As Enterprises are growing bigger as organizations, internal management has become a tough job. Given the fact, everything has to be well coordinated, it has been challenging to make sure the entire workflow remains end to end streamlined. Managing the resources with optimum efficiency to generate the best results for the company is not as easy as it might seem.
This requires strong internal communication among the various departments without any gap so that they work together and deliver efficiently. Thus, ERP systems came into existence, where they can help the companies to manage their resources optimally. These ERP systems can be tailor-made to address all the existing challenges that the company faces in terms of productivity.
Most enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions these days, are broken down into individual modules that target key aspects of the business model. These modules further bring the much-needed coordination to a wide range of currently disjointed, and often conflicting, processes.
Thinking in terms of modules has two main advantages:
- The enterprise tends to gradually implement what will ultimately be a paradigm shift in the way it does business.
- By addressing key workflows one at a time, organizations gain the ability to make meaningful changes in certain areas without disruption operations as a whole.
However, this approach brings some confusion on the table.
The most common being- what to implement first? After all, many business activities are interrelated to the extent of being dependent on one another.
For example, think about what will be the impact of purchasing on accounting and inventory? Will you implement inventory first, then accounting and then purchasing? An organization can’t reasonably expect to automate one aspect of their business while leaving the rest mired in the same old manual practices.
This is the reason why many ERP Platforms have a core set of modules. Apart from providing a firm foundation to build a fully dynamic business model, it also provides a flexible approach to suit multiple unique business requirements. This helps the business fulfill their individual requirements which might be a challenge otherwise.
For example, a service provider will not require manufacturing automation and it’s related modules. Thus, a modular approach allows businesses to use only what they require.
With the flexibility that the modular approach offers in the a la carte form, what remains interesting is to see how these individual core models are designed to be able to cater to a vast set of industries.
Here are the core modules that are most of the leading ERP systems comprises:
- Human Resources
Perhaps one of the most complex operations in any enterprise is that of the HR department. It encompasses everything from attendance, leaves payroll and benefits management to hiring and conflict resolution. It also has capabilities to enforce policies and regulations.
An ERP solution for the HR management can target all these functions from attendance to payroll, in a much more streamlined and efficient manner.
- Purchasing
It incorporates vendor management, invoice management, contracts, billing, quotes and so on. One key benefit is the ability to more accurately assess the needs of the organization against its consumption of goods and services.
ERP solutions for purchasing ensure that the vendors, their invoices, contracts, billing, and quotes are all well managed. This would help the organization not only keep a record of the purchase history but would also help in managing other related modules such as inventory and finance.
- Inventory/ Supply Chain
In many cases, these are individual modules, but they are basically two sides of the same coin. Supply chain management (SCM) ensures the proper flow of resources from source to manufacturing to distribution and eventually to the customer.
Inventory management tries to make the best use of resources that you have. Managing both under an ERP platform can help spot the weak points in these processes and lead to a more efficient and profitable business model.
An ERP solution targeting these modules would ensure that the proper supply chain is maintained at each stage right from the procurement of raw materials, till the final dispatch of the finished product. This helps you address all the bottlenecks that appear at the different stages which could affect the overall operations.
- Sales
Considered as the holy grail for any business, sales and marketing are often executed based on assumptions and not actual data. When using an ERP, the enterprise gains insights from their own data and optimize their sales/marketing channels to make optimum use of them. This data also helps in exploring new opportunities, monitoring expenses and a lot of other factors.
- Production/ Manufacturing
Whether it’s a simple tool or complex equipment, the production process is often full of inefficiency. ERP solutions for the production modules can make the coordination of the entire process very simple and efficient. Right from designing the prototypes to the full-scale assembly line, these ERP solutions make sure each of the activities is streamlined.
Since the production module is connected to other modules such as inventory, it also simplifies storage and distribution. Along the way, it can also improve capacity and production planning.
- Accounting/ Finance
Everything is ultimately connected to accounting. Whether buying materials from vendors or selling the end product, the accounting module is involved in almost every aspect of the business. It also handles the most complex part of the finance- Taxes.
Since the introduction of GST in India, many ERP systems have implemented GST in their accounting modules. The ERP solutions not only make the accounting process easy but also compliant to the government norms, helping the organization maintain their due compliances in regular practice.
In a nutshell
ERP systems bring a lot on the table and sometimes, their implementation can be overwhelming due to a lot of interdependence among them. However, having a modular approach can be the key to successful implementations, as it makes things easier, by keeping individual operations separate as modules while interconnecting them for better functioning.
As an organization, if you are on the lookout for an ERP solution that meets all your business requirements and improves your productivity; then, CitrusLeaf could help you design the ERP system modules with the ERPNext Development services, that could streamline your operations, making them a lot more efficient.
Feel free to write to us at hello@citrusleaf.in or contact us to discuss how our ERP solutions could transform your modules and channelize the operations seamlessly.