How do you know if your business is ready for enterprise resource planning (ERP) software?
Are there indicators that your operation needs one combined IT system to help it flourish in a competitive market? How can you be sure when you should make the investment? Thankfully, there are giveaway signs for any company director that new software is needed to help their operation realise its full potential.
Here is a list of five pointers which suggest that your business requires an ERP system to help support its ongoing growth.
1. You’re struggling to deliver what you can sell
If your company is struggling to keep up with orders because of the current in-house systems are slow, it is a sign that you need an ERP system – and fast, before you get a reputation for failing to deliver on your promises.
A more up to date, effective inventory management system can help your company ensure it has the right stock available to send out in a timely fashion to customers. With separate IT systems for different parts of the business, often what has been promised to customers ends up at odds with what can actually be delivered.
Implementing an ERP system means everyone has up-to-date information about exactly what is in your company’s stock room or warehouse, what can be produced and what can be delivered. The software also allows orders to be carefully watched from booking through production to delivery, ensuring a smooth process from start to finish.
2. You’re feel the business isn’t running smoothly
Maybe sales appear divorced from your inventory, which in turn is poles apart from your customer services team. Perhaps everyone works on a different computer system and these systems don’t communicate well with each other, if at all.
It might be that employees are spending vital time inputting data manually into spreadsheets and day-to-day operations are suffering as a result. If any of these scenarios are the case, it is time to streamline your business and bring all departments under one smooth ERP system.
3. You want data on how your growing business is performing now – not in an end-of-month or end-of-quarter report
Finding out exactly the position of your company can be tricky when you’re juggling several different spreadsheets in an attempt to keep up with sales, orders and your inventory. If you are struggling to keep track of where your operation is, it is time to consider an ERP system.
An appropriate ERP system will give you instant access to all your information in real time, allowing for up-to-date decision making. The bottom line is that good ERP software facilitates an easy flow of data to the people who make decisions, giving greater control of the day-to-day running of a business and enabling the firm to run as efficiently as possible.
4. Your business is too reliant on you
A good sign that it’s time to implement ERP systems is if you, often the founder or director of your business, are pouring in too many hours across a variety of roles. While bringing in a new system will not magically solve your problems, it can help to organise and streamline your operation, making it work for you and freeing up your time to make strategic plans or to focus on business development.
If your IT is run by one well-constructed central system it will free up the time spent dealing with different software and ease the pressure, allowing you to concentrate on what really benefits your bottom line.
5. You’re getting ready to go global
Your business has managed to meet demand in the domestic market and carve itself a niche, but in the modern, global economy your outdated systems can get found out. To meet world demand for your products, delivery in a timely and cost-effective manner is vital.
The key to this is an ERP solution which marries up all the systems involved in your supply chain. If your operation has one system it can smoothly meet demand for your products and help build a customer base internationally.
Statii Can Help You Carry Your Business Forward
If you feel your company is ready to take the step into ERP software, Statii has an excellent solution for you. Using our real world experience in engineering and manufacturing we have created, with the help of our expert computer programmers, an easy to use and affordable ERP system which can revolutionise your company. Our aim is to provide an affordable and realistic solution for your business to help you realise your potential in a competitive global market place.