An ERP for your manufacturing business can be vital to the success of your company. A good ERP is the underlying backbone of any business, as it controls the many different business processes and makes your life much easier. However, an ERP that does not fit your business can do more harm than good. It is essential for companies to make sure they are making the right decisions when it comes to choosing manufacturing ERPs.
What is manufacturing ERP?
ERP stands for enterprise resource planning and is used to refer to software that helps integrate main business processes on one platform for easier management and greater efficiency.
Manufacturing ERPs can be used in almost every aspect of manufacturing businesses and help support core manufacturing, distribution, financial, and reporting needs. Certain manufacturing ERPs also have specialized features that are designed to help more niche industries, like electrical equipment or high-tech manufacturing.
With your manufacturing ERP dealing with so many aspects of your business, from business processes to accounting, production, and customer management, it is vital that you make the right choice. When choosing the right manufacturing, here are three key features you will need in your ERP.
Important features you need from a manufacturing ERP
1. Customer Experience
Delivering flexible, reliable, and efficient customer service is no longer a bonus, but rather a must to catch your potential prospects and customers. With so many different businesses and competitors in the market, customers can easily switch to a replacement business once they have had a less-than-ideal customer experience with your business.
Your ERP should include a portal with a self-service capability so that customers can get the information they need online as quickly and efficiently as possible. This includes the ability to place and track their order, make payments, as well as check on their order status.
2. True Software Integration
For most users, their understanding of software integration is limited to the simple collection of data, through the integration of your business’s information systems, processes, data, and resources. However, true software integration is more than just collecting data, but also disseminating it to the right people, whether it is an employee, partner, potential customer, vendor, or other people involved in your business.
With true software integration, the collected data can be made available to those who need it and assist them in making informed decisions at the right time.
3. Appropriate Processes
Lastly, a good manufacturing ERP should have appropriate and well-documented processes; these processes help ensure that the information and data collected are the same across the different teams and departments in the business. This ensures that there is no miscommunication and wrong information on the platform, whether the data is accessed in the warehouse, shop floor, accounting, or anywhere else.
Having the right processes in your manufacturing ERP is vital to ensure that any questions asked have the right answer, rather than different answers due to outdated or incorrect information. This enables businesses to be able to make the right decisions instantly, boosting efficiency and accuracy.
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