Why ERP Systems are Important | MicroChannel (2024)

Why ERP Systems Are Important

Many growing businesses ignore the importance of investing in business technology that includes both hardware and software. Most businesses hang on to their basic accounting solution or pieced-together solution or legacy ERP software until a change is urgently required.

A quality Enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution is critical for any business, because it is the core of a business or organization. A fully integrated ERP system allows the seamless flow of information across different departments and functions. It also helps to streamline business processes and improve overall business functions. Typically, an ERP solution covers broad and deep end-to-end processes such as finance, human resources, warehousing, manufacturing, customer relationship, order management, marketing, sales, project management, and more.

ERP software can be used to automate many aspects of the business. Businesses can also avail new and modern technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things), artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality, and more – that are synonymous with most next-generation ERP applications. Businesses of all sizes can benefit from the use of ERP. Key benefits include cost savings, resource optimisation, reducing manual & repetitive tasks, and minimising human errors.

Cost Saving

ERP solutions unify fragmented systems in your organisation. A business utilising stand-alone systems such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Warehouse Management, Logistic Management, or Human Resources Management (HRM) solutions can benefit from the ability of ERP to unify it together. Having a seamless flow of information across these different systems will provide companies with cost-efficiency and data accuracy benefits. Users can save time by eliminating the need to do redundant data entry and human error can also be minimised

Improved Collaboration

An ERP solution improves day-to-day business activities and collaboration between various departments and team members. All information is in one centralised location, and the appropriate access can be given to team members who require the data to complete the task. Most business management solutions provide control for access to improve the safety of the data and system. The accuracy, completeness, and security of information can be guaranteed as there will be minimal human errors, and unauthorized access can also be easily blocked.

Best Practices

The prebuilt functionalities of most modern ERP applications are based on best practices gathered from leading companies. Businesses can immediately avail of these established industry best practices or request for customisation to support unique processes and objectives.

Better Analytics

ERP comes with the ability to query data as you need and generate the necessary reports for your decision-making. Information can be accessed quickly and there is no need to rely on external help to churn out ad-hoc reports. With embedded artificial intelligence and machine learning, some ERP systems also come with predictive analytics. You will have guides and suggestions as you use the system, so you can make informed decisions in a timely manner.

Improved Productivity

Time wastage can be eliminated as there is no longer the need to perform the repetitive task manually. This refers to the need to enter the same data multiple times across different systems. With an integrated ERP solution, information can easily flow across different systems and departments. The elimination of repetitive manual work, reduction of error from manual human data entry will ultimately have a positive effect on your organisation’s productivity, efficiency, and profitability.

If you’d like to get started on a modern, fully integrated ERP solution, reach out to us to have a no-obligation discussion.