What is ERP? 3 Letters to Change Your Business - Intact

Can you imagine getting back hours in your day?

Then multiplying this impact by the amount of team members you have? Wouldn’t it be a major competitive advantage to streamline tedious tasks and enhance time and cost savings?

And what would it mean to your bottom line if you were able to immediately gain insights into the inner workings of your business operations whenever or wherever you needed to?

Thanks to modern ERP, these thoughts and questions don’t need to be imaginings. They can be a reality and change the way your business grows.

The challenges medium/large businesses face

As a medium to large business, you run a complex organisation.

You have suppliers, customers and distributors to manage. Each supplier will have their own system, and you may find yourself managing duplicate processes on different systems that take up a lot of time.

You’re also managing your own workforce. Departments within your organization could be working in silos, with teams having little visibility on how their work impacts the wider business. You need to keep track of all the resources at your disposal.

And today, it’s becoming ever more pressing to bring your business into line with digital transformation best practices.

ERP for medium/large business

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. Essentially, ERP is an integrated business management software system used to consolidate all the functions of an organisation into a uniform and enterprise-wide environment.  It includes performance management, planning, budgeting, forecasting and reporting functionality and the ability to organise an enterprise’s financial data.

Implementing a modern ERP system in your business means processes around core activities (e.g. keeping track of customer orders, project managing operations, maintaining correct stock levels and managing cash flow) are streamlined.

Additionally, a modern ERP system establishes one source of truth to gain real-time insights into the health of your business.  With all departments connected in real-time, it encourages more informed decision-making and increases efficiency at all levels.

The benefits of implementing ERP or introducing modern ERP in your business

Every business is different. But every business face one similar problem.

To maintain a competitive edge in today’s business environment, you need an efficient and reliable way to store and access your data.  An ERP system is the solution to these requirements and comes in many guises – from industry-specific ERP software to B2B wholesale software, cloud-based or on-premise ERP systems.

Understanding your company’s data is akin to finding a goldmine. Being able to read transactional data helps you optimise your business operations for the highest cost-savings and efficiencies. Identifying trends and patterns in data can open up competitive opportunities for your team – and help you increase revenue.

ERP systems help you realise the value of your data.

In particular, ERP for medium/large business is designed to provide efficiency, analytics, intelligence and visibility across your business.

This is how ERP can change your business:

Streamline business processes

• Data is available across all functions of your business in one central location.
  
• Automate back-office, tedious tasks and free up time.
• Decision-makers and budget-holders can monitor operations in real-time.
• Maintain adequate stock levels.

Optimise your supply chain

• Gain real-time visibility of your entire supply chain.
• Maintain control of your production schedule and reduce the time taken for planning cycles.

Improve customer satisfaction

• Provide exactly what your customer wants when they want it.
• Enhance the accuracy of your delivery times.

Reduce costs

• Save money with automated administration and operational processes.
  
• Reducing operational costs reduces capital outlay.
• Run your business at a lower cost.

Optimise inventory

• Increase smart management of stock levels.

Consolidate financials

• Eliminate different systems to manage cash flow.
• Keep track of payments in and out much quicker.

Future-proof your business

• Your ERP system will grow as your business grows, keeping up with the latest technologies.

Increase your competitive edge

• Adapt to market requirements with ease.
• Maintain the highest levels of compliance.

Anytime, anywhere access

• Functionality of modern ERP extends to mobile and tablet devices.

How to evaluate your need for ERP software

You know your business better than anyone, but there are some useful indicators of whether your business is ready for an ERP system or if you need to upgrade your current business software solution. (The checklist below is helpful whether you run a small to medium sized business or a large business.)

• Are your team members spending a large part of their day on tasks that could easily be automated?
• Are your team using multiple excel sheets to manage your business?
• Is it easy to update, extract and push the data you need the minute you need it to make an informed business decision?
• Do you work with suppliers or clients in different locations? Doing business in multiple locations may lead to added complexities, e.g. multi-currency requirements.
• The processes and software tools you use to run your business are not interconnected.
• You have no visibility on what your inventory looks like on a day to day basis.
• Can your teams collaborate easily?
• Do you spend a lot of time searching for the information needed to boost productivity in your business?
• Is it easy to access critical data about your business when you’re not in the office?
• Is it easy to keep up to date on regulatory compliance matters?
• Can you address problems when they come up with little to no downtime?

Transform your business with ERP

You may have begun reading this article wondering “what is ERP?” In summary, it’s a business management software solution that helps you build a sustainable and scalable business in today’s fast paced environment. The right ERP system can help you recover time, increase productivity – and grow your revenues.

Want to ensure your ERP implementation process is seamless and effective? Click here to find out more.