Implementing ERP Systems Benefits

1. Cost Savings

The biggest value proposition of ERP systems is that they can save your organization money in several ways. By automating many simple, repetitive tasks, you minimize errors and the need to add employees at the same rate as business growth. Cross-company visibility makes it easier to spot inefficiencies that drive up costs and leads to better deployment of all resources, from labor to inventory to equipment. And with cloud ERP, companies may quickly see incremental value from the software, over and above what they’re spending.

2. Workflow Visibility

With all workflows and information in one place, employees with access to the system can see the status of projects and the performance of different business functions relevant to their jobs. This visibility may be particularly valuable to managers and leaders, and it’s far faster and easier than searching for the right documents and constantly asking colleagues for updates.

3. Reporting and Analytics

Data is useful only if companies can analyze and understand it; an ERP helps with that. Leading solutions have impressive reporting and analytics tools that allow users to track KPIs and display any metrics or comparisons they can dream up. Since an ERP is all-encompassing, it can help a business understand how a change or problem with a process in one department affects the rest of the company.

4. Centralized Data

Because ERPs can access real-time data across the company, these systems can uncover impactful trends and provide extensive business insights. This leads to better decision-making by organizational leaders who now have easy access to all relevant data.

5. Regulatory Compliance

Financial reporting standards and governmental and industry-specific data security regulations change frequently, and an ERP can help your company stay safe and compliant. An ERP provides an audit trail by tracking the lifecycle of each transaction, including adherence to required approval workflows. Businesses may also reduce the chance of errors and related compliance snafus with automation. ERP software provides financial reports that comply with standards and regulations, and SaaS applications are well-equipped to help companies with PCI-DSS compliance.

6. Risk Management through Mobility

ERP technology reduces risk in a few ways. Granular access control and defined approval workflows can strengthen financial controls and reduce fraud. Additionally, more accurate data prevents mistakes that could lead to lost sales or fines. And finally, the ability to see the status of the entire operation enables employees to quickly handle risks posed by business disruptions.

7. Data Security

ERP providers understand that your system houses critical, sensitive data and take necessary steps to ensure it is secure. This diligence is more important than ever as the volume and scale of cyberattacks increase. Vendor-managed cloud ERP software, particularly, uses cutting-edge security protocols to ensure your company doesn’t fall victim to a damaging attack.

8. Increased Productivity

Employees are most effective when they work together. ERP solutions make it easy to share information — like purchase orders, contracts, and customer-support records — among teams. It knocks down walls between departments by giving employees appropriate access to real-time data on related business functions.

9. Scalability

The right ERP system will be scalable and flexible enough to meet your company’s needs today and for the foreseeable future. Cloud systems adapt to minor and major operational changes even as the amount of data the organization captures and the demand for access increase.

10. Flexibility

While ERP software helps businesses follow best practices, it also offers the flexibility to support unique processes and objectives. The system allows administrators to build company-specific workflows and create automatic reports important to different departments and executives. An ERP enhances your organization’s innovation and creativity.

11. Customer Service and Partner Management

An ERP can strengthen a company’s partner and customer relationships. It can provide insights on suppliers, shipping carriers and service providers, with the cloud enabling even better, more convenient information exchange. Regarding customers, the solution can track survey responses, support tickets, returns and more so the organization can focus on customer satisfaction.

12. Forecasting

Finance and FP&A departments are pressured to develop accurate forecasts in response to evolving conditions. Such dynamic financial forecasting empowers organizations to quickly adjust plans based on real-time data and new insights. Seamless synchronization between your ERP and planning and budgeting systems empowers finance teams to easily seed actuals and information in daily planning and forecasts, eliminating the need for departments to coordinate and consolidate offline.

Regularly review your current technology and ask: Is our technology helping — or holding us back? When outdated or inadequate systems introduce inefficiencies, muddy the data waters or can’t support changes the business wants to make, it’s time to look for a new solution. Inaccurate data is another sign it’s time for your first or a new ERP system. If your data is unreliable, you can’t trust the reports and insights it produces — and that’s a big problem.