ERP systems have been gradually “creeping” into successful companies since the 1990s. However, since then they have moved on significantly and offer businesses completely new possibilities. When we talk about an ERP system today, it is a comprehensive solution that covers the entire range of business processes, combines business data and all processes into one whole, which significantly helps to automate processes and increase the efficiency of various activities within the entire enterprise. What, where, how and why to automate in the company? Read about it in the article.
Automation of production processes and planning
A modern information system will reliably take care of (routine) activities in your company. And as a bonus, you will always have a perfect overview of the status of production, stocks or orders. In practice, this means maximum efficient and flexible production, based on 100% accurate and up-to-date information.
The ERP system automates production processes and provides a wide range of integration options with production data collection technologies, leading to
- a better overview of production (you always have feedback that helps you react immediately to the situation and constantly optimize processes),
- minimizing human error (the ERP system does not forget, does not distort values, does not skip a row in the table, immediately warns of an anomaly, etc.),
- significant reduction of the administrative burden (automatic activity reporting, continuous production and real-time status update, data recording and evaluation, etc.).
Automation of purchasing and supply chain processes
With advanced ERP tools for supply chain management, your system will become a strong competitive advantage, thanks to which you can successfully overcome fluctuations in supply and demand.
ERP systems today offer many options for automating processes that increase productivity, reduce operating costs and make communication more efficient. To illustrate, here are some specific examples from the area of ​​purchasing and supply chain:
- Designing purchase orders. Based on the set criteria, the ERP system continuously evaluates the stocks and requirements recorded in the system (from production, maintenance and service plans) and automatically proposes a purchase order at the right moment.
- Purchasing management. The system will help you manage the entire purchase process – from planning to ordering to receiving the goods.
- Processing a new sales order. The software automatically initiates interaction with supply, finance and shipping departments.
- Electronic invoicing (eInvoicing). This type of automation primarily means speeding up the process and reducing document processing costs.
- Monitoring supplier performance. Based on predefined evaluation criteria, the ERP system identifies potential problems in the supply chain in a timely manner, which leads to increased efficiency and improved relations with suppliers.
Automation of accounting and financial processes
How is the particular project going? Although this is a relatively simple question, in many companies the search for a relevant answer is unnecessarily long and complex, especially if several projects are running simultaneously.
The ERP system will save you a lot of work and worry by automating the regular evaluation of your projects. You can easily get a perfect overview of your projects in terms of time, material and cost at any time.
ERP systems can help you:
- monitor project planning,
- manage budgets,
- manage task assignment processes,
- monitor the progress of projects and compliance with set deadlines,
- evaluate (potential) risks in real time so that you can react quickly and correctly,
- track other key performance indicators of your projects,
- as well as many other things in project management.
Automation of processes in the maintenance and service sector
Do you want to fully leverage the concept of effective Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) planning in your organization to reduce service costs, increase machine reliability and uptime, and help understand the right level of risk? Then you absolutely need the automation of maintenance management and planning processes:
- reactive,
- preventive,
- predictive.
The ERP system automates your processes:
- Maintenance and repair planning taking into account the actual condition of the specific device, regular intervals and priorities set by you.
- Resource planning based on planned maintenance, service and downtime (the system automatically allocates human resources and sends requests for material or spare parts, etc. to the purchasing department).
- Cost monitoring. What, where, how, why and for how much. Maintenance costs are continuously updated, so you can easily get a perfect overview.
AI opens up new potential for process automation with ERP systems
The main trend of the present and the future is clearly artificial intelligence (AI). A study by IBM reports that 35% of companies in 2022 have already actively used some form of artificial intelligence in their business, and another 42% are testing the possibility of introducing it.
Therefore, it is probably not surprising that innovative ERP systems are already using the potential of AI. By integrating these modern technologies, organizations can easily analyze vast amounts of data and automate even more processes. And that means even greater accuracy, efficiency, productivity and profitability for the entire enterprise.
You can automate processes using an ERP system powered by artificial intelligence, for example in the following areas:
- Inventory management. In this case, machine learning is used to analyze historical data as well as predict future demand.
- Customer relationship management. The integrated chatbot will reliably take care of quick interaction with the customer.
- Financial management. AI automatically analyzes payments and invoices continuously, which means that you will know about (potential) problems in time.
At the end, maybe just a quote from the Czech poet Jan Neruda: “He who stood for a moment is already standing afar off.” It is no coincidence that in recent years there has been more and more talk about the next industrial revolution. Innovation is rapidly changing the world.
Opening image source: depositphotos.com/
Source: www.nextech.sk
