In this modern era, the use of trending technologies like ERP solutions is a must for an enterprise both for survival and to run circles around its competitors. Luckily, if you are yet to utilize ERP technologies for your enterprise, it’s never too late. That’s because we are still at the beginning stage of technological trends. But the question remains how should you use an ERP system in your company to get the best results out of it? How can you make the investment worth it? Well, we will try to find the answer to that in this post today.

At least 40% of all businesses will die in the next 10 years… if they don’t figure out how to change their entire company to accommodate new technologies.

John Chambers, Executive Chairman, Cisco Systems

However, when you are streamlining your enterprise with ERP tools, you need to keep several things on your mind to get the most out of your ERP investment. In today’s post, we will reveal how to use ERP software to get the most out of it. Now, let’s jump right into it. But before that let us tell you a bit about the qualities that make a good ERP system.

What Makes up a Good ERP System

If you are planning to implement an ERP solution in your business for the first time, you might as well need to understand what makes up a solid ERP system before anything else. This is how you could determine what type of ERP system you need to implement before investing in the whole ERP system.

A capable ERP system ensures you with a way to streamline business processes across departments and cut out redundancies. These systems work best when they are tailored to the company’s specific needs, making them highly customizable.

Beyond providing a better customer experience, ERP systems can help companies with their compliance obligations, allowing them to track and report on any hazardous substances they handle quickly.

A good ERP system is considered a software system that integrates all the key business functions of an organization. It is used in many industries, and it can be customized to suit the needs of different companies. A reliable Enterprise Resource Planning solution should integrate with other systems, have a flexible design, and be cost-effective.

So as mentioned, before investing their hard-earned money, one should always keep in mind that an effective ERP system should enable businesses to maximize efficiency by streamlining processes between departments and eliminating redundancies.

If implemented correctly, this system would be something that can help you manage your business more effectively, improve customer service, increase productivity, reduce costs, and even make it easier to grow. However, not all systems are created equal—and the wrong one could actually be costing you money instead of saving it!

Types of ERP System

Now that you know what makes a suitable ERP solution, now it is important that you know the types of ERP to choose the right kind of ERP software for your business, as this will help with the success of your company. There are three main types of ERP systems:

1. On-premise
2. Cloud-based
3. Hybrid

You should also consider what industry you are in when choosing an ERP system as it may require specific features that may not be available in other solutions.

Why We Use ERP Software?

ERP software has been around for a while now and has been used in many industries. As discussed, it can be used to streamline all your processes by automating them. This will save you time and effort, which will allow you to focus on other key areas of your business. Here are some more reasons why we use ERP software:

• Business Automation: It is a software that manages and automates business processes. ERP is used for different reasons for different businesses.
• Inventory Management: It is used to track inventory, order mass products, send invoices, etc.
• Business Data at One Place: It provides a single platform for all business data.
• Saves Time and Money: It saves you time and money by automating data entry and offering single source of truth thus reducing errors.
• Enhanced Productivity: It makes your business more productive by simplifying and streamlining business processes.
• Edge Over Competitors: It gives you a competitive edge by helping you meet customer demands faster & better.
• Better and Easy Decision Making: It makes it easier to manage information flow, thus making it easier to take business decisions.
• All-In-One tool: It is an effective tool for managing finances, inventory and human resource.
• Increased Efficiency: Eliminate time consuming repetitive tasks and enable your staff to run your business more efficiently.
• Reduced Costs: By eliminating the need for costly manual procedures, ERP software can save you money. This is especially true is you have international operations.
• Improved Accuracy: With automated processes in place, you can be sure that your data is accurate and up to date.

How to Use ERP System for Best Return On Investment

To get the maximum return on your investment in ERP software, you want to make sure you are using it efficiently. An effective and efficient ERP solution will help increase operational efficiency and lower operational costs in the long run. Here are a few more ways you can use your ERP system to maximize the ROI.

Know your company needs

Irrespective of enterprise sizes, ERP tools are usually developed based on a one-size-fits-all approach. But there are a few ERP solutions out there that are intended to fit either small or medium or large enterprises separately. To make the best use of an ERP solution, you need to know your company size first.

You also need to analyze the ERP tool you want to purchase in detail so that you know whether it is scalable, affordable, and aligns with your enterprise’s needs.

Choose your vendor carefully

In order to maximize the utilities of an ERP system, it’s imperative to scrutinize your vendors. When choosing your vendor you need to compare him/her with others so that you come to know the vendor’s customer success rates, company cultures, post-sale services, and so on.

You should not prefer a vendor who offers a variety of features but skimps on providing proper customer support or post-sale services. You must consider choosing the appropriate vendor as a part of the software decision criteria.

Don’t stick to a poor ERP system just because of fear of change

It’s natural that humans will stick to their habits. When we have the habit to a particular system we don’t prefer to change that system easily. The same goes when you are reluctant to change your ERP system even though there is a better solution available out there.

If you find a better solution, don’t hesitate to streamline your enterprise with that one so that you can get the most out of your ERP system.

Assign different user roles based on designations

Will you go for an ERP tool that has access only to the admin and it doesn’t have any customized access control? A nifty ERP solution will arm you with all the necessary customized access options so that you can empower all your employees assigning users roles based on their designations.

This way you can better your management system to increase your enterprise’s productivity even more.

Compare the ROI of your ERP system with the existing system

The ROI from your existing system and the ROI of your newly installed ERP system should be monitored closely so that you can come to know which system works best for your enterprise. If the ROI of your new ERP system is lower than that of your existing manual system then you will have to find out if there is any pitfall inside the ERP tool.

Customize the platform to suit your business needs

It’s a very commonly raised question by many of the ERP seekers  – “Is the ERP solution open source or can I customize it according to our needs?”. The good news is that some ERP tools are open source and you can easily customize them to fit your business.

On the dark side, it may arise some trouble for the folks who own a little different type of business enterprise. For instance, an internet service provider business or a software development company which may vary from a typical enterprise like a superstore or a grocery shop. Thus, the customization feature should be a priority to leverage your ERP system.

Train up yourself and your employees if it requires

If your newly bought ERP software seems really hard for you and your team to operate then it’s time that you train yourself along with your teammates. Efficient use of an ERP system can ensure better utilization of your ERP tool. This is why it may require initial training or cross-training to get the fullest potential from your ERP software.

Note that if you provide necessary training to your employees upfront, it will be a cog in the machine since your employees will be able to build self-confidence and foster a positive perception of the solution that you are going to implement in your enterprise.

What to Do When Your ERP Software Not Working as Expected

Many enterprises complain that their ERP system is not working as they expect it to. This problem may occur due to the lack of availability of extended plugins. ERP software like WP ERP, comes with a wide range of extensions to enhance the usability and functionality of the existent core ERP solution.

Some solutions will have this issue of not having a particular feature in-built. Users will then require to check for its extended add-ons that support the desired feature.

This is not an issue though in the case of ERP solutions like WP ERP. You can easily get your desired features in the form of its extensions. To cite an example, the core ERP software may lack a document management system but with a simple document management extension, you can solve this problem.

Maximize the Return on Investment Utilizing the Right ERP Software

Finally, we can conclude that you can take help from an IT expert to specify your company needs and to compare different ERP tools with one another so that you come to know which solution will fit your enterprise that will eventually help you maximize the return on investment.

Moreover, you should train your workforce properly. This is because most of the ERP tools are too complex to operate for some people. Last but not least, always update your software to the latest version. This is will make your system work properly and less vulnerable to hacking.

How do you utilize your ERP software to make the most out of it? Share your experience & thoughts with us in the comments below.