11 Signs your business needs an ERP System

If you’re an organisation operating within the engineering or manufacturing industry, you will be aware that no business operates the same way as you do and there are various manufacturing companies selling similar products or services to you but are different in terms of size, turnover or business processes. Even when it comes to tackling challenges, organisations will have their own methods in dealing and (hopefully) solving those obstacles. So, the burning the question is, “does my business need an ERP system?”

If you’re able to check off most of the items on this list, it’s probably safe to start assuming that the answer to “does my business need an erp system?” may be yes. It might be time to start evaluating ERP software providers and working to allocate the resources needed for deployment:

1) Your staff are spending way too much time and energy on processes you know could be automated and streamlined. For example, a simple daily inventory process is taken up 2 hours of a team members day, whereas it only takes 30 minutes if the process was automated.

2) You can’t easily locate or access specific data you need to make informed decisions about your business.

3) You work with several suppliers and 3rd party contracts who are spread out nationally (or even internationally). The majority of which carry out similar/ same tasks, and is having a drain on money, time and resources.

4) Over the years, lots of different software programs and processes have been integrated in your business; but they have difficulty, / or in some cases do not communicate with other systems or businesses processes within the organisation.

5) Your company has no current process that can accurately account for actual inventory stock.

6) Your teams can’t easily collaborate or share information with each other. Or each departmental function has their own system of generating reports; therefore, disconnects will be occurring across your organisation.

7) When it comes to consolidating data for KPI reports, multiple spreadsheets are stored in various parts of the business and not in one location.

8) You can’t access essential business data and information when you’re off-site.

9) You’re having trouble keeping up with changes in regulatory compliance. For example, GDPR, the latest update in ISO etc.

10) Your business is reactive rather than proactive when identifying and responding to problems. For example, when a customer contacts your business to complain about a damaged product part, you are addressing the problem too late. Whereas an ERP system will prompt potential problem areas to keep to your operations running smoothly.

11) If you want to make your business more profitable, build a knowledge base or simply streamline your business processes; then ERP could be the answer.

Still not sure that ERP is right for you? Get in touch with our Epicor People.