Over the past few decades, businesses have moved more and more of their processes online, involving various technologies, both software and hardware, serving different functions for different people.
Most businesses, especially those that have been around for a long time and grown in size and geographic spread, have adopted technology piece by piece, business unit by business unit. This has led to a problem where technology and systems within a company are fragmented and have begun to cause problems for every problem they solve.
What are ERP Systems?
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems solve the problem of mismatched technology by integrating functions across business units, housing all data in one place and streamlining processes in all corners of a business.
With an ERP system tailored to your needs, the software fits your business, rather than your business trying to change to accommodate a mess of programs and applications.
ERP systems are modular, meaning that you can pick and choose which functionalities your business needs and basically build a tailored system. This modular nature makes ERP systems highly customisable and scalable. The system will be able to grow right along with your business.
Efficiency
Since ERPs streamline processes across all departments, they also make your business more efficient. Since certain workflows become automated, it reduces the time employees spend on administrative tasks. By getting rid of repetitive processes, employees will waste less time and effort on menial tasks, freeing up more time to spend on tasks that drive revenue.
Automation also reduces the chance for human error.
For example, instead of an employee potentially forgetting to send an email to another department, the system can be programmed to send an automatic notification.
Because all of your departments are linked by a single system, it allows you to collect a complete picture in terms of data. When each department is using different systems, it creates silos of information, leaving reports difficult to construct and ultimately incomplete.
BI Integration
Making your data even more complete and powerful are Business Intelligence (BI) integrations. BI reporting allows you to analyse and visual data pulled from your system that you can then use to build reports and ultimately make better, smarter business decisions.
These reporting aspects can also be used for things like stock management and processes.
You can use stock management, customer order, purchase order and shipment tracking data to create more efficient processes and make sure you aren’t losing money in your distribution channel by having the exact amount of the right stock.
Systematic Security
Another benefit of having all of your data in one place is security.
Centralised data storage means centralised backups, so you know all of your data is being taken care of. There won’t be one department working with incorrect data or each department working with separate data. It is all in one place, updated and backed up across the board.
At the end of the day, streamlining business processes, increasing security and developing your business for the future all lead to better customer satisfaction. The better your business runs, the better the experience your customers will have dealing with you. If your customer doesn’t receive their product because of a mix up due to a loss of information between departments, that will reflect negatively on your company. If a customer’s order goes smoothly and efficiently they will definitely be more impressed.
Implementing an ERP system will benefit your business across the board.
You will see increased productivity due to visibility of information and streamlining of processes. You will be able to gather more complete data to help you make better business decisions, and even your customers will appreciate the better experience they will have as a result of your ERP system.