The internal operations of a business organization play a crucial role in determining the future of the company. ERP systems help streamline business processes and boost business growth. For instance, the manufacturing industry consists of departments such as inventory, sales, human resources, production, purchasing, accounting, and more. Each department works towards improving the business, but they do so individually.
This is where digitization and solutions such as ERP systems come into play. The current market scenario is uncertain, highly volatile, complex, and forever changing. Businesses need to undergo a complete digital transformation to cope with market changes and stay competitive. Collecting and analyzing data in real-time is no longer an added advantage, rather it is a necessity for businesses big or small.
ERP systems can help integrate business data and deliver real-time insights for improving productivity and creating efficiency within a business. Here’s how ERP can help improve company performance.
How ERP Systems Boost a Company’s Performance
Improves Organizational Visibility
There are many teams and designations in an organization and keeping an eye on everyone manually is impossible. ERP systems create analytical dashboards with information and data about every employee and team. It provides real-time visibility of the entire organization, the performance of different teams, issues and concerns raised, or any other activity. With real-time visibility, upper management doesn’t have to wait for supervisors to collect and compile data. They can just look at the dashboards and take critical business decisions on the go.
Helps in Making Data-Driven Decisions
While it is a complete package consisting of different modules and functionalities, one of the biggest benefits of ERP software is data integration. With the advancement in modern technologies like cloud computing, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, data analytics, and more, businesses have started to capture more and more data every day. With an ERP system, all this data can be collected on a single dashboard. Businesses can then analyze it, extract valuable insights, and create predictive models to improve business growth and reduce data redundancy.
Enhances Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management is integrated into most ERP software. If you’re a manufacturer or a retailer, effective ERP software can help you keep a real-time track of the inventory and the production process. Inventory management is a crucial process for the manufacturing industry. A properly executed manufacturing module in an ERP system is adept in enhancing your inventory management capabilities. It provides accurate demand forecasting, reduces shipping errors, and can shorten delivery times by reducing lead generation time. With faster and correct delivery of their orders, customers are more satisfied and end up ordering from the business again.
Also Read: ERP For Manufacturing: Importance, Features, and Benefits
Automates Business Processes
In any organization, most employees end up wasting their time performing repetitive and manual tasks such as data entry, transferring reports, copy-pasting data from internal systems to external systems, and more. All these processes end up consuming the valuable time of an employee—the time that could have been spent somewhere else more effectively. ERP systems help in saving this time by automating several business processes including daily operations, accounting, human resources etc. Not only does this save time but also reduces errors that otherwise would have been generated due to manual intervention. With more time on their hands, employees become more productive as well.
Increases Interdepartmental Collaboration
When teams work in silos without access to common data, there develops a huge communication gap which affects business processes adversely. With ERP software, however, every employee and team has access to the same database and reports. Hence, they can collaborate with greater ease and synchronization. ERP solutions have project tracking features that allow project managers and supervisors to stay updated about when a task or project is completed. Employees can share data among themselves through workflow modules and collaborate on common projects.
Also Read: Understanding ERP Modules and Their Business Benefits
Boosts Data Security
Today, security is a matter of great concern for all businesses, no matter their size. Online cyber attacks, phishing, malware, credit fraud, and other kinds of threats can negatively impact a business and its relations with the customer. An ERP system ensures that data is secured when transferred to multiple systems and that any kind of fraudulent activity is identified and prevented before it becomes grave. For businesses that handle a large amount of customer data, the vulnerability of a single program can cause the entire infrastructure to fall. By creating a database backed up to a central server, ERP solutions decrease the chances of such failure and help improve data security.
Easily Adapts to your Business
Every business is different. Therefore, if a business has to change its processes to incorporate a solution, then the tool cannot be the same for all. This is what differentiates ERP systems from other solutions as it adapts to your business easily; not the other way around. It is a customizable and flexible solution that meets the needs of your business and integrates into the system easily. For smaller businesses and startups, there is an option of implementing modular ERP solutions that don’t require that much upfront cost.
Increases Employee Productivity and Morale
ERP systems have many human resource tools that boost employee productivity by automating manual tasks and simplifying business processes. It also helps in boosting employee morale by supporting hybrid work, enhancing team collaboration, understanding what employees need, documenting their concerns, and passing this information to the higher authority for swift action. HR professionals also get an in-depth evaluation of employees as well as potential hires. This insight helps them make decisions about which candidate to hire, retention plans, creating learning and development courses, and creating a more balanced workplace.
Can be Used on the Go
One of the biggest benefits of an ERP system is that it can be implemented on-cloud if the cost of implementing it on-premise becomes too high for the organization. Businesses that have little to no physical footprint can also utilize ERP solutions to manage their workforce online more effectively.
With the hybrid work model, a cloud-based system that can be accessed from anywhere at any time will become hugely popular. Salespeople can update their sales in real-time and access information about a customer to close sales efficiently. Marketing people can change strategies as per the market trends. And, upper-level executives can take decisions on the go.
Conclusion
Several businesses, across industries, use ERP systems for day-to-day tasks. Being a flexible and cloud-based solution, ERP software has become popular with small businesses in India. While there are a few ERP challenges that some businesses face, the advantages heavily outweigh the cons making it an excellent investment.
The success of an ERP implementation project is determined by the approach followed and the understanding of the solution. Praxis Info Solutions, a leading consulting and implementation partner for ERP solutions, follows a methodical approach to helping its customers. If you are looking for ways to make the best of an ERP system to boost your business’s growth, then we can help. To know more about how an ERP solution can help your business, Contact us now.