Like most products and services influenced by technology, ERP has evolved rapidly over the years.
It’s no longer just about sales orders, manufacturing resource planning (MRP) or works order processing. It has become more about developing a complete understanding of the customer’s needs and providing a system that is more responsive, more flexible and better able to offer a comprehensive and effective user experience.
As a salesperson, my job has to include customer guidance and education. I have to ensure that our customers are aware of the art of the possible. To borrow a phrase: ‘They don’t know what they don’t know’. When we are visiting customers, we make a point of turning this ‘don’t know’ into a ‘good to know’.
And, with ERP, it’s about making sure that our customers can leverage the fantastic and readily available tools, such as Workflow and Automation, to obtain maximum value from the system.
For example, imagine if you could streamline a process for New Product Introduction or Purchase Order Requisitions.
With an automated workflow, you bypass the expensive costs associated with errors and inefficiencies when a person is expected to own a business process. Your automated business process can show you the current state of any item and make sure that careless mistakes don’t happen.
Imagine you have automated your business processes, streamlined your employees to use this new system, and things have been flowing smoothly for the last 2 months. Now think of what you could do with all the data that has been accumulating? You could determine how many requests came in, how many were approved, how many rejected, how long each one took, and which step in the process takes the longest.
ERP has always aspired to provide the right information to the right people at the right time. Changing business needs and improving technology have forced software architects to develop solutions that are flexible, user friendly and crammed with greater business benefits.
For us at SYSPRO, the art of the possible means greater social integration, enhanced mobility options and enriched reporting functionality – ERP will never be dull again!
