ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. With manufacturing ERP software, you can automate most of the process involved in the procurement and maintenance of your resources so that your operations go much more smoothly.
Now you might think that ERP solutions may be “nice”, but not really needed. However, they’re actually imperative for some companies that have been working a lot more inefficiently than they ought to. Here are some signs that your business needs an ERP solution.
Different Groups Are Using Different Software Systems to Track Data
This situation is a lot more common than you think. The members of the sales team may be using one program to take, track, and fill their orders but the accounting department is using another program to track these orders. What happens is that these programs aren’t connected, so they’re not always in sync and up to date. In some cases, discrepancies may arise.
But with ERP, everyone uses the same program and the software updates the data in real time. Everyone is up to date and on the same page, eliminating confusion.
It’s A Lot More Difficult to Access Information
Do you know the volume of order per day, the sales until a certain date, or the average sales margin of your business? No? Why not?
Sure, you can find out. You can use spreadsheets and keying in data to find your answers. But that takes a long time, and therefore it’s inefficient. That’s because when you’re using ERP software, these kinds of data are automatically generated. That’s because your ERP is tracking pretty much everything so it can then compute for whatever KPI you want to monitor.
Accounting Wastes Time Manually Transferring Paper Data to Multiple Databases
The most likely beneficiary of having an ERP system is that suddenly your accounting department becomes much more efficient. Consider how much time and effort are used up for transfer the data from paper-based invoices and sales orders into your system. Even more time is wasted when you’re using different software for different groups.
Instead, the ERP system does that for your business automatically. This saves you a lot of time, as the system can now do in a few seconds what a human can do manually for many hours entering data.
Your financial records will also be a lot more accurate, as you reduce the chance of human error when entering the data from paper sources. So now your financial reports are faster and more accurate, and you can share them more easily.
Your Customer Satisfaction Levels May Be Plummeting
A customer calls you to check on their order. Without an ERP solution, finding out about their order can take a long while, and so you end up with a frustrated customer who is unimpressed about your company’s professionalism.
But with an ERP solution, all employees will be able to answer that question simply by accessing your ERP database. They can then tell the customer if the item they’re looking for is out of stock, and when the stock will be replenished. They can tell the customer if their order is still being processed or already on the way. If the info is restricted to certain employees only, then the database can list the workers who need to be notified to answer the question.
The IT System is Too Complicated
This means greater chances of errors, and employees are wasting time trying to figure how to do things right. But an ERP system is generally much simpler, and its function is to make things easier for everyone.
If any of these signs are evident in your company, then it may be time for you to consider installing ERP software.
