What is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and who uses it?

What is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and who uses it?

Modern businesses use software and systems to plan, monitor, and manage their primary supply chain, manufacturing, services, financial, and various other processes. This software is known as Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP. You can use it to automate and simplify activities such as accounting, purchase, project management, customer relationship management, risk management, compliance and supply chain management. You can avail of ERP services in the form of Software as a Service (SaaS), and it can be implemented either on-premise or as a cloud-based ERP.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

The world first heard of the term ERP during the 1990s when Gartner Group used it to refer to the manufacturing companies’ asset maintenance software and systems. In modern times, there are advanced Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) options available for ERP. The cloud-based ERP solutions offer remote online access, mobile solutions, security, and easy integration with your organization and emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and even social media platforms.

ERP is aimed at increasing an organization’s efficiency by managing and improving the utilization of resources. The resource consumption is optimized through automation without compromising on quality and performance. 

 How Does an ERP System Work?

ERP systems can manage all aspects of business activities and facilitate:

  • An integrated system
  • A common database
  • Real-time operation
  • Application support
  • Common UI across applications/components
  • Option to deploy on-premise, on-cloud, or in SaaS form

You can use ERP software to collect and compare various metrics across departments and get multiple reports based on roles or user preferences. The data generated enables faster and holistic reporting as well as complete visibility of business performance.

Using ERP, you can synchronize reporting and automation and reduce the need to maintain separate databases and spreadsheets that need manual merging to generate reports. Thus, the operation is streamlined, and information helps make real-time decisions.

What Industries use ERP?

Today, industries as diverse as manufacturing, transport, education, e-commerce, and almost every other vertical are using ERP software to improve efficiency and profitability. There is a diversity of products available in the market, and you can choose industry-specific ERP software for industries such as

  • Manufacturing
  • Industrial Machinery and Components
  • Construction and Home improvement
  • Electronics and Technology
  • Automotive
  • Aerospace and defense
  • Healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and life sciences
  • Agribusiness, farming, and agriculture
  • Food and Beverages
  • Hospitality
  • Clothing, consumer goods, and retail business
  • Ecommerce

Modern cloud-based ERP systems also support several other applications by providing specific modules for:

  • Financial Accounting
  • Management Accounting
  • Human Resources
  • Manufacturing
  • Order Processing
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Project Management
  • CRM
  • Data Services

Does Your Business Need ERP?

For business development, you set goals in harmony with the company’s short- and long-term growth objectives and make plans for potential challenges. ERP helps in this area by offering regular analysis of systems and processes. You should consider implementing an ERP when your existing business systems and processes are:

  • Proving to be inefficient or facing regular bottlenecks
  • Not able to support the growing needs of the company
  • Are lacking in the ability to counter security risks proactively

Your business needs to find inefficiency and under-performing assets or processes that need improvement. A robust ERP system can help eliminate such inefficiencies and help you identify the opportunities that will help keep your organization competitive, profitable, and future-ready.

Criss Roman