturers offset rising costs through pricing actions, while 74% adjust pricing between one and four times per year. Making those decisions effectively requires visibility into material costs, labor expenses, inventory levels, customer demand, and profitability.

When information is fragmented across spreadsheets and disconnected systems, decision making becomes slower and more difficult. Modern ERP systems help solve this challenge by providing a centralized source of data that supports informed pricing, planning, and forecasting decisions.

Supply Chain Strategies Require Better Visibility

Although 56% of consumer products respondents report a more stable supply chain, manufacturers continue to adapt their sourcing and production strategies to control costs and improve resilience.

Survey respondents identify three leading cost-management strategies:

• Nearshoring or relocating sourcing closer to customers (49%)
• Manufacturing more products internally (48%)
• Raising prices (46%)

Each strategy brings new operational considerations. Nearshoring may reduce transportation costs and lead times but often requires managing new supplier relationships and inventory locations. Expanding in-house manufacturing can increase control but also creates greater demands around production planning, scheduling, and resource allocation.

These changes require organizations to connect information across procurement, manufacturing, inventory, sales, and finance. ERP systems enable that connectivity by providing real-time insight into business performance, helping leaders make proactive decisions rather than reactive ones.

ERP Modernization Is Becoming the Standard

The importance of data visibility is reflected in ERP investment trends. Only 11% of respondents have not upgraded their ERP system during the past five years. In other words, nearly nine out of ten consumer product manufacturers have invested in ERP modernization.

These investments are driven by several common objectives:

• Improved reporting and analytics
• Better inventory management
• Increased supply chain visibility
• Stronger financial controls
• Greater integration across business functions
• Scalability to support future growth

Legacy systems often lack the flexibility needed to support today’s fast-moving business environment. Data may reside in multiple systems, making it difficult to generate accurate reports or obtain a complete view of operations. Modern ERP platforms help eliminate these silos, automate workflows, and provide leaders with timely insights that support more confident decision making.

Turning ERP Investments into Business Value

The true value of ERP modernization lies not in the technology itself, but in its ability to improve business outcomes. When implemented effectively, ERP systems provide finance and operations leaders with the information they need to optimize performance, improve profitability, and respond more effectively to changing market conditions.

However, successful ERP initiatives require more than software selection. Organizations must align technology investments with business objectives, redesign processes where appropriate, and ensure users can leverage the system’s capabilities effectively.

As growth continues throughout the industry, visibility will remain a critical competitive advantage. Manufacturers that invest in modern ERP capabilities will be better positioned to manage complexity, adapt to changing market conditions, and sustain profitable growth for years to come.

Citrin Cooperman helps consumer products and retail organizations modernize and maximize their ERP investments, turning data into actionable insights. Connect with Cory Nielson or our Consumer Products and Retail team to start your ERP modernization journey and build a stronger foundation for strategic decision making.