Businesses have to manage a lot of data and it can often get pretty difficult to keep track of it all, particularly if a centralized system is not being used. Various business departments have their own data requirements, they process it differently and have their own data models that they follow.
If it’s not all being fed into a centralized system, it can create a lot of friction between the different departments. Suddenly, collaboration takes a hit, as people end up having to spend more time sorting through the different data sets in order to access the information that they require.
There are also many mundane back-office tasks that can be automated, this helps improve efficiency and ensures that your business is able to extract the most value out of its employees’ time
What is Enterprise Resource Planning?
Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP software is designed with this express purpose in mind. It’s meant to reduce this friction between the different departments in an organization. At its core, ERP software is an integrated software suite that enables businesses to use apps to manage and automate many different business functions.
It was the Gartner Group that actually came up with the term Enterprise Resource Planning. This new word was coined so that the focus could be kept entirely on the new digital solutions that enabled businesses to effectively share data between departments, control inventory, manage supply chain relations, automate accounting tasks, and more.
There are several different types of ERP implementation that businesses can opt for, depending upon their needs. An on-premise implementation means that the ERP software is deployed directly on the devices that are present on the premises.
Most businesses also prefer cloud-based ERP solutions as they offer more mobility. Others have found their sweet spot with hybrid implementations which includes a mix of both on-premise and cloud-based deployment.
11 ways ERP services can help your business
A robust Enterprise Resource Planning software will enable your company to meet a wide range of business challenges that would otherwise require either the hiring of a significant number of resources to handle the tasks on outsourcing on a large scale. Both of these solutions are often not suitable for many companies.
- Reduces Fragmentation
One of the fundamental benefits of an ERP solution is that it unifies many of the systems that your organization uses. Reducing fragmentation of the systems that your employees rely on is key to improving efficiency and further streamlining processes.
Whether they need to quickly look up inventory before ordering additional materials or study the production plan, your staff will be able to do all of that from one centralized system. This will make them more efficient and that will lead to increased efficiency across the entire organization. - Saves Money
Initially, it might seem that paying for an ERP solution is too big of an investment. However, once you move beyond the initial sticker shock, you will come to realize that this suite of integrated applications can actually help you save money in the long run.
You no longer have to train employees on different systems, delegated employees to deal with different vendors and no longer have to make system upgrades for each individual system. - Enhanced Analytics
What's the biggest benefit of having a centralized location for all of the data? It allows for more enhanced analytics. An ERP solution is going to record and store all of the data input from across the organization.
It effectively serves as a robust business intelligence tool as employees are able to generate detailed reports within seconds, reports that would otherwise take a lot of time to compile, particularly if data had to be gathered from different departments manually. - Better Inventory Management
Tracking expanding inventory levels remains a significant challenge for businesses. It's vital for sufficient inventory levels to be maintained otherwise the entire supply chain could come tumbling down.
ERP solutions can utilize technologies like RFID tags, serial numbers and barcodes to improve inventory monitoring. If your business has multiple warehouses, the centralized system will be able to display inventory levels across all locations, show which items are in transportation and which items need to be restocked. - Improved Customer Service
It’s very important for businesses to provide exceptional customer service. They run the risk of losing repeat business from existing customers. ERP solutions can help in this aspect as well since they come with a customer relationship management tool. An integrated CRM will help your sales team provide better customer service.
- Reduce Risk
Data is everything in the digital age which means that it's also at risk. There's no shortage of bad actors out there that are looking to gain unauthorized access to data. If your business operates online then it's data is at risk. ERP solutions include risk management tools which can be utilized to perform security audits. - Better Collaboration Between Departments
Internal communication becomes absolutely necessary as a business grows. Different departments need to collaborate with each other seamlessly in order to ensure that all of the business goals are being met.
This is even more important for businesses that have offices and resources across the globe. Any miscommunication between teams can lead to unnecessary business disruptions and that's best avoided. ERP solutions include communication tools that can power instant internal communication. - Accounting And Payroll Management
Financial matters need to be handled with the utmost care, even more so if you have a large organization that employs hundreds or thousands of employees. In that case, manual accounting and payroll management is simply out of the question.
Even for smaller organizations, the accounting and payroll management modules of a custom ERP system can help significantly streamline this important business process. - Scalability
A custom ERP solution can be structured and scalable, in that it would be possible to increase the number of users and functions as your organization grows. You don't have to pay for the service and functionality for thousands of users initially, ERP systems can easily be scaled up as and when required. - Regulatory Compliance
Your business doesn't want to be on the regulators' bad side. There's no avoiding the fact that your business will have to deal with regulators and ensure compliance. This can often be a tedious process and if something is not done right, there's always the risk of being penalized.
An ERP system can help keep track of industry regulations and also to monitor any changes in compliance. This aids in the overall risk management for the business and allows the organization to quickly adapt should the regulatory environment change. This ensures that you never find yourself not being compliant with the rules, thereby reducing the risk of being penalized for something that could have been avoided. - Fully Customizable Solution
One of the biggest advantages of an ERP solution is that it can be fully customized to your organization. It doesn’t need to be an off-the-shelf solution, so you’ll never be paying for features or integrations that have no use in your line of work.
With a fully customized solution, you will have the peace of mind that the solution that you have paid for has been developed specifically with your business needs in mind. This thus provides a greater return on the investment that you make for this integrated suite.
Get the ERP services you need
If you're looking to have a custom Enterprise Resource Planning system developed, Zibtek is going to be the perfect partner for your project. It's highly experienced in developing ERP solutions that help businesses modernize their operational and financial processes.
Based in Utah, Zibtek is one of the world's leading software development companies. It has worked with Fortune 500 companies and startups alike, enabling them to accelerate their business growth with its leading ERP platforms.
Zibtek has a team of expert ERP developers that can create highly customized systems for your organization, enabling it to minimize manual tasks and increase automation in order to achieve higher efficiency. The solutions are developed with a centralized architecture and various different integrations that help improve business workflows and reduce costs.
In addition to the resources that it has in the United States, Zibtek also manages a truly global pool of ERP developers that can provide custom ERP services to improve financial management tasks like reporting and forecasting, create platforms for KPI tracking and predictive analysis, improve data accuracy, and more.
Zibtek can also be a very valuable partner if your organization already has an ERP system in place. Its developers are highly skilled at upgrading old ERP systems to bring them more in line with modern solutions that have more powerful integrations. The existing system can indeed be salvaged so the investment that you made into having it developed doesn’t all need to go to waste.
Interested in having a custom ERP solution developed for your business? Whether you're a startup or a multi-national company with vastly different needs, reach out to the team at Zibtek today and learn more about how they can help your business grow.