A couple of weeks back, I happened to read an autobiography of one of the business leaders in which he related his struggle to put his floundering company back on track. The book was undoubtedly worth reading, but what caught my attention was the kind of struggle which he had to undergo to turnaround his small company. As soon as I closed the book, the first thought which crossed my mind was ‘if only were there ERP solutions available during that time, his difficulties would have come to an end sooner.’ We are mostly ruled by the misconception that ERP software is something which can benefit only the large enterprises but, the truth is that the maximum benefits of ERP can be derived by small and medium sized enterprise

How?

ERP software has the effectiveness and efficiency of multiple hands not to mention the accuracy and the speed at which it processes the functions. Adopting ERP software is equivalent to employing multiple people to perform the same functions and operations. The benefits have a far reaching effect with every stakeholder in the companies which includes the employees, the vendors, the customers and the business as a whole deriving the benefits of ERP.

Benefits from the Business perspective

The benefits of ERP are both tangible and intangible and get projected in the operational, strategic and managerial functioning and performance.

Normally, huge overhead expenses in the form of salaries have to be incurred by the company and there is no denying that large organizations can really afford to do so but, the small and medium enterprises can sometimes get overburdened with this part of expenses. When it comes to large enterprises, there is usually no dearth of people to perform the tasks as multiple people are usually engaged to work on single tasks. They aim at specialization but, in the case of SMEs, the roles performed are usually of generalist in nature as a single person is assigned multiple tasks.

The best thing about ERP is that it integrates the various departments and functions in a company into a single system which not only means ease in functioning but also in monitoring which ensures transparency and where transparency exists, trust and reliability breeds. Also, when the various functions and departments in the organization get integrated, it enables improvement in communication between them thus bringing down the virtual silos existing between them.

Companies have to strive hard to win customers and retain the existing ones. This becomes even more difficult when the company is small or medium sized. Adopting ERP which suits the requirements of the company enables it to reduce its response time in terms of responding to its’ vendors and customers as every bit of information is absorbed by the system. This makes a lot of impact on the service provided by the company and when the customers and vendors get the feel good experience, they would want to repeat business with the company.

Effective and optimal utilization of time and resources can be achieved by diverting the resources away from less effective tasks to work on more meaningful and productive tasks.

It ensures that all the necessary, required and important data and information are stored at a single place and when one is armed with the necessary data in entirety, there is every reason to devise effective strategies and make sound decisions.

It also assists the company in accurate reporting which rules out any possibility of manipulations or issues arising out of non-compliance. This can result in the company earning a tag of reliable and trusted company which can help the organization win more business.

Benefits from the Employees perspective

With ERP, the employees’ too get an opportunity to be exposed to the feel good experience.

The knowledge and skills of the employees’ can be broadened by implementing ERP. With the features available to capture their learning, the employees’ can either take the initiative or be encouraged to participate in appropriate learning programs. The right kind of knowledge and skills can be imparted only when the capabilities and interests of the employees’ are gauged and learning provided accordingly. This way the employees’ can be empowered to take charge of their own learning, development and growth and when the organization becomes a truly learning organization there is no stopping it from tasting success.

The sophisticated employee database which can be built and developed with the software enables the organization to capture the employee details in entirety which in turn results in identification of the right people for the right projects at the right time. This leads to successful deliverables which can positively impact the morale of the employees and happy employees result in a happy and healthy organization.

Response time to the requests and queries of the employees can be brought down with ERP. Being prompt in responding to the needs and concerns of the employees sends out a message to the employees’ that the organization really cares for them and this kind of positivity prevalent in the organization can take it a long way in stopping the exodus of its’ people to its competitors.

But…

Time should definitely be given for the ERP to permeate completely into the company for the intended benefits to be felt. It has challenges which when not addressed can lead to the ERP becoming redundant. But when the issue are taken up and resolved, it becomes easy for the company to harness its’ benefits.

The company which surges ahead past its’ competitors towards achieving its’ vision is the one which does not hesitate to adopt the best technologies and the services which come with it and this applies even better to SMEs.

What about your company?

Every business owner is expected to implement software solution to increase business productivity, does your company really requires ERP Software in Singapore?

I would love to find out so please add a comment below