Solutions of the 20th century aren't suited to the fast-paced requirements of the 21st

Single source of truth

With a single database that stores all the information for your business, you remove the barriers associated with data quality and redundancy. It also means that each department can have immediate access to the data they need to run their processes, without having to request it from other areas and manage their own databases.

For example, during the sales process, buyer data is created and used by the Sales team. Once that buyer becomes a customer, you don’t need to create new entries for the Service and Logistics teams to access – rather you have a single entry which forms the basis for all activities involving a ‘business partner’, regardless of the relationship that your company has with them.

Integration of each department at your company

Imagine each department at your company was able to share relevant information with each other:

- Sales updating finance each time an order is made so that invoices can be immediately prepared.

- Manufacturing updating procurement to order a replacement part for a machine that requires it.

- Sales seamlessly collaborating with manufacturing to create configure-to-order products for customers.

- Supporting a lean supply chain with optimized factories set up for throughput.

- Grow the post-sales service business with improved customer experience. 

Better inventory control

One of the biggest challenges in manufacturing is keeping tight control and visibility on your inventory. With the help of a scanner and barcodes, you can create an inventory management strategy whereby your ERP solution can track the quantities and locations of each inventory item in your warehouse.

Eliminate the paper trail

Many manufacturing companies still rely on hard copies of information printed from one department and delivered to another. The problem is that these documents get lost or torn, or smudged. With an ERP, data created in one department module can be immediately shared with  other modules used by other departments. This also eliminates lost time moving from place to place as well as costs related to paper and printing, which can add up over time.

Easily review past performance so you can better plan for future success

The power of an ERP lies in its ability to easily record and store data for all kinds of business transactions that take place at the company. With this data, you can run various analytical reports to better understand your past performance, make decisions based on your findings, and plan for the future.

Without an ERP, you might need to use a different platform, and then manually upload the data. You might also need to create your own queries, reports and visualisations.

Most modern ERPs are delivered with an analytics functionality, that can easily access the business data from their database. In addition, they come with pre-packaged reports and visualizations, and enable you to create and save your own.

Think about the time you’ll save not having to set all this up yourself!

Automate manual processes

What happens when you receive business documents to process – either as PDFs, images, or paper documents? You would need to open them, review them, and then ultimately enter the data into your database or spreadsheet

The most modern ERPs now support automation, where you can automate any repetitive and time-consuming tasks, so that you can focus on more important, and valuable activities.

Not only can you integrate out of the box automations, but many platforms also provide you with the possibility to easily create your own or work with 3rd party vendors who can create them for you.

Streamline your entire business operations

Another big advantage of ERP is that they include workflow functionality. When we talk about workflow, we’re talking about the processes and tasks that occur in a particular order. For example, when a purchase order is created, the request must be reviewed and approved by one or multiple individuals before it is finalized and processed. Having an process that automatically moves the PO along the approval chain, sends reminders and provides transparency is much more convenient than the original requestor having to do all the investigation themselves.

Now imagine all of the processes that occur at a company – from manufacturing processes, sales, customer service, employee onboarding, and think about all the time that can be saved as a result, as well as reduction in errors.