Are you wondering if you need an ERP system? ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software could be the answer to all your business problems. To illustrate the variety of issues ERP solutions can tackle, take a look at these five common problems and how ERP can solve them.
1) Your business efficiency is suffering due to poor communication
Does your business suffer from poor communication between its different departments?
When employees fail to pass on information effectively, negative outcomes can include lost orders, customers not receiving calls back and even sales falling through. An ERP system helps you avoid such missed opportunities.
ERP unites all business functions, becoming the one piece of software into which all information is input and processed.
With ERP, you can rest assured that there will be no delay before key information reaches the relevant parties. The time between the completion of one business task and the next is kept to the absolute minimum.
A good example of this is the process of fulfilling a customer order. With a system like De Facto ERP, the input of a sales order will immediately trigger an alert for your warehousing team, who can then instantly pick and ship the order.
2) Many of your processes involve time-consuming manual data entry or repetitive tasks
As your company expands, your employees will no doubt become busier than ever before.
Manual data entry and processes become even more error-prone and time-consuming when carried out on a larger scale.
Reduce the amount of time
spent on manual data entry
For example, your accounting team may spend a large portion of their time typing up data for sales invoices and cross-referencing spread sheets. As with all manual processes, one minor typing error or a misread figure could result in major negative consequences.
An ERP system can combat both of these issues.
Enterprise Resource Planning software automates tasks, reducing the likelihood of mistakes and freeing up your employees’ time to get on with other work. For example, De Facto ERP can generate sales orders, invoices and financial forecasts automatically.
3) Disparate, standalone software systems are making business procedures unnecessarily complicated
When your sales reps are using one software package, your accounting team another and your warehousing staff yet another, processes become excessively complicated and time-consuming.
For example, if somebody in sales neglects to notify the warehousing team of their latest order, stock control staff will not have the up-to-the-minute information necessary to ensure that there is sufficient stock to complete the order.
With ERP software, all information is entered into one single database. This centralisation of information means everyone can access the very latest data exactly when they require it.
No longer is there a need to update multiple systems or take up precious time forwarding email after email: solutions like De Facto ERP automatically inform all the relevant people, adding them to the ‘distribution’ list for that record.
As an additional benefit, because all aspects of the company are run on one piece of software – rather than several disparate systems – this minimises the need for software upgrades.
4) You wish you knew more about your customers
How well do you really know your customer base? Without an ERP system to keep track of customer records, it may be difficult to serve your customers as well as you could.
Software such as De Facto ERP comes with a built-in CRM (Customer Relationship Management) module, allowing employees to keep records of transactions and communications against each customer.
Improve sales by getting to know your customers better
Storing this data in a single database gives you the power to allow any employee, no matter which department, to access this information when dealing with a specified customer.
The transaction history is a particularly useful feature, opening up opportunities for cross-selling or up-selling,
Equipped with ERP, your company is empowered to better serve the needs of its customers and improve profitability.
5) You are unable to attain accurate answers to big questions, preventing you from making better business decisions
The more information you can access about your company – and the more recent and therefore useful this data is – the easier it will be to make good business decisions.
With all costs, sales figures and marketing data being inputted into one system, ERP enables you to gain up-to-the-minute insights into your business at any time.
De Facto ERP’s business intelligence module allows you to run scheduled or on-demand reports based on any data within the system. These reports can be interactive, tabular, graphical, geographical or free-form.
Generate business intelligence
reports at any time
These reports have a variety of useful applications. For example, you might run a report to discover what customer type tends to become a repeat buyer. With this information, you can better target your marketing and improve the profitability of your business.
With ERP, you can gain answers not only to your questions but to your customers’ queries too. With all the necessary data being accessible in one central system, your sales reps will be able to give precise answers to questions like ‘When can you complete my order by?’ because they will have the up-to-the-minute stock level information required to provide an accurate response.
Improve your business today
Implementing an ERP system will transform the way your company operates in so many ways and this blog post has outlined only five. Because an ERP system enables you to solve multiple issues with only one software solution, it is a cost-effective way to eradicate any problems your business may be facing.
To find out more about De Facto’s ERP solutions and how they can help your business reach its full potential, browse the ERP section on our website. Alternatively, contact us today and request a call back to discuss the options available.
About the team behind this blog post
De Facto Software's ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) development team specialises in software systems that make your business more efficient. Find out more about our ERP software.