ERPs are powerful tools. Even so, making full use of their capabilities can be difficult without the proper level of integration and customization.
Having the right partner is the key to your success with ERPs. A good consultant partner can analyze your business and help you find the best software solutions.
Future Link IT has a long history of implementing, integrating and supporting multiple ERP platforms. Our approach is to make ERP useful for your organization and easy to use.
Integration
In some cases, an out-of-the box ERP module may not be enough for your business. For seamless functionality, new programs may need to be created or existing software modified. Or, links to other business software may need to be established.
Two of the most common type of integrations include ecommerce and CRM (customer relations management):
- Ecommerce
Efficient ecommerce requires that your ERP be fully integrated with your website. This will, for example, allow your sales portal to reflect actual inventory on hand. When an item is out of stock it can be removed from the site and/or show the customer that it’s on backorder.
In addition, proper integration allows an online order to automatically be created in the system. This helps to avoid the need for the time-consuming multiple entry of the same data point in order to update your inventory, report sales and initiate production or shipping.
- CRM
Many businesses have separate data systems – not all of which are kept up-to-date. Fully integrating your ERP and CRM can help to avoid this problem.
For example, imagine that when a salesperson inputs an address change in the CRM that the address in the accounting module is also updated. With integration, when any information is changed there are simultaneous updates in all locations. In addition, full integration will allow the sales team to see order history, open orders, past invoices, profitability and more.
Ordering Made Easier
Sometimes, the process of creating an order in a system can be a daunting task. Perhaps a single order involves hundreds of items or an order may be kept open for a period of time. In either case, this creates the conditions that can lead to inventory issues and wasted effort.
Integration and customization can help to avoid these types of issues and serve to make your system much more “end-user friendly” and efficient.
For example, we’ve created systems that allow clients to generate orders from quotes and adjust inventory at the completion of a job. Other integrations we’ve implemented have enabled workers to barcode scan items as they are taken off the shelf and even be added to open work orders – all to help simplify the order/inventory process.
Customized Dashboards
Dashboards provide a convenient central workspace for users across platforms. Most ERPs, such as Marcola 10, have a variety of stock user dashboards available. However, these are not always sufficient for your specific business. Fortunately, we can customize and configure these workspaces to meet your requirements.
How Future Link IT Can Help
We’ve developed many solutions over the years to make data entry easier, automate processes, improve inventory accuracy and to meet client specific needs. Call us today to discuss how your business can benefit from a fully integrated, customized ERP system.