Signs It’s Time for Your SMB to Invest in ERP
By Johnny Nugent
You run a small manufacturing business and, so far, you’ve made it by just fine without an ERP system in place. You figure we’re new, we’re small, we don’t really need an ERP system, but is that really true? We understand you’re worried about your bottom line and an ERP system is an investment. However, it is an investment that provides benefits that help your bottom line and thanks to cloud technology, getting into the ERP game isn’t as cost prohibitive as it used to be.
Check out our list below for the top five signs it’s time for your small to mid-sized business to invest in ERP.
Too Many Manual Processes
If you are relying on manual processes for accounting and inventory, it’s time to invest in ERP. You are wasting employees valuable time on processes that could be done instantly and in real time by an ERP solution.
Poor Customer Satisfaction
Customer service should be your number one priority and if you feel as if you are suffering in that department, it’s time to invest in ERP. The CRM feature of ERP will give you access to all the customer information you need when you need it to keep existing customers happy and to keep prospects interested.
Expenses Piling Up
Expenses are piling up, but you don’t know where to trim the fat. If this sounds like your manufacturing business’ struggle, then ERP can help. ERP can streamline many processes to help you identify where you are losing time and money.
Insufficient Insights
Manufacturing companies need access to reports with real-time data to make the best possible business decisions in a timely manner. This cannot be achieved by manual processes so if you are still relying on manual reporting it’s time to invest in ERP.
No Remote Access & Lack of Collaboration
One of the biggest benefits of ERP is real-time, instant access. This could mean remote access from a laptop or mobile device when you are working from home or visiting a client. Or, this could mean access to the same data anytime across all departments. This collaboration and communication are extremely important to manufacturing success.
If you could relate to any of the signs on this list, it’s time to start researching the best ERP options for your small business. Remember, thanks to cloud deployment, it’s not as expensive as it used to be to get into the ERP game so don’t let upfront cost turn you off from ERP – it will be saving you money once you get it up and running.
