ERP systems are the heart of most organizations in today’s digitally driven marketplace. Unfortunately, even though these systems are extremely valuable to their business, organizations often hang on to their outdated systems too long. For various reasons, companies don’t want to make the switch to a more robust system, they instead choose the path of making the necessary updates to their existing system. While the cost and hassle of implementing a new ERP system may be holding you back from upgrading, it is important to know the weaknesses of your outdated system could be causing more damage. Here are some signs your ERP is outdated and what the impact could be on your business.
- Use of spreadsheets for tracking. When your organization starts tracking inventory on a spreadsheet instead of within your ERP system, they are introducing the risk of loss and error with your data. This is also creating multiple sources that will need consulted for information, versus just one when this information is instead imputed into your ERP.
- Overspending on IT. Outdated ERP solutions need fixes to continue to function properly. Every time you call a solution provider for a fix, it is costing you money. The longer you keep your outdated system, the more money you are sinking into it. Which is essentially throwing money away since your ERP is still going to need replaced.
- Too much lag time. The whole goal of a modern-day ERP is to enhance employee productivity and business output, so when using a system that is too outdated to perform these tasks, it is costing your business time and money. ERP systems are designed to speed up the way business is done, not slow it down.
- Multiple applications for 1 job. Today’s ERP solutions are designed with the idea in mind to create one centralized, integrated system. If your ERP system is causing your employees to run multiple applications to get a job done, they are not being as effective as possible. If you can cut down on the amount of applications your employees use, it will increase their productivity level and reduce errors.
- Manual invoice creation. One of the many improvements of ERP solutions today is streamlining the billing process. It integrates service, parts, and expenses to make getting invoices out and collecting the cash easier. If you are manually creating invoices, you are pulling the information from various sources, again allowing for errors and a slower process.
- Report creation. One of the trends with ERP solutions now is the ability to create dashboards to display the information and reports you commonly use. If you are noticing your team is creating new reports in excel each week because your ERP system isn’t getting the job done, this is a big sign its time to upgrade your system. Anytime you are creating manual entry and extra work for your employees, you are sacrificing their valuable time and productivity.
- Offline Components. Traditional ERP systems are on premise, so the infrastructure is kept on site at your company. These traditional ERP systems are set up so that multiple aspects of the system are offline. Cloud-based ERP systems give your company the ability to remain online at all times, improving your flexibility and agility in the marketplace and allows you to be competitive. Cloud-based systems also allow for employees to work from any location, at any time. Remote access to information from anywhere eliminates any downtime or delayed decisions from taking place.
- Both clients and users are frustrated. Modern ERP systems allow users to give their clients the information they need within a minute or 2, whether they are in the office or on the go. On premise ERP systems don’t have the ability to do this. If a user is out of the office, the client has to wait until they get back in the office to get the information they requested. This causes clients to get frustrated, and may eventually cause them to look for a partner they deem easier to work with. Your staff members may also frustrated with the slow, aging system and may eventually get too fed up with it, they choose to look elsewhere for employment.
As you can tell, there are many signs and symptoms that show face when your ERP system is outdated. The key is to not ignore these signs and what they are telling you. If you are facing issues with your ERP system, it is time to meet with a solution provider to discuss what the best options for your ERP system and your organization may be. 2W Tech is proud to be a Certified Epicor partner and would be happy to discuss how Epicor ERP can fit into your organization and eliminate some of the technology holes you are currently facing.
Read more:
The ERP Sins of Manufacturing
Selecting the Right ERP Consultant