When you’re running a growing business, there are a lot of things that you need to consider. Not only are there more and more divisions to manage, but your processes get increasingly complex and it can be a struggle to plan company finances in advance. That’s where using Enterprise Resource Planning platforms can save your organisation time and money. Learn more about what ERP software is and some of the many ways it can help your business to make better decisions and save time and money.
What is Enterprise Resource Planning Software?
Enterprise Resource Planning software, or ERP platforms, are packages of software that companies use to get more control over their resources and the way they make decisions. These pull all of your company’s information into one place, including payroll data, sales information and inventory statistics, keeping them up to date in real-time and helping to automate a variety of tasks. There are lots of different ERP vendors offering differing software, with some specifically designed for industries that have unique needs.
9 Ways ERP Can Save Your Business Time & Money
There are plenty of ways that ERP software helps companies to save time and money, with some of the most significant including:
Cutting Operational Costs Through Greater Efficiency
Tasks take a lot less time when making use of ERP software. Employees don’t need to spend their time transferring data from one source to another, instead, it is all in one place ready to be analysed and worked with. Labour costs fall as a result, with people being much more efficient in the workplace.
Greater Communication
Communication across departments becomes a lot simpler when you make full use of ERP software. Not only is the data collated into one place, but there are some platforms that include messaging systems. Tasks that require people from all across the organisation are much simpler in this case, as advice and guidance are just a simple message away rather than needing to go through management to work in tandem with other staff members.
Better Supply Chain Management
Companies that use ERP software have a much better view of their supply chains. They have a rundown of what they buy, when it arrives and what it costs, helping the organisation to plan later steps in the process. Furthermore, understanding your supply chain means that you can see financial inefficiencies, and have the option of buying products from other sources in order to save money and improve the company’s performance.
Better Customer Relationship Management
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a term that describes the way a company interacts with its customers and clients. CRM involves keeping track of the purchases that clients have made in the past and conversations that the company has had with them, in order to deliver a much more efficient and personalised solution. This not only saves time at the start of customer support calls but encourages more loyalty to the business whilst offering potential upsell and cross selling opportunities.
Centralising Business Functions
ERP pulls all of the roles that a business completes into one place. This is referred to as “centralisation”, and means that management staff in the business have a significant advantage over companies without ERP. They can see all of the processes taking place, spotting inefficiencies and acting on them. In the largest companies, this reactiveness to ongoing issues can save millions of pounds that can then be reinvested into vital sectors of the company to make more money than before.
Software Licence Cost Savings
Some companies have different software for each individual function that the company completes, such as having accounting software that is separate from inventory tracking or customer relations. All of these subscriptions and licences cost the company money, which starts to rack up and become more expensive than simply paying for a single ERP platform. This is one of the simplest forms of efficiency saving and one that companies around the world can benefit from, with simplification of spending always being one potential avenue to cut down on expenses.
Intelligent Purchasing
ERP software is the perfect tool for making your purchasing more intelligent. Companies need to have a constant flow of products to sell, and by running out of goods you can find yourself paying over the odds to get resources in an emergency. By better planning and automating your processes, you can make sure that your organisation orders products when it needs them and has a constant supply. The days of overspending on panic orders or missing sales opportunities due to stock shortages are over with ERP involved.
Courier Integration
Once you ship an order, it can be easy to start worrying about the progress of a courier. That’s where ERP software that has courier integration is a must. You know when a product is due, when it was picked up and even sometimes the name of the courier, depending on the level of integration your platform has. This transparency can give you a lot more confidence in your deliveries.
Control Over Invoices
Accounts receivable and invoices to and from suppliers can get incredibly complex. By using ERP software, most of your outgoings and incomings get automated. You reduce a lot of the space for human error in accounting processes whilst speeding up the way that a company pays and gets paid. This can have a significant positive impact on cashflow.
Why choose Eventura as your ERP implementation partner?
Eventura has been providing robust business solutions to countless organisations (big and small) for over two decades. We are ERP experts and can identify all of your business needs, and deliver a comprehensive ERP solution that works for you.
As Sage 200 Partners and NetSuite Solution Providers, we can help you identify which solution will fit your business needs the best. Our expert team of business analysts, developers, consultants, technicians and support staff can guide you through your entire project, from initial scoping through to implementation and on-going support.
We’re also managed IT service providers meaning we can help you identify your entire IT infrastructure requirements from day one. If you would like to speak to one of our ERP experts to discuss your options or request a free demo, you can request a free call back here.
