ERP Solutions

Many people perceive that Enterprise Systems (ERP) are designed just for the larger Corporate or Global organisations and that they are; too big, too expensive and take too long to implement, these days this is just not the case.

What is an ERP Solution?

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning - a business management system that integrates the data and processes of your business into a single system. Most ERP solutions will use a unified database to store data for all your business functions.

ERP is a term that was originally used by large organisations to describe how they planned to use their organisation’s resources, and ERP solutions were, at that time, developed for large industrially focused companies. However, since the mid 1990’s we have seen a significant change in the development of ERP systems which are now readily available to any type of company irrespective of industry and size.

The definition of an ERP system is one that provides you with the functionality of more than one system i.e. Financials and manufacturing and planning.

Most ERP systems will cover a wide range of functions and integrate them into one unified database. This could be functions such as; HR, Supply Chain Management, Sales and Marketing, Accounts, Manufacturing Processes and Warehouse Management etc.

The ideal ERP solution

An ideal ERP solution is when a single database contains all data for various software modules. These modules can include;

• Manufacturing: Include; engineering, capacity planning, workflow management, quality control, bills of material (BOM), manufacturing etc.
• Financials: Accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets, general ledger and cash management etc.
• Human Resources: Benefits, training, payroll, time and attendance, etc.
• Supply Chain Management: Inventory, supply chain planning, supplier scheduling, claim processing, order entry, purchasing, etc.
• Project Management: Costing, billing, activity management, time and expense, forecasting, etc.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM): sales and marketing, campaign management, service, commissions, customer contact, call centre support, etc.
• Data Warehousing: Usually this is a module that can be accessed by your customers, suppliers and employees.
• Business Intelligence: BI module provides historical, current, and predictive views of your operations, most often using data that has been gathered into a Data Warehouse. The BI module takes care of the extraction, analysis, and reporting of information to provide you with all the reporting you’ll need.

Does ERP improve Productivity?

Yes, because the alternative is for each department to have its own system and its own individual database for storing the department’s data. Unless all of the systems (for each department) are integrated (linked together) these stand alone systems are not able to communicate with each other and, therefore, are not able to seamlessly share information across your organisation.

Having disparate systems means that, the information that is required by two or more departments will at some stage in your business process need to be re-input, leaving margins for error, lack of visibility and difficulty in reporting management information in a timely manner.

If you can report on a single item in real time you can drive efficiencies in your business and, therefore, achieve greater productivity.

Managing your business using historic data (I once saw a company regularly take 8 weeks to complete month end) will make planning and general management very difficult. You may find that you are tying up valuable resource or cash unnecessarily.

What are the Advantages of an ERP System?

The key advantage is you input the data once and it is allowed to flow seamlessly through your business so that the relevant people can see and use any information they need at any time. Other advantages are;

• An integrated system
• The opportunity to streamline processes and workflows
• Easily share information across all departments in your organisation
• Improve efficiency and productivity
• Better tracking and forecasting
• Lower costs
• Improved customer service and great customer retention.

Can they be set up to accommodate remote workers?

Yes, most suppliers recognise the need to support your remote workers.

Are hosted versions available?

Yes. For help finding a supplier call us on 01787 282228.

What should you think about when considering an ERP solution?

Although a degree of customisation is offered with ERP systems it may be limited. If your business processes require a great deal of customisation the cost to achieve this may outweigh the benefits.

Alternatively, you may need to re-engineer some of your business processes to fit the system.

It is worth weighing up the cost to install and maintain an ERP system versus the alternatives, look for a solution that has been developed specifically for your type of business to reduce costs.

Ensure that the level of technical support you require is provided.

If you are likely to diversify in the near future be sure you are considering the right system to accommodate your future plans.

Summary

If your business processes are standard for your industry sector and your core business is unlikely to change in the near future an ERP solution is a worthwhile consideration. There are hundreds of solutions ranging from a few modules through to very comprehensive systems that include a module for every department in your organisation. To discuss your specific needs please call us on 01787 282228.