How Businesses Can Use ERP Systems to Gain a Competitive Advantage
Every business is in a race to success today against hundreds of others. Often this road is laden with more pitfalls than rewards, and businesses are constantly searching for the right tools to make this an easier feat. This is where ERP enters the picture. Enterprise resource planning is the system-wide implementation of technology that helps businesses streamline their business processes in order to work faster and smarter. ERP systems have become a standard for collecting all business areas in one integrated system. For some organizations it is a necessity for doing business, while others use it to outperform competitors. Whichever category you fall into, if you are looking to smarten up your business processes to function seamlessly as one coherent whole, then read further.
Why Would Your Organisation Need an ERP System?
In short, most companies embark on an ERP implementation in order to increase organisational profitability. Many an ERP product vendor will promise infrastructure management through phrases like âincreased efficiency,â âstreamlined processes,â or âimproved integrationâ; and although we tend to agree with all the above, our objective here is to evaluate closer what an ERP system actually entails. It is also most common for business people to believe that ERP systems benefit only larger organisations, when the truth is any company large or small may leverage off the power of enterprise resource planning to achieve that all important goal everyone is after; to make more money.
In addition, consider the following benefits briefly:
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Connected: All aspects of business are connected to each other to form a coherent big picture.
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Automated: Many business tasks can be automated through the use of an ERP system that knows how your business operates.
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Collaborative: Â Cross-functional capabilities makes the sharing of information and communicating across different departments instant and effortless.
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Adaptable: The many different aspects of an ERP system can be adapted to suit any business â big or small. The beauty of cloud-based solutions is the scalability it affords. Systems can grow as your company grows.
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Insightful: With all your business data in one place, strategic decisions can be made with ease.
ERP Systems Makes Business Sense
Consider the following scenario: Suppose a client approaches a member of the sales team asking for a particular product. The sales team contacts to inventory department to check the availability of the product (in this example we are using the manufacturing industry). To their surprise, the product is out of stock, and the sale is lost. After further investigation, it appears that the stock issue is caused because there was a delay in the delivery of a raw material required to manufacture this product. To complete this scenario; let us assume that after much investigation, it became known that the finance department never signed the order for the raw materials required for the product the customer wants. Seem complicated?
In essence, every transactional process of a business is interconnected to another in some way or another. In our example we are trying to illustrate all the different processes involved in achieving the simplest of business outcomes: selling a product to make money. Now if there was a centralised ERP system in place, the potential outcome could have been so much different. Here is why:
As per our illustration, it is evident that improved communication and collaborations in all business processes (call them departments if you will) could have cinched the deal. Our example is perhaps simplified, but the message is this: when the many different parts of your company become integrated, chances are that productivity will be improved as well as that all-important bottom line. To conclude our example: enterprise resource planning is exactly the method that used to effectively coordinate the procurement of materials required to manufacture the product to sell to the customer. ERP systems then are the computer systems that facilitate this process seamlessly to all involved.
What are Other Important ERP System Implementation Considerations?
As providers of IT infrastructure solutions services UK, we know that ERP systems are applicable to all types of businesses and industries, and not just manufacturing. For example; in retail such a system can be used to manage and coordinate efforts between inventory, supplier management and point of sales. And the biggest benefit of all? Specialised business intelligence. A system such as Seven Hives provides advanced reporting capabilities by visualizing all the data integrated into the system. Sorting through huge quantities of data is no longer a momentous task. With real-time data stored in the cloud, reports are visual and accurate. Allowing for superior business management on the highest level with current data.
Do you need to implement a system to help you manage the resources of your company? Contact us to learn more about how we can help your organization get the advantages stated above with a system that can be tailored to suit your specific needs. Our consultants are standing by to help raise your business to new heights. Why not book a demo today?
