Logistics companies deal with some of the most challenging business solutions in the world. Deliveries are highly unpredictable, ordering can make the financial side of the business extremely complex and if you have a lot of clients, keeping strong relationships is its own unique challenge.
Find out more about what ERP software is, some of the main challenges that logistics companies deal with and how using ERP platforms effectively can resolve these issues and drive your company to reach its full potential.
What is ERP software?
ERP software, or Enterprise Resource Planning software, refers to a series of systems and services that companies use when planning the way that they use their resources for the upcoming period. The resources in question include labour hours that people spend in the workplace, the physical resources that the company uses in its space and the financial assets that the company has available.
An ERP platform pulls information about all of these factors into one cohesive space, helping managers to make decisions around spending, production and procurement in the company’s future.
Challenges of Working in Logistics
Working in the logistics space comes with its own unique challenges that a lot of other organisations don’t have to face. Some of the main issues that working in logistics presents include:
Delivery Complexities
One of the main things that a logistics company deals with is deliveries, but these are never quite as reliable as someone might hope for. Issues like traffic, vehicle breakdowns or even bad weather can lead to inconsistencies in the flow of resources throughout a company.
These complications can lead to customers in the future being upset or unhappy with the way that the business is running, stopping them from returning to the business for their future purchases and potentially impacting the company’s reputation.
Poor KPI Tracking
Key performance indicators, or KPIs, are core metrics that companies use to track the way that the organisation is working. These include units that a company processes, customer satisfaction percentages and product availability rates for all the goods a business has available. Being unable to track all this information means that companies risk making uninformed decisions and following the wrong development path in the future.
Losing Track of Resources
Resources are all that matters for a modern company. If you know where your resources are, when you can access your resources and the project that all of the resources are put to one side for, then you don’t risk making mistakes. However, when a business loses track of the resources that it has available, there is a risk of spending more money than it has available. This causes financial issues and projects slowing down, ultimately preventing the business from performing properly.
Benefits of ERP for Logistics Businesses
Effectively using Enterprise Resource Planning provides your company with a range of benefits, whether the business works in logistics or a range of other industries. Some of the main advantages of using ERP, especially in logistics, include:
Greater Efficiency
Efficiency is a fundamental part of a business running properly, referring to the proportion of materials that are used effectively. If a bakery is making a cake and only uses half of its ingredients in products that it sells, its efficiency is 50%.
With the sheer access to data that an effective ERP provides, you can see the efficiency levels of all the processes that a company works with and see the sources of these inefficiencies. Effective managers then address those concerns and put the company back on the right track before there is any harm done to the organisation’s productive capacity.
Vehicle Tracking
Knowing when deliveries are due to arrive is one of the biggest concerns that a logistics company has, as it needs to know when to have employees ready to process all of the deliveries that come in. Thankfully, a range of ERP services allows companies to have comprehensive vehicle tracking technology, knowing where their deliveries are and when they need to prepare to get to work on-site.
This is also a big advantage for companies like haulage businesses, as they can keep clients informed in addition to having their own insights.
Advanced Analytics
Analysis is an increasingly important part of how companies around the world are operating. With AI and smart technology becoming more prevalent in homes and companies globally, more and more data is being produced. This provides people with plenty of opportunities to build solutions for their workplace and find interesting advantages over the competition.
One example of this for logistics companies is in tracking seasonal demands and any major shifts in the way that people want products. Using this further knowledge helps businesses to have all the stock they need at all times, avoiding any risks to business stability and continuity.
Financial Planning
Financial planning is a complex process, and something that a lot of people avoid because of how daunting the task can appear. After all, making a mistake in manual financial projections can be a serious issue that affects your budgeting for years to come.
ERP platforms are designed to handle financial challenges, balancing your incomings, outgoings and even future payments such as accounts receivable. This results in a more cohesive look at your financial situation, letting you plan with more certainty and structure your business in a way that is more functional in the future.
Removed Bottlenecks
Bottlenecks refer to when a company has issues with its processes slowing down as a result of one part of the company working more slowly than the rest. For example, if a business has a manufacturing plant separate from its packaging facility and requires the use of roads to move goods between the two, in a traffic job those roads are a clear bottleneck.
Using ERP platforms means that you have an overview of all of your processes and where they are slower, allowing you to take action to remove the bottlenecks and increase the company’s production speed and efficiency.
Why Choose Eventura to Help Deliver your Sage 200 Project?
With two decades of Sage deployments under our belt, we are experts in delivering robust Sage 200 solutions that are meticulously designed to suit your specific business needs. We take a full 360-degree view of your business, and help you identify all of your requirements.
We have particular expertise in helping industries such as manufacturing, construction and warehousing and distribution, where we have helped create bespoke solutions that tackle industry specific needs.
Our team of expert business analysts, developers, consultants, technicians and support staff will guide you through your Sage 200 project from conception, through to deployment and ongoing support.
If you would like to speak with one of our Sage 200 experts, you can request a free call back here.
