Businesses that successfully improve efficiency stand to reduce operating costs while improving the effectiveness and profitability of their operations. While many fresh produce companies employ siloed applications and manual business processes, best-in-class companies exploit efficient ERP technology.
By optimising your ERP solution, you can automate key business processes leading to more consistent, streamlined operations. You can effectively share information across departments, locations, and countries to eliminate costly errors and improve visibility. Having an efficient ERP software gives you flexible tools to analyse operational data to proactively manage business exceptions and improve strategic planning.
1. Managing risks from the beginning
All ERP software implementation project comes with an element of risk. What’s important is knowing your industry, what can cause risk and how to mitigate it. Our specialised implementation team is trained in managing and mitigating risks. Our project managers are trained PM’s but come from the Fresh Produce industry which is one of the key reasons companies select us as their ERP partner. We understand their daily challenges.
2. Set your KPI´s
Measuring the performance of your ERP system is an important part of being able to validate the investment you made or continue to make over time. Set specific goals and KPIs that you can work against once the new system is in place;
- Operations – target an increase in productivity (time saving, doing more with less)
- Sales – better information, more informed decisions (customer specifications delivered on)
- Quality – end to end traceability and compliance done at the push of a button
- Finance – Accurate information delivering daily profitability
- Better meetings – more energy spent planning for the future as opposed to discussing issues in the past
3. Know your business processes and standardise them
Standardise business processes and data. ERP-Systems provide the vehicle to enable all applications share a single definition of data, processing rules and format standards. Convert static hard-copy and non-integrated reports to a dashboard format or purpose-built reports to save time and energy, ensuring users have access to real-time data.
Our software provides flexible and agile methods for interfacing with different applications to retrieve the required data. This data can the ne optimised and presented in a value-add manner that makes sense to the business. We give you the tools to do your job efficiently.
4. Setup controls to support management of customers
According to Data Analytics, almost 40% of invoices are paid with delay, nearly 20% of customers avoid adhering to credit terms, and nearly 50% of them delay their payments and ask for another payment extension. Set up financial limits that will lock and block any new orders being placed by customer or customer group who reached that limit. This becomes an important control in managing cashflow, even more important in today’s trading environment.
5. Integrate your interfaces all in one
Picking best-of-breathe software shows your commitment to business and drive to be the best. Integration of interfaces is a way of connecting ERP software to other systems to ensure that consistent information is shared while also automating workflows. It is useful because they are affecting the relationships between ERP software and other systems.
An Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) is a set of rules and principles for integrating numerous applications together over a bus-like infrastructure. ESB products enable users to build an architecture where you integrate different applications by putting a communication bus between them and then enable each application to talk to the bus. This decouples systems from each other, allowing them to communicate without dependency on or knowledge of other systems on the bus.
6. Where possible move data, not paper
Inefficiently managed or outdated supply chain process is a liability that no business can afford to overlook. Integrate your system with customers and suppliers so that data can flow quickly and accurately. ERP systems should be setup to allow seamless data flow, reducing duplication while maintaining data integrity safeguards and security.
When you integrate your Supply-Chain processes in Keelings Knowledge KBS you will have a more flexible supply chain s to meet the needs of changing circumstances. Furthermore, you will be able deliver your products and services to end-line consumers with greater speed, efficiency and overall quality.
7. Involve your end users
When implementing an ERP system, many organizations focus their time and effort on gaining approval at board level. Being user conscious is important. Take the time to talk with your ERP end-users not just from IT, but across the entire business. You should have invested in ongoing super-user and end-user training to ensure all users are compliant with your ERP system.
Our experience has shown end-users have hands-on knowledge, expertise and proximity to your software and processes. Engage them when considering change, updates and customisation. This initial investment will pay dividends in the long run.
8. Don’t be overwhelmed by features
Features are important, but they are not everything. Too often, an organization selects the ERP that has the biggest feature matrix. It is more important to have the right features that deliver value for the organisation. Over 92% of our features are used by our Clients. We only develop functionality that delivers for the industry.
9. Use your Business Intelligence for forecasting
Planning creates a culture of management by exception. Use the Business Intelligence of your ERP-Software instead for predictive analysis. Monitor and measure data and identify opportunities to cut costs, reduce waste, improve productivity and boost sales. Have the numbers tell the real story of performance.
10. Have a maintenance plan for your software
Having a set plan and assigning who in the company is responsible for the project and maintenance at a given time will ensure the ERP system is always running smoothly and is up to date with the latest applications.
Keelings Knowledge have two releases per year. We conduct continual business process information gathering to continually streamline our full offering and to lead future trends in the Fresh Produce industry.
“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” – Bill Gates
Is your ERP software running as efficiently as it should?
Call us to speak to one of our fresh produce industry expert consultants about how you can streamline your processes and begin operating an efficient ERP software solution today.