Do you know exactly what ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems are and how they can help your company?
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Learn moreThe intense competition inherent to different industrial sectors and the arrival of Industry 4.0 technology solutions have accelerated the adoption of ERP systems. Do you know exactly what they are and how they can help your company?
ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. An ERP system is business management software made up of several modules, each responsible for managing one of a company's business areas and automating its internal processes. Much like asset management software, it centralises and optimises the management of business resources.
All the data the ERP system collects from the different departments is shared with the rest, creating a unified information system.
One of the most important goals of an ERP system is to integrate a company's back-office processes. This simplifies the exchange of information as much as possible, so that every strategic decision is based on, and backed by, real, up-to-date data.
ERP systems were designed to record and organise data and information so that every activity across all of the company's departments is connected. It is a standardised, automated and comprehensive management of business resources that undoubtedly improves the efficiency of every task. This integration is especially valuable when combined with solutions such as facility management software for managing facilities.
Implementing an ERP system can be strategically complemented by specialised solutions such as CAFM software to achieve more complete and integrated management of business facilities and assets.
As well as delivering significant savings in both money and time, it guarantees that the whole team works with the same information and uses the same KPIs for decision-making.
Depending on the type of company where it is implemented, an ERP system can vary widely in functionality, scope and scale. However, there are a number of intrinsic features common to these systems. Want to know what they are?
Full integration across the company. All the company's processes, both departmental and across business units, are integrated into one.
Real-time operations. You have real-time, up-to-date information on every operation being carried out.
Unified and shared information. Having a common information base is one of the great benefits of an ERP system. Data only needs to be recorded once for every department in the company to have direct, real-time access to that information from anywhere.
ERP systems are usually classified according to the size and complexity of the company where they will be installed. This gives us several tiers, detailed below:
ERP systems in this tier support large international companies and include currencies, postcodes, alphabets, accounting rules and different languages, among many other features. For many years, the best-known tier I ERPs were Oracle and SAP. Today, we also hear about Microsoft and Infor.
ERPs in this tier help companies operating in different countries to accelerate their reach. Typical customers of these systems are global companies, independent entities or business units with a certain degree of internationalisation.
This type of ERP supports medium-sized companies. Most handle multiple currencies or languages to formalise occasional business relationships.
Tier IV ERP systems are designed specifically to meet the needs of SMEs.
Modern ERP systems can integrate seamlessly with other specialised solutions such as field service management software to optimise the company's external operations and improve coordination between internal and external teams.
As well as improving a business's overall performance and knowledge of the types of industrial maintenance, ERP systems combined with proper corrective industrial maintenance, preventive or predictive maintenance add features that greatly increase their benefits. Integration with specialised CMMS software can further boost these maintenance capabilities:
Internal efficiency. Thanks to ERP systems, the time spent on different processes can be reduced, making the company more efficient and competitive.
Support for strategic decision-making. One of the main advantages of ERP systems is that they are collaborative. All the organisation's data is unified and shared, allowing every department to make the best decisions for the company with all the information they need.
Greater data security. The security of a centralised database is higher than that of a system with scattered data.
More agile operations. Thanks to simplified and standardised processes, companies become more agile and adapt quickly to any situation.
Among all the solutions that integrating an ERP system offers, we'd like to highlight the following:
If the accounting and sales departments used separate software and management tools, each would give different revenue and expense figures, and the team would have to spend weeks reconciling them.
Among their many features, ERP systems coordinate orders, manufacturing, inventory, distribution and accounting. Like specialised inventory management software, they allow inventory to be controlled efficiently. This simplifies the process and reduces the margin for error to a minimum.
Many manufacturing companies make similar products using different methodologies and IT systems. Standardising and automating these processes saves time and improves productivity.
Many companies lack a system to record working hours and expenses and to allow employees to communicate effectively. ERP systems with self-service portals make it easier for employees to organise their personal information. They also let us generate reports and track expenses, holiday requests, training and more.
Most ERPs include CRM tools that let us track every interaction with a customer. This way, all information about orders, deliveries, returns and so on is centralised, and we can predict both our customers' behaviour and needs, improving our service.
In addition to CRM features, ERP systems can also integrate with compliance management software to ensure that all business operations strictly comply with the industry's current rules and regulations.
Without an ERP system, tracking purchases can become quite a challenge. ERP tools let us identify the most used products and services so we can negotiate with our suppliers.
In some specific cases, such as ERP for the food industry, a few extra factors must be taken into account, such as product quality or expiry dates.
We hope you found our article on ERP systems, their benefits and the types available useful. In short, having an ERP system in our company makes us more agile and more efficient, and greatly improves our competitiveness.
And guess what? You can integrate your ERP software with Infraspeak's Intelligent Maintenance Platform (IMP). Find out more about Infraspeak's integrations — the most integrated platform on the market — here.
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