What is ERP?

What is ERP and How Does it Support My Business?

Enterprise Resource Planning, also known as ERP, refers to all-in-one software that manages your day-to-day business operations, finances and accounting. It enables the proper management of your daily operations, streamlining procedures and coordinating activities which helps you focus on the big-picture.

Growing and evolving successful companies is all about planning, preparation and efficient management. Without an efficient integrated ERP system delivered by a knowledgeable integration partner, it can be difficult to manage large and distributed businesses.

Understanding ERP Software

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) helps you to coordinate and manage all of your business operations in one, single integrated system. ERP software assists in maintaining productivity and transparency on a day-to-day basis. Depending on how it is implemented and the business itself, ERP systems control accounting, manufacturing, project management, supply chain, procurement and many of the daily processes of your business.

ERP systems define and automate business processes to enable smooth and accurate flow of data across different departments. Utilising data across different parts of the business, ERP software eliminates duplication and provides data with integrity for smooth and accurate forecasting, finance and accounting.

Well-implemented ERP systems integrate your business on all levels to ensure that all information is accurate, easily accessible and working in harmony to support business objectives. ERP software helps you see the big picture with accurate data shared company-wide.

The Benefits of ERP Software Implementation

Relied upon by businesses big and small, ERP is the backbone of daily operations and activities.

• Streamlined processes: as a company grows and processes get more complex, implementing an ERP system can provide operational efficiencies through automation of tasks.
• Cost reductions: operations across the business gain a higher efficiency, reducing delays and improving the processes of all the departments, from accounting to customer relations.
• Business insight: ERP provides real-time information in clear and concise reports generated from accurate business data.
• Data integrity: ERP offers improved data integrity and financial control for greater confidence in reporting and accounting.

Why ERP Matters

Essential to the daily operations, productivity and record keeping of countless organisations, ERP software enhances efficiency and accuracy to protect businesses from the potential for errors, oversights and delays.

While you may take care of all activities, records and data across multiple separate systems, many business owners find that they struggle to keep track of everything as their business grows. From adding employees to expanding product offerings and sites, ERP software helps you integrate all of your processes, systems, data and activities into one system that works to support your success.

ERP provides growing businesses with a way to ensure all employees have fast access to the resources they need to grow your business, enhance productivity and complete reporting with confidence and accuracy.

For most companies ERP becomes the backbone of the business and is integral to their core strategies. Able to be customised to suit the requirements of each individual business, Epicor ERP supports businesses medium to large, with precision and reliability.

The Key Drivers for Implementing an ERP System

 Implementing an ERP system is expensive and time consuming, so it is important to understand the rationale for the decision. The three key drivers for implementing or changing your ERP platform include:

 Risk

• New industry standards.
• Legislation/statutory requirements.
• Unsupported legacy or highly customised software.
• Unsupported or reaching end of life hardware or operating systems.

Cost

• Too many people supporting manual processes.
• Multiple systems with integration challenges.
• Poor controls and lack of standardised processes resulting in waste, rework and contract penalties.

Growth

• Current systems don’t support where you need to take the business.
• Expansions via more subsidiaries, locations, or countries.
• Company reinvention to address new markets, new products, and services.
• Competitive pressures and industry innovation.

How to Get Started with Your ERP Project

The first step in a successful ERP project is to define what you are trying to achieve and the objective criteria by which to measure the project success. This needs to be based on the business case put forward when making a decision to embark on an ERP project.

You also need to engage with an implementation partner you feel you can trust, and who takes the time to understand your business. They need to be clear on the challenges, processes and integrations that are important to the organisation.

You also need to nominate the internal project team and give them the authority as well as time to dedicate towards the project. Your implementation partner and internal team need to be clear on the objectives of the project through the entire implementation process.

Following a thorough consultation on the needs of your business, an implementation partner designs and plans an ERP solution tailored to your business with project objectives, budget, timelines and  project scope. They take into account your current circumstances alongside your business growth projections and objectives to ensure that your ERP system can continue to meet your needs as you grow and evolve.

As with any new system or software, an ERP implementation must be efficient, effective and comprehensively planned. Implementation partners provide you and your team with the insight, training and know-how to effectively utilise your ERP in daily operations. The goal should be that your business is able to take ownership of your own system after going live.

See our 12 step to a successful ERP project guide for everything you need to know to set your project up for success.

Innovative ERP Software Solutions in Australia

At Precise, we provide modern and agile ERP software from Epicor. As experts in ERP software and implementation, we help medium to large businesses streamline their processes and maintain clear, concise and detailed records for integration across departments.

Precise has successfully implemented hundreds of ERP projects. We partner with our customers to help them execute their strategies and build value in their business through their ERP investment.

Offering personalised solutions, tailored advice and expert recommendations, we help you set your business up for success with quality ERP systems and software. Contact us today to learn more about how ERP can help your business grow.