One simple reason to do an ERP implementation is to lower IT
costs and improve efficiency. Having a unified ERP system can greatly lower IT-related expenses,
including management/administration staff, support, infrastructure needs, and application licensing.
Using a single system also reduces training requirements for end-users, since they only need to
learn one system rather than interacting with numerous individual applications.
Total Visibility
ERP allows total access to every important process in your
business by making data from every department easily accessible to you and your senior
management. For example, you can monitor inventory levels on a daily basis, including future
consignments that are yet to be received and inventory that’s currently in transit. By knowing
precisely where you stand regarding inventory levels, you can control your working capital on a
more precise level and more easily adhere to the strategy that you’ve developed for the
long-term success of your business.
Apply Better Data to Make Better Business Decisions
Using disparate, poorly integrated business software
systems can lead to messy, non-standardized data. This increases the chances of year-over-year
comparisons being inaccurate, making the process more difficult and time consuming. This becomes
a serious detriment to accurate forecasting.
A modern ERP system comes integrated with
all the necessary applications. Meaning, your data is standardized and the tools to see
year-over-year comparisons and forecasts are built in. These are often presented in an
easy-to-read dashboard format.
Stay on Top of Regulations
You no longer need to worry about governmental hurdles
making your employees’ jobs harder. INDIAN MESH ERP systems are equipped to ease regulatory
compliance required for business processes such as financial accounting, data security and
product traceability.
Here are some examples:
Publicly traded companies need to ensure all their financial records are 100-percent
accurate. ERP software helps keep everything in line through Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles (GAAP).
Small regional food manufacturers can benefit from the product traceability tools in a
modern ERP system. These ensure that companies are able to trace any instances of
contamination or improper handling back to the source in their manufacturing plant.
Improved Reporting and Planning
Implementing an ERP suite across departments means your
organization has a single, unified reporting system for every process. By having a single source
of information, an ERP system can readily generate useful reports and analytics at any time.
This software gives you the ability to analyze and compare functions across departments, without
the hassle of multiple spreadsheets and emails. One of the most popular reports involve finances
(go figure). Standard financial reports such as income and cash flow statements generally are
built-in, and custom reports can be quickly generated by users without IT
intervention.
In addition to this, many ERP vendors also offer Business Intelligence
services with their software. This BI functionality allows businesses to gain a deeper level of
analytical insight into their operations. These insights aid in corporate planning by
identifying both operational strengths and problem areas that need improvement. Providing this
kind of detailed view into a company’s data gives ERP users the ability to make better-informed
decisions based on end-to-end trends and metrics.
Complete Customization
One of the biggest advantages of ERP software is its
modular makeup. Most ERP vendors offer multiple platforms, and each one contains several
applications that can be implemented according to business needs. Each application is designed
to be able to stand alone or integrate with the suite, so your company can pick and choose which
components work best. This means that businesses are able to craft an interface tailored to
their company’s needs. Our INDIAN MESH ERP implementations are designed with the ability to
seamlessly integrate into the full suite or to be used as a standalone module.
Improved Efficiency
Along with reduced IT & training costs, an ERP can reduce
the time and effort required by your workforce to carry out their daily activities. Properly
implemented, an ERP can greatly reduce or eliminate repetitive manual processes, thus freeing up
team members to focus on revenue-affecting tasks. The system likewise can aid in the adoption
and enforcement of industry best-practice processes, lending familiarity to all actions across
the enterprise.
Data Security
One of the biggest advantages of an ERP system is data
security. After all, at the heart of the ERP concept is data. Sharing data across functional
silos such as Customer Service, Sales, Marketing, and Business Development enhances
collaboration throughout a company. The other side to wide-spread data access is controlling who
can see and edit the information. ERP solutions have intrinsic controls to ensure the security
of your data. What helps ERPs maintain a high level of data security is that it provides a
single input system. Merging information from multiple systems often causes conflicts between
sources, but having a single repository of information helps improve the accuracy, consistency,
and security of your company’s data.
Deep Integration
INDIAN MESH ERP vendors offer additional services for
further integration of your business. A few examples include:
E-commerce integration packages for web-based ordering
Application Programming Interface systems that allow peripheral systems, like barcode
readers, to be integrated into your existing system
Business Intelligence functions that identify potential problem areas throughout the
business
Improved Data Quality
When compared to manual data processes and other
approaches, ERP systems’ data quality represents a drastic improvement. This is mostly because
the underlying processes used to develop the data are drastically improved, so there are fewer
errors and omissions. Indeed,INDIAN MESH ERP tools largely eliminate human input, which is where
most errors occur. As a result, you can be confident in the integrity and reliability of the
data you’re using, which makes it easier to make crucial business decisions. This allows you to
more readily take advantage of new opportunities that may slip through the cracks without prompt
action.
Give Employees More Power to Be Revenue Generators
Inefficient processes and decentralized data mean greater
labor costs for businesses. These can be especially detrimental for small to midsize businesses
(SMBs) that have limited resources.
ERP systems can automate and streamline daily
processes, freeing up your employees’ time to do things that actually generate revenue. For
example, software can automatically tie sales orders to the accounting system, or run reports
without the need for complicated spreadsheets.
businesses should treat ERP as a
technology strategy. It can efficiently automate and link administrative and operational
capabilities such as finance, HR, purchasing, manufacturing and distribution to help achieve
business flexibility and agility.
Be Mobile Accessible to Bring Your Business With You
Many ERP vendors are offering native applications on
Android, iOS and Windows smart devices for ease of use. These applications typically offer
updates in real time with crucial business KPIs, including:
Sales
Revenue
Customer acquisitions
Web traffic
Manufacturing output
One of the predictions in Gartner’s “Forecast Overview: ERP
Software, Worldwide, 2016” report (available to Gartner clients) is that 60 percent of SMBs will
be selecting ERP in the cloud by 2020. This will only increase the mobile accessibility for
users— a trend that’s increase more as more and more tech-savvy professionals enter the
marketplace. This generation prefers a connected network of applications, which can be easily
managed on a tablet or better, their phones. They’ll automatically prefer ERP vendors who offer
integrated apps with other software so that they can easily switch between functions within
seconds.