A fully integrated ERP system is a must for standardising workflows and automating processes across your organisation. But what about those processes that are specific or even unique to your business? Is there a way to automate these?
Actually, yes, there is! Our Intact iQ business management platform has an add-on tool called Nexus that allows you to use codeless customisation and take the automation of your business to the next level.
Nexus was engineered to provide you with the autonomy and control to quickly and easily automate numerous tasks and processes and apply your own business rules and logic. It gives you tight process control while allowing you to manually authorise actions as and when they’re required. It can be used to protect and maintain margins, keep adequate stock levels, manage cost prices and credit limits and improve customer service.
What is Intact iQ Nexus?
Intact iQ’s Nexus module uses the If This Then That tech principle, which works by having an existing specified condition (If This), then an action that must be performed (Then That).
The great thing about automating your business processes in this way is that you remove a lot of the risk that human error inevitably brings and significantly reduce the number of mistakes made during routine administrative tasks. You can even set up these automated controls for certain individuals (customers, suppliers or employees), roles or departments or the entire organisation. So, you can say goodbye to micromanaging your employees and hello to giving your management team more time to spend focusing on strategic business issues and plans!
So, what are the benefits of codeless customisation?
Enhance efficiency and productivity
By linking everyday events to a desired action, you can automate numerous business rules, tasks and processes to deliver more efficient (and therefore productive) business operations. Using Nexus you can create automatic warn, prevent, highlight, notify, confirm and authorise actions on an ongoing basis. (You can read more about what each of these means in our Nexus brochure). This is a much more efficient way of working than dissecting the volumes of data being produced on a daily, weekly or monthly basis or waiting to be informed that a task must be completed.
Get greater financial control
Nexus allows you to build a range of checks that allow you to block unwanted transactions and highlight financial red flags without manually checking your system. Here are some examples:
- If a customer is behind paying invoices, you can use a Highlight Rule to highlight them in red (or whatever colour you like) to make them highly visible to your counter staff or sales reps.
- If you have excessive levels of a particular item in stock, you can create a Prevent Rule to block the purchase order being placed.
Have eyes in the back of your head
You can’t be everywhere 24/7 but with a codeless customisation tool such as Nexus, you can set up as many notifications and alerts as you like, to make your ERP software do the hard work for you. Here are some examples:
- If a staff member puts up a purchase order over a certain amount, you can set up an Authorisation Rule to ensure that someone with the relevant authority has to approve it before it’s processed.
- You can add a Warn Rule to alert you if a staff member tries to sell a product at less than a specified margin. You could also trigger an action to automatically stop the transaction.
Have more time to work on your business (and not just in it)
Management by Exception is a practice where only chosen deviations from your processes are brought to the attention of you and your management team. The idea behind it is that your attention will be focused on those areas in need of action rather than wasting time sifting through data, reports or emails to find the critical information you need to know.
Codeless automation tools like Nexus allow you to practice Management by Exception, and free up more of your time to work on your business strategy and goals.
Save time and money
The only other way you could automate the business processes specific to your company is to opt for a custom project. Working with Systems Analysts and Programmers does cost money, so building these types of rules yourself will provide significant cost savings, as well as cutting out the lead time associated with such developments. It’s a win-win!
To find out more about how Nexus works within Intact iQ, read our Nexus brochure here.
