What Is ERP? Unique Advantages And Disadvantages Of ERP.

• What is ERP? (Enterprise Resource Planning).
• Advantages of Enterprise Resource Planning.
• Disadvantages/ Drawbacks of Enterprise Resource Planning.
  

ERP system Overview:

ERP which stands for Enterprise Resource Planning What does an ERP system mean? ERP systems aim to integrate business-related functions like Planning, Inventory Management, Engineering, Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, e-commerce, CRM, Risk Management, and many more.

ERP platform provides an integrated and all-round view of enterprise resource planning which allows to view of the whole business, automates tasks and business processes. 

The end goal of the ERP application/system is to optimize operations and free up the time of employees to divert available time on more difficult/ Important tasks within or outside the organization.

By implementing ERP an organization is able to increase performance by integrating business process information from various departments such as Human resources, Production, Sales, Customer Management, and much more.

Enterprise Resource Planning also helps in reducing the paperwork, data entry, and permission granting which is often the case with traditional organizations without an ERP technology.

In comparison to traditional ERP systems, time wasted in converting physical ERP databases into digital form is also saved. 

With the help of open-source ERP software like Odoo, real-time information can be accessed. ERP system also offers an integrated, quick, and easy environment for getting all kinds of information. It may be related to inventory, finance, or customer behavior, ERP (enterprise resource planning) system covers it all.

Enterprise Resource Planning system helps in reducing administration and operations-related costs. For instance, with ERP there is no need to prepare and maintain long paperwork. 

ERP also helps in forecasting unpredicted future orders, over/ under production, or over-ordering which reduces the cost of Inventory management.

People usually follow a particular way of doing a task but, it might not be the most effective way of doing it. An ERP application can help in cutting down all the unnecessary steps and make the whole process faster and way easier compared to the traditional way. 

ERP helps in setting a standard procedure for each and every person working within the same departments, it helps to eliminate delays and uneven allocation of resources.

Customer satisfaction is the most important thing as various businesses are targeting the same set of customers and customers have various options to choose from and that’s the reason why customer service is most important.

As ERP system pulls in data from every department and presents it in a centralized format, thereby solving the customer problem better, effectively, and more personalized.

Employees no longer need permission to access information regarding what other employees in different departments are working on. When the whole team put’s their head into solving a particular issue then the probability of getting the most effective solution is greater. 

Restricted communication and not being aware of what others are working on leads to problems but, top ERP systems put an end to all of these issues. 

The ERP system can be modified to adopt all shapes and sizes of organizations. Needs of each and every organization can be met For example granting permission or creating a separate workflow for a temporary project, all can be done without much effort. Small business ERP systems like Odoo have all these kinds of functionality.

Accurate forecasting is imperative to any business because through forecasting the business gets prepared for any unexpected situation or losses. Forecasting becomes more accurate once a business switches to an ERP system as all the data of the company gets integrated into a single system. 

For example, if sales are going to climb by 20%, a business can purchase inventory or hire more skilled employees to increase production to meet the increasing demand. If there are any unexpected price rises in the near future, businesses can find ways to cut costs in order to maintain the asking prices. 

Data is the most precious asset of any business and a properly developed ERP system can help to protect that asset. As all the data is stored in a single system the chances of data getting misplaced or lost get reduced, along with this it also reduces the frequent emails and document sharing needs.

Usually, in an ERP system, the data gets distributed over numerous locations thereby increasing the data security and protecting it from getting corrupted. This particular feature is very important if your business is handling a lot of customers' private data. 

ERP can also help to limit data access to a certain group of employees making the data difficult to manipulate. 

ERP Implementation helps to automate repetitive tasks freeing the employees from low-value tasks and thereby bringing more value to the organization. ERP also speeds up the process of a work by making the process uncomplicated and reducing the time spent on searching for the required information. 

Managers can particularly benefit from this feature as they have access to all the information needed for making a particular decision. 

Higher management is also able to know exactly how much and what work is being done by each and every person. It is really helpful during the time of productivity measurement and promotion decisions.

For example, excessive stock ordering can be avoided if the purchasing team has clear visibility of how much stock has not yet reached the warehouse but it is already been ordered.

Due to the ever-increasing use of smartphones and tablets, people are more comfortable using them as their primary devices. One of the many reasons why today ERP’s are more mobile-friendly and cloud-based, this enables employees to access data anywhere and anytime. 

For some businesses, cross-platform accessibility is not a luxury but a need because they have employees who travel frequently and may not have access to their computer systems all the time, that’s the reason they can access information or provide approval for important decisions from their phones or laptops. 

Successful ERP implementation and development can provide your business a competitive advantage over competitors by boosting productivity, automating repetitive tasks, and having access to real-time data making the processes flawless, error-free, and better than that of competitors.

Each coin has two sides and that’s the reason why businesses must understand the cons of ERP in order to tackle any kind of inefficiency which may arise after ERP implementation process, and know the ways to deal with them.

Getting an ERP system developed and implemented is a big, costly decision that requires expert skills and development knowledge. Hiring experts is usually costly because of higher wages per hour and tough decisions to make which are in most cases irreversible. 

There is one option that people tend to choose which is ready-made ERP but there are downsides to this option as well such as the duration of customization being longer, security risks, and non-suitability to company workflows, and business needs.

If the development cost of ERP seems bigger to you, then there is more to worry about because the implementation and maintenance of such a system are even larger as it requires expert knowledge and skills.

As the ready-made choice of ERP system is concerned, it requires frequent and regular updates which involve added costs.

After the ERP implementation is done, the staff would require training and practice in order to understand the system works and use it effectively compared to traditional alternatives. 

Another common problem that organizations face is when the experienced manpower leaves the organization, the new manpower would require training and will need to have to tackle the problem of a steep learning curve. 

There is one possible solution to this problem which is to provide ample learning resources, knowledge transfer from the existing employees, and providing in-depth manuals.

ERP implementation requires a lot of customization starting from EPR system modules, workflows, department approvals, product listing, and payment gateway integration. Sometimes, even there is a need to Customize ERP software according to the hierarchy structure of a particular organization.

ERP system takes a bit of time to get the system developed, customization also takes a bit of time to understand the requirements, and there is also a need for proper ERP system training sessions needed to utilize ERP to maximize productivity/output. Each of these steps would involve a lot of time to get the best results possible.

To conclude, from the above discussion, it is clear that the ERP system is not an all-purpose solution for each and every organization that guarantees success. In fact, there is a need to take advantages of ERP and disadvantages of ERP system into account before taking the decision of developing and implementing an ERP solution/system.

The benefits associated with customized ERP Software and ready-made business software solutions are almost the same. To summarize an ERP system saves time, finances, boosts productivity, increases customer satisfaction, integrates and centralizes all workflows, and enables easy scalability. 

TechUltra Solutions is a leading Odoo And ERP Development company working since 2016. We have more than 6 Years of experience in various services such as Hiring Odoo Developers, Odoo Implementation, Odoo Development, Odoo Customization, Odoo Integration, Odoo Training, Odoo Consulting, Odoo Migration, and Odoo Support. 

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