Fatihah Ramzi, DigitalCFO Asia | 25 July 2022
ERP is a beneficial centralized platform that can manage all of the critical operations that keeps an organization running.
There are so many unexpected external obstacles that plague businesses nowadays. The ability of an organization to respond rapidly and economically to changes in real time determines whether it can successfully manage the opportunities and risks of today’s constantly shifting environment. An organization can be both proactive and nimble to internal and external changes with the help of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
An ERP is a centralized platform that can manage all of the critical operations that keeps an organization running, including finance, accounting, supply chains, inventories, and even duties like scheduling. ERP software protects all of a company’s important data in one secure, arranged, and reachable location. The business only needs one program to keep track of all the operating elements if they have an ERP in place. With a spreadsheet, nothing will be overlooked. The ERP provides businesses with a thorough picture of their daily business operations.
Digitization Of Value Chains
The digital value chain links suppliers to promote smooth procurement, production, and delivery and combines sequential operations with prior and following steps. It also increases visibility by adding real-time data into processes. With their vast capabilities, today’s ERP systems can eliminate internal silos and enable the management of all company activities through a “single source of truth.” Every organization is different, so a “one size fits all” approach is ineffective. The ability to customize ERP systems gives users the tools to add to, create, deploy, and manage processes and data from a variety of business applications.
The ERP system may be able to import data from different sources thanks to its configurability and connection. Without logging in and contacting other systems, users can get machine data, transport data and more through screens within the ERP system. The system, however, can assist businesses in advancing their connectivity by enabling companies to take advantage of customer order history, forecasts, social data, as well as product sensor data. This will enable businesses to manage a demand-driven supply chain and proactive scheduling of maintenance or other follow-up actions.
Real-time Data Access And Analytics
Organizations currently produce enormous volumes of data, but very little of it is really analyzed, and when it is, it is frequently not in real-time but rather with a spreadsheet tool. Spreadsheets are still utilized to analyze and guide some operations even if they do not communicate and offer multiple perspectives on the truth. Data can be retrieved from various sources and systems used throughout the company and analyzed in real-time with the correct ERP system. The setting up of user and role-specific dashboards enables regular monitoring of performance and costs.
The big question in analytics should be “what’s the relevance?” due to its ability to acquire enormous amounts of data. Before creating reports and dashboards, consider the “what” and the “why.” Monitoring is also necessary for the “what” and “why,” as these questions may have been pertinent yesterday, but today’s development may have added a new dimension that may require the inclusion of new fields to some reports and dashboards (rather than creating additional reports).
The time formerly spent gathering data and compiling reports is reduced by the capacity to access data and give analytics in real-time, freeing up that time for planning and strategic decision-making.
Scalability And Flexibility
Scalability is the ability of an ERP system to handle a growing volume of work and support expansion. The system’s ability to adapt to changes in internal workflows, outside influences, and the capacity to access new capabilities when requirements shift is referred to as flexibility.
An ERP system that is adaptable and expandable may manage many languages, currencies, laws, multiple corporate sites, and accounting standards in one system, enabling future growth and legal compliance. Organizations should be able to install the essential features for today while still having access to more advanced features “tomorrow” without having to make disruptive or expensive upgrades. Last but not least, it should be used on a variety of platforms to give the organization and its workers mobility and flexibility.
Business productivity will undoubtedly improve when they have an ERP that ties in with their sales, operations, and accounting processes in one spot. The team can concentrate on client interactions, scalability, and growth when manual data tasks are eliminated. To be competitive and technologically advanced, businesses will eventually need to implement an ERP system.
