How does an integrated ERP system help in business?
It’s clear to see why businesses in all kinds of different industries are using integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. As well as allowing companies to improve their operational efficiency, integrated ERPs are an essential tool for fast-growing businesses that need a fully scalable solution to evolve alongside them.
So, what does ERP integration entail? In a nutshell, an integrated ERP brings together all your critical business processes into a single system and links them directly to other key applications such as eCommerce, dispatch services etc. This means that your systems can achieve the same levels of productivity while having fewer applications running at once. Basically, integrated ERPs are all-in-one solutions that manage day-to-day business activities through a single interface.
But an integrated ERP system can do a lot more for your business than just making things simpler. Let’s take a deeper dive into the benefits of integrated ERPs.
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The 4 biggest benefits of integrated ERP systems
Long-lasting success is based on connection – and that’s exactly what the job of an integrated ERP is. A fully integrated ERP allows you to connect and synchronise your ERP software with your eCommerce, CRM and database applications. Simply put, they grant you visibility into all aspects of your business from a single, streamlined interface.
Having integrated ERP software in place can bring a wealth of different benefits to your business. Here are four of our favourites…
1. Better inter-department collaboration
Let’s say two of your employees in accounts are tasked with creating a report from the ground up using data from all of your different departments. To start with, your employees will have to switch between multiple systems to extract the data. Some systems they will know like the back of their hands, while others will be completely new to them. In some cases, they might even have to wait for a colleague in sales or customer service to complete the report for them.
If this sounds like too much hassle, that’s because it is. Now let’s see what would happen with an integrated ERP system. With an ERP, your two accounts employees would be able to extract data from every single department in a matter of minutes. There would be no need to check different KPIs or extrapolate data – and certainly no waiting around. And because integrated ERPs give you access to real-time data, you’d ensure that your report is completely accurate.
2. Seamless eCommerce integration
In 2021, eCommerce accounted for more than a third of the total retail market in the UK. And that percentage is only expected to grow in upcoming years. The eCommerce market has plenty of room to grow – which means that you have to enhance your eCommerce solutions to match that growth. That’s another way in which integrated ERP software can help.
A fully integrated ERP like Profit4 will provide you with seamless eCommerce integration with all the essential platforms – from Shopify and WooCommerce to Magento. By seamless integration, we mean that your ERP will be automatically connected to your eCommerce platforms – so your orders, product data and customer data will be transferred back and forth with your ERP without the need for manual data entry. This approach also enables updates such as price changes to be done automatically across your sales channels and financial systems from a single change within your ERP system.
3. Automation
The key to achieving sustainable business growth can be reduced to a simple motto – work smarter, not harder. But what does working smarter mean? If you ask us, it means getting rid of all the headache-inducing manual projects that should be tackled by a computer instead. We’re talking about things like record keeping or stock management – processes that an ERP can take care of single-handedly.
An integrated ERP will unify your operations in a single system – meaning avoiding manual admin and duplicated tasks become a lot easier. Let’s use stock control as an example. If you’ve ever managed multiple sales channels, you’ll know that having to update inventory levels can be a painstaking task. But what if you could have real-time stock updates that are fed directly into your ecommerce platform and your finance dashboards?
Well, that’s what an integrated ERP can do for you. Basically, an ERP streamlines burdensome processes and frees up your staff to take care of tasks where human intervention is essential.
4. Higher productivity – and profit margins
Close your eyes and imagine a world where all your employees have real-time access to essential information across your entire organisation – and all just one click away. In a few seconds, they can check an item’s inventory levels, see the return status of an order, or liaise with your stock suppliers. Think about all the time you’d save and how productive your employees would be without wasting time moving from platform to platform.
You can open your eyes now. As it happens, you don’t have to travel to a dream world to achieve all of the above. All you need is an integrated ERP system that equips your employees with the necessary tools to achieve peak productivity. And as clearly outlined in the first lines of the ABCs of business, higher productivity goes hand in hand with higher profit margins.
There’s a clear benefit to giving your sales team access to in-depth customer and product information in just a few seconds. It will allow them to develop a more personal and dedicated approach to selling your products – which has been proven to be a lot more powerful than any other marketing strategy. And because your sales managers will get a bird’s eye view of your employees’ performance, they’ll be able to tweak their sales strategy if something isn’t working as it should.
Helping you increase your overall productivity
By this point, it should be clear how an integrated ERP system can help your business. Because it automates cumbersome tasks and allows for seamless integration across all departments and platforms, an integrated ERP will boost your productivity and give you all the necessary tools to take your business processes up a notch.
So, if you’re looking for an integrated ERP system, let us make a recommendation. At OGL Software, we have developed a full-service integrated ERP that will transform your operations. From in-depth reporting and analytics tools to stock management and seamless eCommerce integration, our Profit4 solution is packed full of features that will transform your workplace forever.