The six pillars of Enterprise Resource Planning you should know about

In Part 1 of this blog, we learned what Enterprise Resource Planning means and how important it is to run a successful business. In this blog, let’s take a look at the six pillars that form the foundation of a successful ERP solution. 

1. Asset Management

In any business that involves use of assets - equipment, tools, people, every second counts and every mistake comes at a huge cost. Removing any chance of error means taking care of maintenance, planning, scheduling and execution. Every asset in a plant needs special focus so it can perform at its best or be taken care of, so that in the case of any problem, the rest of the production process is not affected. This is where an Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software, a part of ERP, comes into the picture. 

With a good cloud-based, EAM, you can experience the following benefits:

• Holistic or all-round management of all the assets on your premises.
• ‘Smart’ scheduling for all three engines of the business - people, tools and materials. Giving the right person the right job with the necessary tools is one of the most basic requirements to run any successful business. With a smart EAM, the software does this tedious job for you, 
• Monitoring the performance of an asset or equipment to detect and fix any error at the earliest and provide insights into the cost of fixing damages and breakdowns.
• Managing Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), an important part of any business these days.

1. Finance

The Finance department of a business is like the heart which pumps blood for the body - without it, no business can run. Unlike what many may think, a lot more is involved in financial management, than balancing the books. A good ERP software can help in managing the various processes that fall under financial management :

• Automate all accounting to reduce human errors
• Managing costs by reducing wasteful expenses and tracking profits
• Meet regulatory requirements - import and export, trade agreements compulsory reporting of financial transactions, tax filing, etc
• Reduce financial risk by gaining full insight into availability of cash through management of the treasury department - i.e, the unit which controls the money. 
• Manage all subscriptions and billings 
• Take control of all the real estate, ie., properties involved in the business 

1. Manufacturing

Innovation is the key that unlocks business growth. For it to become a successful undertaking, it is critical to stay organized, develop a close eye into every aspect of the way the business functions and make the right decisions about the next stage of growth. Here are a few advantages of adopting ERP to manage the manufacturing process:

• You will get all data about what's happening at the shop floor, in real time., i.e., as it happens, when it happens. You can also keep track of any fluctuations in demand and supply. 
• Design, engineering and production teams have a platform to work together and innovate new products or solutions
• You can partner better with your external suppliers and third party OEM partners. 

1. R&D and Engineering

With the variety of goods and services available to consumers, what sets your business apart from the rest? Why should a consumer choose you? The department that can best answer that question is the Research and Development and Engineering, which develops personalisations or unique characteristics of a product that feel very personal to a consumer. ERP can help in the following ways in this crucial function:

• Complete control over finance and logistics
• Managing demand and capacity for each of your products
• Product life cycle management - you can trace the product through each state of growth to see where improvements can be made.
• If you are involved in the production of dangerous or hazardous substances, you must use ERP to ensure they are handled properly.

1. Sales

In a competitive market, the difference between winning and losing is most often, the sales strategy. Staying ahead of this rat race involves managing customers and drawing them to you. Here are the top advantages of using ERP to manage sales:

• Managing end-to-end customer relations - presales, service orders and post sales through effective Customer Relationship Management software.
• Reduce the paperwork - make your system lean and efficient through a centralised sales management system.
• Maintain an inventory of all promised order and commitment dates
• Generate single quote or invoice for packages
• Encourage your sales team to do better by giving incentives to perform their best 

1. Service 

How do you judge the success of any business? It is by the number of customers who come back for more. Customer loyalty is built with a strong service team who can handle any post-sales issues. ERP enables a business to manage this in a way that customers love best - quick turnaround times and friendly service. Here are the main ways ERP helps build post sale relationships:

• All technical and other service requirements can be met under one roof.
• Complete control over service operations 
• End-to-end service management
• Real-time analytics across entire service portfolio

As we can see, ERP brings all aspects of a business together into a single platform so that you can make informed decisions about your present and future business endeavours.