Think You Don't Need an ERP System, Think Again
The New Year means time to think back and reflect on decisions and actions over the last 12 months. What are you going to do different this year? Are you a small to midsize manufacturing company that does not yet have an ERP system installed at your organization? The reality is there are many organizations that think they can properly run their business using spreadsheets. The truth is, no operation is simple enough anymore for that to hold true. If the complex nature of your business isn’t enough to convince you that the new year should bring a new ERP system for your organization, here are some more reasons:
- Real-time information. Relying just on spreadsheets causes your employees to operate blind. They can make bad decisions based on guesswork and outdated information because they don’t have access to real-time information. Think of how much time you spend waiting to gather the necessary information you need to make a decision, all of that is wasted time. Your organization should strive for answering any questions asked of you by customers or co-workers instantaneously.
- Best practices. The reason many ERP vendors specialize in certain industries, is to be able to give their clients the best version of the software they could use within their organization to implement best practices. ERP systems have the ability to be customized to further give your organization what they would need in way of information and record keeping. ERP systems standardize how information is both imputed and outputed.
- Improved visibility. In this day and age, custom orders are just as common as off the shelf products. When customers order a product, they instantly want to know ship data. In order for an organization to give a proper date, they need to have real-time information to in-stock parts, allocated labor, etc…It also helps with making sure your operation is running as efficiently as possible by providing insight on production levels, production time and other insights into employee productivity.
- Better operational efficiency. When you properly plan production more effectively, your operations cost and production times will decrease. Better information can help you control and manage your costs. When you have a tool to balance your supply and demand, you are able to reduce your inventory without affecting your customers.
- Accuracy. One of the dangers of using excel spreadsheets and doing manual inventory is the increased human errors being made. ERP systems are designed to offer checks and balances, so mistakes don’t go unrealized. They also cut out redundancy that spreadsheets can cause in providing duplicate information. When you have accurate records, you have better scheduling, leading to shorter lead times.
These may seem like basic reasons to implement an ERP system, and they are. Successful organizations should master the basics and then build from there. If you are an organization that does not have an ERP system yet installed, your best years may be yet to come. 2W Tech is a certified Epicor ERP partner and would be happy to discuss if this system would be a good fit for your organization.
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