MaXXflow FAQs

Understanding MaXXflow
1. What is MaXXflow?
MaXXflow is an AI-enabled Material Requirements Planning, or MRP, platform designed for growing manufacturers and other product-based businesses with complex supply chains.
It connects demand, bills of materials, inventory, procurement, suppliers, work orders, scheduling and production in one shared operational environment. This helps teams answer three important questions: what do we need, when do we need it and what is at risk?
By bringing information out of disconnected spreadsheets, emails and separate systems, MaXXflow gives teams a clearer view of what is ready, what is missing and what requires action.

2. Is MaXXflow available now?
Yes. MaXXflow is available now.
The first step is a discovery session and tailored demonstration. Central Innovation will review how your business currently manages demand, materials, bills of materials, purchasing, inventory and production, then demonstrate the MaXXflow workflows most relevant to your operation.
Following discovery, the team can confirm product fit, implementation priorities and the recommended next step.

3. What does MRP stand for, and what does MRP software do?
MRP stands for Material Requirements Planning.
MRP software helps a business determine:
• What materials and components are required.
• How many are required.
• When they are required.
• What stock is already available.
• What must be purchased or manufactured.
• Which shortages or delays may affect planned work.
It uses information such as customer demand, bills of materials, inventory, supplier lead times, purchase orders and manufacturing orders. MaXXflow extends this planning view by connecting it with work orders, scheduling, capacity, operational dashboards and AI-assisted decision support.

4. Who is MaXXflow designed for?
MaXXflow is best suited to small and mid-sized manufacturers and product-based businesses that have outgrown informal or spreadsheet-driven planning.
A typical MaXXflow customer may manage:
• Multiple products, assemblies or variants.
• Large or changing bills of materials.
• Numerous parts, suppliers and purchase orders.
• Variable supplier lead times.
• Multiple active jobs or manufacturing orders.
• Inventory across several locations.
• Engineering information that must flow into purchasing and production.
MaXXflow is particularly relevant when the business needs more operational structure but does not want to begin with a large, enterprise-wide ERP transformation.

5. Is MaXXflow only for manufacturing businesses?
MaXXflow is built primarily around manufacturing and product-based supply-chain workflows. However, fit is determined by operational complexity rather than by an industry label alone.
It may also be relevant to businesses that need to coordinate materials, suppliers, inventory, work orders, capacity and delivery, even when they do not describe themselves as traditional manufacturers.
The strongest fit is generally an organisation with physical products, components, assemblies or material dependencies. A discovery session can confirm whether the underlying workflow is suitable for MRP.

6. How do we know when we have outgrown spreadsheets for production planning?
A business may have outgrown spreadsheet-based production planning when the process still functions, but only because experienced people are constantly checking and correcting it.
Common warning signs include:
• Multiple versions of important planning spreadsheets.
• Critical files controlled by one or two people.
• Bills of materials being exported, reformatted or re-entered manually.
• Staff checking several systems before answering a simple status question.
• Material shortages being discovered after work has been scheduled.
• Purchasing receiving urgent or conflicting requests.
• Stock records not reflecting what is genuinely available.
• Delivery dates being based on assumptions rather than verified readiness.
• Management reports taking hours or days to assemble.
Spreadsheets are useful and flexible. The risk emerges when they become the main operational system for an increasingly complex business.

7. Can MaXXflow replace our production-planning spreadsheets?
MaXXflow is designed to move business-critical manufacturing planning from isolated spreadsheets into a shared and more controlled workflow.
That does not mean every spreadsheet must disappear immediately. A practical implementation normally begins with the workflow creating the greatest operational risk, such as material planning, purchasing requirements, BOM handover, inventory visibility or job readiness.
Once that workflow has been configured, tested and adopted, the corresponding spreadsheet can be retired as the operational source of truth. This phased approach reduces disruption and avoids maintaining permanent duplicate processes.

8. What business problems does MaXXflow help address?
MaXXflow helps address problems caused by disconnected manufacturing and supply-chain information, including:
• Poor visibility across orders, inventory, purchasing and production.
• Late discovery of missing parts or delayed supply.
• Reactive purchasing and unnecessary urgent freight.
• Over-ordering, under-ordering and excess inventory.
• Manual transfer of bill-of-material information from engineering.
• Jobs reaching production before they are genuinely ready.
• Weak handovers between sales, engineering, purchasing and production.
• Lack of confidence in delivery dates.
• Excessive time spent chasing updates and preparing reports.
• Dependency on knowledge held by a small number of employees.
Its core value is better visibility, earlier risk identification and more confident operational decisions.
MaXXflow capabilities and workflows

9. What processes and capabilities are included in MaXXflow?
MaXXflow connects the core activities required to plan, buy, build and deliver.
Plan
Manage demand, product information, bills of materials, schedules, work centres and capacity.
Buy
Manage material requirements, suppliers, lead times, purchase orders, inbound goods and stock positions.
Build
Manage manufacturing orders, inventory movements, material allocation, shop-floor activity, barcode operations and traceability.
Decide
Use dashboards, reporting, alerts and AI-assisted summaries to understand what has changed, what is at risk and what requires action.
The appropriate capabilities are configured around the workflows and roles included in the customer's implementation scope.

10. How is MaXXflow different from an ERP system?
An ERP is a broad enterprise platform that may cover finance, sales, human resources, service, purchasing, inventory, production and administration.
MaXXflow is more focused. It concentrates on the manufacturing and supply-chain planning layer: demand, bills of materials, material requirements, stock availability, suppliers, purchasing, work orders, production readiness, scheduling and operational risk.
For some businesses, MaXXflow may provide a more manageable starting point than a full ERP transformation. For others, it may operate alongside existing business systems by addressing a manufacturing-planning gap that is still being managed through spreadsheets and workarounds.

11. Can MaXXflow work with our existing ERP, accounting or inventory system?
MaXXflow can be scoped to operate alongside existing business systems. The exact approach depends on which system currently owns customer, product, inventory, purchasing, finance and production data.
During discovery, Central Innovation will identify:
• Which information must be available in MaXXflow.
• Which system should remain the source of each data type.
• Which integrations are essential for the first phase.
• Which data exchanges can be introduced later.
• Where spreadsheets or manual handovers can be removed.
Integration requirements should be assessed individually rather than assuming every existing system needs to be connected before value can be created.

12. How does MaXXflow support bills of materials and engineering-to-production handover?
A bill of materials, or BOM, defines the components, materials, subassemblies and quantities required to make a product. It is one of the most important inputs into reliable MRP.
MaXXflow uses BOM information to support material requirements, inventory checks, purchasing activity, work orders and production readiness.
Where BOMs originate in CAD or PDM, MaXXlink can complement MaXXflow by improving the flow of engineering information into manufacturing. This is especially relevant where engineering BOMs must be reviewed, restructured or supplemented before they are suitable for purchasing and production.

13. How does MaXXflow improve inventory planning and purchasing?
MaXXflow connects inventory and purchasing decisions to actual manufacturing demand.
Instead of viewing stock as a simple total, teams can consider:
• What is currently available.
• What is already allocated.
• What is expected from suppliers.
• What upcoming BOMs and jobs require.
• When materials will be needed.
• Which shortages affect the most urgent work.
• Which supplier or lead-time issues require attention.
This gives purchasing a stronger basis for deciding what to order and when. The objective is not simply to hold less stock; it is to hold and order the right stock based on demand, timing and operational risk.

14. How does MaXXflow show whether a job is ready for production?
A job is not necessarily ready simply because it appears on a production schedule.
True production readiness may depend on:
• An approved and accurate BOM.
• The required materials being available.
• Purchase orders arriving in time.
• Engineering changes being resolved.
• Work orders being released.
• Required resources and work centres being available.
• Any quality or process requirements being completed.
MaXXflow connects work-order status with the information that determines whether work can proceed. This helps teams see which jobs are ready, blocked, delayed or at risk before the issue reaches the production floor.

15. How does MaXXflow support production scheduling and capacity planning?
MaXXflow helps teams consider planned work alongside material availability, job priority, work-centre capacity and operational constraints.
This is important because an orderly-looking schedule may still be unrealistic if required materials are missing or several jobs depend on the same limited resource.
By making constraints and readiness more visible, MaXXflow helps operations teams identify schedule conflicts earlier, review priorities with better information and make more realistic production commitments.

16. Does MaXXflow support barcode and QR code operations?
Yes. MaXXflow supports barcode and QR-based workflows that can help capture inventory, warehouse and production activity closer to where it occurs.
Depending on the configured workflow, barcode or QR operations may support:
• Item identification.
• Goods receipt.
• Inventory movements.
• Material allocation.
• Work-order activity.
• Production updates.
• Operational traceability.
This can reduce manual entry, improve transaction accuracy and make operational information available sooner. The specific scanning workflows and hardware requirements are confirmed during implementation scoping.

17. Can MaXXflow support multiple warehouses, stock locations or operating sites?
MaXXflow is designed to support growing operations with multiple stock locations and can scale to more complex, multi-site environments.
This is useful where inventory is held across warehouses, production stores, service locations or separate facilities. A business can then consider not only whether stock exists, but where it is located and whether it is available for the work that requires it.
The number of sites, warehouses and location structures should be mapped during implementation so that inventory and operational reporting reflect how the business physically works.

18. What dashboards, reports and alerts are available in MaXXflow?
MaXXflow provides dashboards and operational reporting designed to help different roles focus on the information relevant to them.
A dashboard may show:
• What is due, late or at risk.
• Which jobs can be built with confidence.
• Material shortages and purchasing priorities.
• Supplier timing and inbound supply issues.
• Work-order status and production progress.
• Inventory position and operational risk.
• Work-centre constraints and capacity pressure.
• Issues requiring an immediate decision.
Rather than presenting more data for its own sake, the aim is to make exceptions and priorities easier to identify.
AI-enabled MRP

19. What does AI-enabled MRP mean in MaXXflow?
AI-enabled MRP means using artificial intelligence to help people understand operational information and identify where attention is required.
Within MaXXflow, AI can support users by:
• Summarising shortages, late supply and schedule conflicts.
• Identifying exceptions, patterns and planning risks.
• Highlighting replenishment or operational priorities.
• Explaining what has changed.
• Drafting follow-ups and internal updates.
• Reducing repetitive planning and reporting administration.
• Helping users reach decision-relevant information faster.
The AI capability is intended to support experienced people, not replace planners, buyers, engineers or production managers.

20. Can users ask MaXXflow questions in plain language?
MaXXflow's conversational AI is designed to help authorised users interrogate operational information using natural-language questions.
Examples may include:
• Which work orders are at risk this week?
• Which shortages need attention first?
• What has changed since yesterday?
• Which late supplier lines affect scheduled production?
• Where are the current capacity constraints?
• What should be discussed in today's production meeting?
The answers depend on the data available to MaXXflow, the user's permissions and the workflows configured for the business. AI outputs should be reviewed in operational context before decisions are made.

21. Does MaXXflow AI make purchasing or production decisions automatically?
MaXXflow's AI is positioned as decision support rather than uncontrolled autonomous decision-making.
It can help identify patterns, exceptions, risks and recommended priorities, but users remain responsible for reviewing the information and approving operational actions.
For example, AI may highlight an item that appears likely to create a shortage or suggest that replenishment should be reviewed. That does not mean a purchase should be placed automatically without considering supplier conditions, alternative stock, customer priority or current business requirements.
This human-controlled approach is particularly important where decisions affect cost, stock, production sequencing or customer commitments.
Systems, cloud and data

22. Is MaXXflow cloud-based?
Yes. MaXXflow is delivered as Software as a Service and hosted in Microsoft Azure.
The cloud-based delivery model supports a lower-friction onboarding approach and allows the platform to scale from smaller operations to more complex, multi-site environments.
The technical environment, connectivity requirements, user access and any integration dependencies are reviewed as part of implementation planning.

23. How does MaXXflow support access control, governance and traceability?
MaXXflow supports controlled access and operational traceability so that users can work with information appropriate to their responsibilities.
Relevant governance capabilities include:
• Role-based access and permissions.
• Control over who can view or change operational information.
• Audit trails showing who changed information and when.
• Greater traceability across stock, jobs and planning decisions.
• A clearer operational source of truth.
Detailed requirements relating to authentication, data residency, retention, backup, security reviews and AI data handling should be addressed with the customer's IT or security stakeholders during technical scoping.

24. Do we need a dedicated IT department to use MaXXflow?
A dedicated internal IT department is not required.
However, a successful implementation still needs clear business ownership. The customer should identify:
• An executive or project sponsor.
• An owner for the planning process.
• People responsible for BOM, inventory and supplier data.
• Key users from purchasing, production and operations.
• Someone authorised to make workflow and process decisions.
Central Innovation provides implementation and product expertise, but the customer remains responsible for its operating decisions, core data and user adoption.

25. What data is required to implement MaXXflow?
The exact data depends on the first workflow being implemented, but it may include:
• Item and product records.
• Bills of materials.
• Units of measure.
• Inventory quantities and locations.
• Suppliers and supplier lead times.
• Open purchase orders and inbound supply.
• Customer demand or planned orders.
• Work orders and production status.
• Work centres, resources or capacity information.
• Users, roles and permissions.
The implementation team should identify which information is essential for the first phase rather than attempting to migrate every historical record from every system.

26. Does our data need to be perfect before we implement MRP?
No business has perfect data. However, the core information used for planning must be reliable enough for users to trust the result.
If BOMs, stock quantities, supplier lead times or item records are inaccurate, the resulting material and production plan may also be unreliable.
A MaXXflow implementation should therefore include a practical data-readiness review. The objective is not to correct everything before beginning. It is to identify the data required for the first workflow, establish ownership and improve the highest-risk areas in a controlled way.
Implementation, training and commercial questions

27. How is MaXXflow implemented?
MaXXflow implementation should be treated as a manufacturing and supply-chain improvement project, not simply as software activation.
A typical implementation includes:
1. Mapping the current workflow and desired outcome.
2. Identifying the first high-value use case.
3. Reviewing and preparing the required data.
4. Configuring roles, workflows, dashboards and operating rules.
5. Testing with realistic orders, shortages, delays and changes.
6. Training users around their day-to-day responsibilities.
7. Planning and supporting go-live.
8. Reviewing adoption and business outcomes after go-live.
A phased approach allows the business to establish one reliable workflow before expanding into additional capabilities.

28. How long does a MaXXflow implementation take?
Implementation time depends on the scope of the first phase and the readiness of the business.
Factors include:
• The workflows being implemented.
• The condition of BOM, inventory and supplier data.
• The number of users and operating sites.
• Required configuration.
• Essential system integrations.
• Availability of internal process owners.
• Testing and training requirements.
Following discovery and workflow mapping, Central Innovation can provide an implementation plan covering the agreed scope, responsibilities, milestones, testing and go-live approach. A focused first phase is usually more manageable than attempting to transform every process at once.

29. What MaXXflow training and support are available?
Central Innovation provides local implementation, product guidance, training and support across Australia and New Zealand.
Training should be role-based and connected to the work each user performs. For example:
• Purchasing users focus on material requirements and supplier actions.
• Inventory users focus on stock movements, locations and accuracy.
• Production users focus on work orders and job readiness.
• Managers focus on dashboards, exceptions and priorities.
• Administrators focus on configuration, access and governance.
The most effective training uses realistic customer data and scenarios rather than generic software exercises.

30. How much does MaXXflow cost?
MaXXflow pricing is determined by the software, users, operating scope and implementation services required by the business.
The commercial scope may consider:
• Required MaXXflow workflows and capabilities.
• Number and type of users.
• Number of operating locations.
• Implementation and data-preparation requirements.
• Integrations or custom configuration.
• Training and support requirements.
• Any related MaXXlink requirements.
A discovery session allows Central Innovation to understand the business problem and prepare a proposal aligned with the recommended implementation approach.

31. How can we measure the return on investment from MaXXflow?
The business case for MaXXflow should be based on the customer's own operating costs rather than generic improvement percentages.
Potential value areas include:
• Time spent updating spreadsheets and preparing reports.
• Material shortages and production downtime.
• Urgent orders and expedited freight.
• Excess, duplicate or slow-moving inventory.
• Rework caused by BOM or handover errors.
• Overtime and rescheduling.
• Late deliveries, penalties or customer escalations.
• Management time spent chasing status.
• Dependency on a small number of experienced employees.
The objective is to compare the MaXXflow investment with the current cost of disconnected manufacturing planning.

32. Is MaXXflow Australian Made?
Yes. MaXXflow is Australian Made and forms part of Central Innovation's Australian Made and Owned-certified technology portfolio.
MaXXflow was developed through direct engagement with manufacturers and product specialists, with a focus on the practical realities of manufacturing and supply-chain operations in Australia and New Zealand.
Customers across both countries also have access to a local ANZ team with manufacturing, engineering, implementation and support experience.

33. What happens during a MaXXflow demonstration?
A tailored MaXXflow demonstration follows a practical demand-to-delivery workflow rather than presenting a tour of every screen:
1. Review demand or planned work.
2. Examine product and BOM requirements.
3. Check inventory availability and allocations.
4. Identify purchasing requirements and supply risks.
5. Review work-order readiness.
6. Examine scheduling or capacity constraints.
7. Show relevant dashboards, alerts and AI-assisted insights.
The session concludes with a discussion of fit, implementation priorities and the most useful next step.