Enterprise Resource Planning

Those involved in the manufacturing industry know that one manufacturing process is not necessarily like another — and in this high-tech business world, manufacturing operations can vary a great deal. So do the systems that support them. The software architectures that companies use to produce products and materials should be designed to support their specific operations.

For any company that distributes goods internationally, import/export compliance is a top concern. Import/export laws, standards and guidelines in various countries around the world add to complexity for these types of business processes. Customs work, accommodation of international taxes and tariffs, and significant documentation requirements often make importing and exporting rather labor-intensive.

In recent years, the debate about product development software and its role in the modern business world has grown increasingly complex. It often seems like product management is defined more by what it is not than what it actually has to offer.

Project-based enterprise resource planning, also called project-based ERP, is a new approach to enterprise software that’s helping companies change the ways in which they utilize IT. Building on traditional ERP concepts, project-based ERP expands the conceptual capability of ERP tools beyond simple production, into systems that help business leaders plan and complete enterprise projects.

The evolution of today’s technology happens at a lightning-quick pace, and ERP systems are no exception.  What was once an exclusively on-premise solution quickly became a cloud-based subscription service.  This evolution from on-premise business software to SaaS product was initially met with some skepticism, but quickly won them over with its enhanced features and greater flexibility.

Let’s step into the Wayback Machine and take a look at how ERP systems evolved into SaaS products.

The oft-repeated phrase “United we stand, divided we fall” is applicable to more than just war movies and superhero TV shows.  It’s also a great summation of why ERP software integration is key to running a successful business.  As Information Builders puts it: “In every ERP implementation, there comes a time where these wide-reaching, all encompassing systems need to communicate with other 3rd party solutions and legacy applications.”  At a certain point, the more you keep your different types of software apart, the more likely it is that data will be inconsistent and your processes will become inefficient.  This can lead to confusion between departments and an ineffective workflow (the bane of any business’ existence).

What exactly is ERP software integration?  In Layman’s terms, it’s the process of bringing together an ERP system with another type of software to maintain consistent information and automate certain processes.  What makes ERP software integration so key is that it provides a single location to find information on everything from ecommerce to HR documents to sales leads, so everyone in an organization stays on the same page.

I’ve got one seemingly-simple question for you: how well does your ERP system work?  Think about this question carefully — how well does your ERP system actually automate the processes you need it to, and how much manual work needs to be put in for that automation to occur?  If the answer involves more manual work than should be necessary, then your business is suffering the same fate as many other businesses at the moment.

The exclusive use of an on-premise ERP is simply becoming outdated as various needs change for both businesses and their customers.  That being said, completely abandoning your on-premise ERP in favor of a newer cloud-based solution can involve much more effort and money than it’s worth.  The new norm involves adopting a “Hybrid ERP” system.

Financial management software does a lot for businesses. Many of these platforms function as an overall, comprehensive set of resources for figuring out enterprise finances on both a short-term and long-term basis. But there are also specific key things that businesses want out of these software tools.

With ERP software, as with any kind of software product, there are big questions about how to source software platforms, and how to compare vendor options and other choices.

One evident competition is between specifically licensed ERP products and the collection of options known as ‘open source’ ERP software — ERP platforms that are not built for profit by a particular firm, but maintained with open source licensing, often by communities of users.

In the distribution industry, which essentially serves other types of companies, enterprise resource planning or ERP software can have a major effect on many different aspects of the strategies used to serve client businesses.