ERP to Improve Supply Chain Management

 

Supply chain management (SCM) is currently a popular topic amongst distribution and manufacturing companies. Being as prepared as possible for potential disruptions is crucial for these industries to remain competitive and productive. As demand and production increase, implementing SCM software and capabilities becomes even more important.

 

ERP solutions, such as SAP Business One, come equipped with functions to increase supply chain management efforts. With a robust ERP system, users can instantly see exactly which resources are being used, how much is in reserve, expected shipment dates, production schedules, and much more. With the support of an ERP, users achieve complete visibility down the entire supply chain. Throughout today’s blog, learn about the benefits an ERP provides to improve supply chain management!

 

Increased Levels of Productivity: ERP solutions increase productivity across all departments by automating tasks that would previously need to be completed manually. Automating production and distribution processes aids in the shipping process, getting orders shipped to customers at a faster rate.

 

Predict Demand Levels: ERP software store historical sales data within the database. This allows users to run demand forecasts to estimate how much product will need to be manufactured in order to fulfill the predicted order requirements. Demand forecasting capabilities is incredibly helpful when implementing supply chain management best practices because it gives an accurate representation of how many components, materials, and products will be needed to satisfy orders. A common supply chain issue is not ordering enough or on the contrast, ordering excess amounts, which is why this ERP feature can prove itself to be extremely beneficial for many different industries. Demand forecasting can also reduce associated costs with overordering components.

 

Complete Supply Chain Visibility: A huge benefit of ERP that helps to improve supply chain management is the ability to see down the entire supply chain with inventory management functionalities. For example, SAP Business One offers inventory management across multiple warehouses and allows users to see all types of inventory such as in-stock, reserved, and purchased amounts. The best part is that Business One automatically updates these levels in real-time, notifying users when there has been a change in inventory due to an order, a shipment arriving to a warehouse etc. Users can also customize inventory management efforts by entering minimum stock level notifications to remind them to order more units when they are running low. These automated features make supply chain management less of a hassle and provides companies with a competitive edge due to the real-time updated inventory levels across multiple warehouses (1).

 

Improved Customer Service: Because ERPs completely integrate all departments, the sales and customer management team can adequately satisfy customer feedback to improve the customer experience. Cross-departmental communication benefits all aspects of a business, and supply chain management is not exempt. Customer feedback can be seamlessly applied to supply chain efforts through manufacturing, design, speed of delivery and more. Customer satisfaction is at the center of a successful business, and ERP allows for users to adequately apply and implement the feedback into business operations (2).

 

In conclusion, supply chain management is an integral business task, and ERP makes the process easy, effective, and accurate. For more information about how to maintain a resilient supply chain with SAP Business One, download our free informational whitepaper here: https://softengine.com/resources/whitepaper/supply-chain-management/

 

For more information about SAP Business One, the leading ERP solution for growing small to midsize businesses, check out our SAP Business One Overview on our website and contact one of our specialists here at Softengine today: [email protected].

 

SAP Business One Overview:  https://softengine.com/product/sap-business-one/

 

Resources

1. https://www.sap.com/insights/what-is-supply-chain-management-scm.html
2. https://www.noitechnologies.com/10-benefits-integrating-erp-software-with-supply-chain-management/