When you delve into the concept of ‘What is ERP?’ and what it can do for your business, you’ll soon see how it can transform your operations. After all, ERP systems integrate all facets of your business into one comprehensive information system that’s accessible by all, company-wide. Implementing an industry-specific ERP software solution, such as Intact iQ, in your business is also the most robust way to streamline operations and increase revenue.
Now, these are two powerful reasons in themselves to evaluate what an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution can do for you. What business doesn’t want to have leaner operations or find ways to be more profitable? But this is not all ERP can achieve.
For software that can play a truly transformational role in your business, it is surprising how often three value-added benefits of ERP are overlooked. Today, we explore those further for you.
Spend money on ERP software and save thousands
It can seem contradictory, but by making an upfront investment in an ERP solution, you could make considerable savings.
As ERP software incorporates all aspects of your business operations you should instantly see your administration and overtime costs reduce.
Processes that were previously manual, and heavily reliant on paperwork, can be automated with ERP software. Things like your statements, invoices, payment runs, reporting and invoicing should all be automated so that you can spend more time focusing on more important aspects of your business
And all information relating to your business is then saved in one place. Team members are working with the accurate, real-time data they need to make on-the-spot informed decisions. This, in turn, reduces the risk of errors being made, opportunities being missed, saves a lot of time and frees up staff resources..
Supplier problems also cost your business time, money and customers. An ERP system will help you keep track and improve on your service level agreements, identify regular problems and enhance supplier relationships.
Most businesses running on old or outdated ERP software systems will almost always benefit and indeed save quite a bit of money by conducting a review of their current processes and implementing or upgrading to new modern ERP software.
Get to know your business better
When you’re searching for an ERP system for your business, it’s made clear at the start that ERP improves your business processes. What is not always clear, but is undoubtedly a benefit, is how implementing ERP software can greatly help you and your staff gain a better understanding of your processes and operations.
Firstly, an ERP implementation strategy will involve business process modeling (BPM). As the BPM stage unfolds, each department will be required to examine current processes within your business to locate inefficiencies. They’ll also be required to propose new strategies to improve processes with the new ERP system you’re implementing. Taking onboard your consultants’ past experience, sector specific and best practice knowledge will also prove key at this point.
This exercise results in a complete overview of your business and helps key staff understand their roles better. Operational inefficiencies are also identified, and understood in the wider context of how your whole business runs.
Secondly, as you set about configuring your user/role/department specific dashboards and reports, team members may find new or better ways to fulfil their responsibilities. This benefits the whole company as this level of visibility encourages staff to get involved, optimise their contributions and it enables them to see how their tasks impact on company goals.
This benefit is not a once-off occurrence. Improving your business processes should be a constant exercise, reviewing annually and not just a once-off task.
Once your ERP system is launched, and your business has agreed on what the key performance indicators should be, the tools within your software solution will provide you with the overview and analysis you need to drive continual improvements.
Placing the customer at the centre
We all know the adage that the customer is king. And many businesses truly do intend to always serve their customers to the best of their abilities. However, disparate systems for warehouse management, administration, business intelligence, CRM etc. make it difficult to offer the kind of customer service that delights.
With an ERP system, customers benefit as much as your back-office staff and functions. This is due to the 360-degree insights available to them across your supply chain. Real-time tracking and more efficient (and automated) workflows also mean enhanced order fulfilment.
Your sales team can instantly pull inventory data and customer history with ease, even when not in the office. This will help to personalise the service offered to customers with the timely delivery of goods, services or refunds.
Your warehouse team will also be able to use the data an integrated ERP system provides to accurately forecast customer demand.
And they won’t be the only happy team in your business. A perfect-fit, customised ERP solution integrates your front and back-office systems. This enhances the value you can reap from your resources and investments, and helps you extract the most value from new and existing business opportunities!
Click here to discover more about ERP, what it is and how it can help your business grow.
This post was originally published on Business2Community. As per their editorial guidelines, links were removed, but this is content we originally wrote and submitted to the site. We’re now re-purposing the content on our site with the links included.
