Finding the right ERP solution is not about choosing the software with the most complex features or the lowest initial cost. It’s about finding the solution with the closest match to a business’s needs and objectives. As the heart of your business operation, your ERP system needs to be ‘industry built’. Industry-built software is better attuned to the unique and specialized challenges that exist in your sector. One-size-fits-all solutions will likely need constant attention, plenty of tweaking, and add-ons that address shortcomings in the software’s essential ‘fit’. Here, it makes sense to opt for an ERP solution that is able to provide built-for-industry frameworks designed to help you benefit from best practices, while minimizing the cost, time and disruption involved in ERP implementation.

A comprehensive ERP solution that is able to consolidate all of your data sets into one system, providing one clear single source of truth (SSoT) can potentially prove to be game-changing. The real-time data that comes from an SSoT can be relied on. Duplicate data is eliminated, as are errors accruing from manual entry. With an SSoT your view of the business is detailed and complete, and your forecasts and actionable insights are derived from accurate information. With an SSoT, workers across the enterprise are all on the same page, and management can confidently drive strategic decisions across the entire operations.

For most manufacturers, especially those who participate in international markets, compliance is an ever-expanding headache. From defence contracting through to food and beverage production, granular traceability of details such as material sources, supplier changes, and transactional audit trails is an absolute must. Compliance is an incredibly complex issue and if this is a consideration for your business, it is best to speak with an ERP provider to see how their solutions fit your needs. Above all, look for a secure platform that minimizes manual processes and allows for efficient monitoring and documentation of complex information flows.

User experience (UX) is crucial to rapid uptake, but UX alone is not enough – your chosen ERP software solution must engage your employees. That means empowering them to work whenever and wherever they want and enabling them to personalize the appearance and functionality of their ERP software interface. Engagement is the key to improving business performance and boosting productivity through reduced complexity and enhanced collaboration.

When an ERP system is deployed, the expectation for ROI is understandably high. All too often, however, companies balk when the time comes to invest in adequate education and support. Such reluctance is misguided. It will be difficult to maximize the ROI from your company’s ERP investment without ongoing access to expertise and user training. ERP training, like support, too often neglected, is your greatest hedge against application erosion – the idea that business software loses value over time. At SYSPRO, we believe that application erosion is avoidable since its major cause is insufficient user competence, enthusiasm, and commitment.

To remain relevant in Industry 4.0, the time has come for the C-Suite to embrace, and adopt, emerging technologies that will allow them to thrive in the years to come. When we talk about digitization or digitalization of your business we are talking about digital transformation. In business, digitalization most often refers to enabling, improving and/or transforming business operations and/or business functions and/or business models/processes and/or activities, by leveraging digital technologies and a broader use and context of digitized data, turned into actionable, knowledge, with a specific benefit in mind. Your ERP system can help your organization with its digital transformation. The key is to ensure that it is future-fit; that it has the capacity to act as the heart of your organization; and that it can provide you with the critical information you will need during the transformation process.