Many growing businesses forget how important it is to invest in business technology, which should include both hardware and software.

Most companies don’t change their basic accounting software, pieced-together accounting software, or old enterprise resource planning software unless they have to.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software of a good enough quality is a must-have for any business or organization because it is the backbone of the business or organization.

A fully integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system makes it possible for information to flow freely between different departments and functions.

In addition, it helps improve business functions as a whole and streamline business processes that are already in place.

 An ERP solution will usually cover a wide range of processes from start to finish, such as finance, human resources, warehousing, manufacturing, customer relationship management (CRM), order management (OM), marketing, sales, and project management, among others.

ERP software lets businesses automate many different tasks and processes. Also, businesses can use cutting-edge technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality, and many others. 

All of these are standard features of most next-generation ERP software applications.

Any size of business can benefit from putting in place an ERP system. One of the most important benefits is that it cuts down on manual labor and boring tasks and tries to get rid of as many human mistakes as possible.

What is the importance of having ERP in business?

When a company uses enterprise resource planning software to handle some of its business tasks, the question arises: What makes this solution better than others?

Even if other solutions try to do similar things, ERP stands out as a different competitor in the software market because it has its own unique qualities.

Here are eight reasons why every business should think about how important enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are:

1. More Money Saved

ERP solutions are still a big financial investment, even though some providers have announced more flexible pricing in recent years.

Due to the high costs of the program, many people may think that it is very unlikely that it will save their organization any money at all. After getting over the initial shock of how much ERP costs, it’s much easier to see how it could give a great return on investment.

First and foremost, enterprise resource planning brings together a lot of different systems into one unified whole. Your employees will be able to get to all of the tools they need to do their jobs from a single, centralized system. This includes everything from making new products to paying bills.

By bringing together all of the different systems, you can help your employees make better use of their time. ERP users don’t have to look through a lot of different systems to find the information they need.

Because the database is in one place, it is much easier to find the information you need. Because ERP gets rid of the need for users to be trained on multiple systems, your company saves money because they don’t have to.

This cuts down on both the amount of money spent on training and the amount of work that needs to be done to make it happen.

You only need to talk to one of your vendors, so you won’t have to schedule multiple training sessions with many different ones.

2. Improved Collaboration

ERP software can have features that are slightly different from one program to the next, but in general, all systems make it easier for people to work together in some way.

As was already said, an ERP is different from other business software because it has a centralized database.

By using this database, you can give the company you work for a reliable and consistent reference point. It thus makes it less likely that mistakes will be made when working with wrong information, which cuts costs even more.

Through a central database, every member of a team can get the information they need about the whole company. This makes it much less likely that a project will be held up by hesitation or delays.

Also, there is no need to put together information from different systems or sources. Because all of the data is collected, saved, shared, and accessed through a single system, there is no reason to worry about its accuracy, completeness, or safety.

This is not as easy to say if, for example, your team is putting the same client information into many different platforms over and over again.

When you don’t have an ERP, you leave room for mistakes to be made by people, even if it would be easy to stop them.

3. Better Analytics

Also, putting all of your information in one place helps your analytics and reporting is more accurate. An enterprise resource planning system (ERP) is a great business intelligence tool because it stores all of the data that its users enter.

Using ERP software from your vendor will make it easier and faster for your team to make a wide range of reports, as long as the software has a lot of useful features.

 Without an ERP, it can take hours or even days to research and put together reports that can be made in just a few minutes.

Most ERP software comes with a dashboard that can be customized so that executives can look at reports as soon as they log into the system.

These reports could include anything from a list of income and expenses to key performance indicators that give information about how well certain tasks are being done.

Because you can get these reports right away, you and the rest of your team can make better decisions more quickly. You no longer have to rely on your IT staff to make the reports you need.

Last but not least, reports often have different levels of access, which makes sure that only employees who need to see important company data can see it.

4. Improved Productivity

When using more traditional methods, you can’t get around having to do boring things. In the past, it took employees several hours to do things like process orders, check inventory levels, make reports, and keep track of their time sheets.

Not only do these steps take time, but they also hurt the morale of employees and leave room for mistakes.

Even the most careful team members are bound to make a mistake at some point after putting the same line of data into dozens of forms over and over again.

If you choose the right solution, an ERP can automate the tasks that you find to be the most time-consuming. ERP software has a database that makes it possible for the system to do complex calculations in a matter of minutes. This makes tasks like data entry unnecessary.

This gives your team members more time to work on tasks that require more thought, which increases your labor return on investment (ROI). Because of this, ERP helps your business become more productive, efficient, and profitable.

5. Happier Customers

Never has it been more important to know your clients well. People are turning to the internet more and more when they want advice on things like what clothes to wear, what foods to eat, and how to live their lives, among other things.

Also, 84 percent of buyers say they trust online reviews as much as they would trust a friend. This means that the opinions of past customers are more important than ever.

The best way to make customers happier is to give them products and services that meet their needs. ERP helps make this possible in many different ways.

First of all, most ERP systems already have customer relationship management (CRM) features or can be easily linked to a CRM system. When you have an ERP, data from all of your company’s functions will be available to your CRM.

In addition to the contact information you have entered, an integrated CRM will show you things like order history and invoice information.

This gives your staff a more complete picture of your customers, which helps them better understand what those customers want and need.

Because you can see more of your customers, you will be able to make a better sales plan that generates more leads.

6. Simplified Compliance and Risk Management

If your company is growing and doing business in more than one country at the same time, it can be hard to keep track of all the different rules that apply to it.

Even small businesses have to worry about all of the different rules about the environment, information security, and human resources.

Because many ERP products are made with these requirements in mind, it will be much easier for you to stay in line with these standards.

Also, enterprise resource planning software usually has built-in auditing features that can help a business keep track of things like taxes and chemical use.

Because of this, it is very easy to put together reports and send them to the right regulatory body.

In addition to this, ERP systems often have parts for managing risks. Because this solution is more reliable and accurate, it makes it less likely that accounting mistakes will happen. This makes financial management better as a whole.

Users of forecasting tools can predict what will happen in terms of demand, labor, and the budget.

Now that you have this information, you will be able to make more reliable budgets, schedules, and plans for product development.

7. Improved Inventory Monitoring

One of the hardest things for businesses that are growing is keeping track of and taking care of their growing inventory.

ERP keeps track of your inventory at every step of the supply chain by using barcodes, RFID tags, and serial numbers. It makes ERP more accurate than tracking methods that are done by hand.

With the help of these technologies, you’ll be able to keep track of inventory levels in many warehouses and know which products are in transit and which are stocked and ready to sell to end users.

The picking, packing, and shipping processes are much faster and more accurate now that there is better visibility in the warehouse.

Inventory tracking makes it easier to make accurate reports because tracking technology gives more accurate numbers.

Users can set up their own KPIs to see which products are in higher demand because they move more quickly and which ones cost more to keep on hand.

ERP makes it possible for warehouse managers to get accurate information about their inventory in real time, which helps them make better decisions for their companies.

8. Improved Production Planning and Resource Management

ERP systems let you keep track of not only your stock but also your production operations. 

ERP systems let you see everything going on in the production process, even on the shop floor. 

Users can then optimize production schedules, equipment, and labor to get the most out of their capacity.

ERP software can also keep track of your Bill of Materials (BOM) and fixed assets. This software makes it easy for users to build and change BOMs, and it also keeps track of all the changes that have been made in the past.

Users of fixed asset management can schedule equipment maintenance, which cuts down on unplanned downtime and improves both profits and relationships with supply chain partners.

Bottom Line

If you choose the right solution, the benefits of ERP will far outweigh the money and time you have to spend up front and the extra work you will have to do.

If you do enough research and careful analysis, you can find ERP uses that offer all of the benefits listed above. Thus, will help you see why ERP is so important to a business.