Imagine for a few seconds that you can have all the results and data from the actions carried out in your business available to use, so you can achieve more efficient and controlled results.
Let me tell you a story. It was the 1960s, a decade of major social changes and innovation. Many inventions were being developed, including systems to improve inventory management and control in order to maintain an adequate stock level.
The 1970s arrived and new technologies emerged around the world. With them came the Production Control and Automation System, but that was not enough.
The 1980s arrived and the Planning and Control System for all production processes in our business was created. We were moving forward more and more. By the 1990s, we were already controlling the internal and external processes of our companies, meaning we were able to know everything necessary for perfect planning.
Was this enough?
It was not enough. We combined everything so you can enjoy the benefits of each of these systems in one place: the ERP System.
An ERP System (Enterprise Resource Planning) is a corporate resource planning and regulation system that covers everything from production to distribution, and even human resources. In short, it is a system that allows the integration of several company operations.
With an ERP System, you save time and effort, make decision-making easier, and organize the different pillars of your company in a concrete way, such as:
- Revenue
- Expenses
- Inventory
- Cash flow
- Bank reconciliation
- Sales
- Human resources
- Accounting
- Marketing
In short, a business management system is one that makes a company more effective and improves its results, with the goal of achieving benefits or objectives in the shortest possible time.
How can an ERP System help you?
1- Time savings
It allows you to execute your company’s processes in the shortest possible time to reach proposed goals and achieve the best results. By saving your employees that process, you obtain greater efficiency and lower margins of error.
2- Standardized processes
If you are already reducing time in your processes, it is time to standardize them with a single tool across all work areas. This helps create more efficient operations in a shorter period of time, until automated operations are achieved.
3- Assertive decision-making
When making decisions, the system supports you with concrete data that helps you analyze the best options. You will be able to have accurate reports, process data, and complete analysis in the desired area.
4- More information security
The main characteristic of ERP Systems is information security, because you have a database that protects everything necessary about your company, seeking to safeguard documents, statistics, and reports while preventing their loss.
- Security is achieved by applying certain measures that ensure strict control over the information that enters and leaves the ERP System.
- Information is contained within a single server, which only specialized staff trained in using it can access.
- The server is restricted to the company’s local network, and only certain users have access to it.
- All data recorded in the system is encrypted, reducing complications and allowing recovery at any time.
- All movements are recorded, making it possible to know which user performed the action, how, and from which terminal.
The system includes a tool that performs backups of the system database, preventing information loss due to failures such as electrical problems or attempts to violate its integrity.
5- Reduced operating costs
The ERP System automates operational processes, reducing the number of employees needed, improving organization, and increasing productivity. This reduces the likelihood of errors that could increase costs if they occur.
How to choose the best ERP system?
When we talk about choosing a system to manage your company’s processes, you must take several beneficial factors into account, including:
1- Define your needs
Know what you need the system to cover and what you do not. It is essential to know what you want when acquiring it. Properly studying your company’s needs will help you choose the right system.
Not having this clear can cause misalignment. We even see systems that are no longer implemented because they fail to meet a company’s needs.
2- Check the features
Once you know the needs that fit your company, it is good to check the features of each option to know whether you prefer custom software, fully adapted to your business model, or standardized software that performs the basic functions of any company.
3- Evaluate the complexity of the company
Knowing how complex your company is is one of the key points. You can understand this by its size, whether it is an international company that handles different languages and currencies or, on the contrary, a local company. It is also important to know its flexibility to adapt to new internal and external scenarios.
The level of technologies it implements, its business management systems, and the legal instruments at its service also indicate how complex a company is.
In addition, knowing the processes carried out within the company will help define the type of ERP System you decide to use. It is necessary to assess whether the system is for a small or medium-sized business (SMEs) or for a large company.
Selecting an ERP system suited to the complexity of the processes is essential to helping the company grow. There is a general idea that the more features the system has, the better it will be. In fact, the opposite is true: implementing this type of software with too many functions can cause it to fail and represent additional expense and loss of value.
4- Verify cases from other companies using the system
You can find many references from companies that use a specific ERP System. An easy way is to visit the websites of system providers, where you will find cases of companies that are their clients. Review these cases and try to speak with some companies that already use the system you intend to implement.
5- Consider how easy the system is to implement
When choosing ERP software, you must take into account the ease offered to your employees. However, in the short term, you should know that proper use of this system requires training. Look for a company to install the software that offers training, provides retraining if necessary, and also helps you in case of daily usage complications.
6- Establish the budget
You must establish a budget for what you can invest in the system and take into account that the more customized the tool is, the higher its cost will be. Obviously, this also increases the benefits of the ERP system for your company.
Inventiva ERP System
Do you want to take your company to another level?
I want to tell you a little about our system, the Inventiva ERP System. It is a tool fully adapted to Paraguay that will allow you to reduce processes, speed up decision-making, and obtain accurate results.
With Inventiva’s ERP System, you will be able to automate and control all your company’s processes, achieving better results. This tool can be implemented in:
- Purchasing
- Inventory
- Product outputs.
- Inventory invoicing automation
- Tax reports
- Budget reports
- Sales ranking information
- Centralized management of multiple companies and business units
- Export and import module
- Contract modules
- Production control
- Management information
- Among other resources, with more than 100 modules at your disposal.
In short, you will achieve greater integration, which equals greater productivity for your company, achieving outstanding results and process optimization for higher profits in the shortest possible time.
Therefore, I want to conclude by saying that integrating an ERP System is not for just any company, but for those that truly want to achieve different and impressive results that meet their established goals.
Do you want to learn more about our system?
Here is the Grupo Barr case study, its challenges, including a system that would adapt to its processes, and how the ERP system was implemented in the companies that make up the group.
