Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) is business software that collects data from the various operations of the business and combines it into a readable report. The historical version of this consisted of people handing in written reports to their managers who then conferred with one another about the work their divisions were doing. Now this process is automated via an ERP. It eliminates spending man hours on collecting information and tracking progress on any given job. But it’s also typically used by large corporations.
You might not think your small business needs an ERP, but you’d be surprised at its usefulness in your operation.
Too Many Software Programs That Don’t Communicate
Your divisions all use software to get their jobs done. But not all programs work with one another, especially when it’s from a rival software company. That means one division is working in one program while another has a completely different program, and there’s no communication between programs. You can’t gather information to find out where everyone is at in terms of progress, much less track spending and sales.
You could rely on the old-fashioned method of reports sent to your desk, or you could upgrade to an ERP for real-time reporting and let your divisions do their work instead of constantly reporting.
Can’t Get Information When You Want It
Manual reporting is a laborious process. A manager has to gather the reports and place them in a file location on the server or print them out and bring them to you. And it’s out-of-date by the time you receive them. An ERP eliminates this step and gives you real time reporting. How?
Everyone is working in the software suite that belongs to the ERP system. All of the work and data they generate is logged into the back end of the ERP and categorized. All you need to do is log into your account and get an at-a-glance view of all the work that’s being done. You click from report to report and view the work without interrupting anyone.
Divisions Aren’t Meshing With One Another
Each division works on a part of a project and has to communicate with the other divisions on the project. But if they work in one program and the other division has a completely different program, they’re not going to have the ability to check each other’s workflow. They have to communicate through file sharing and stopping their production to talk to one another. When all divisions can see the work the other division is doing, they can respond accordingly.
The end result is a much better workflow that results in products getting delivered sooner than later.
Conclusion
These are some of the reasons why your small business can benefit from installing an ERP system. You get to watch the progress, make corrections, and help everyone get their work done more efficiently. Your business becomes more nimble and responsive as a result. ERP is not just something that’s only available to the big corporations.