Small Business Challenge

A small, five-person manufacturing company has the same requirements as a General Motors in that they both need to order raw materials, receive them into a warehouse, manufacture a product, sell the product, deliver the product, invoice the customer, collect the money, and account for it all at the end of the year.

But, the five-person manufacturing company doesn't have the money, personnel, or skills to implement SAP, PeopleSoft, or the traditional ERP solutions most all of which are cost-prohibitive to a small business.

As a result, many small businesses are forced to "piece together" systems from multiple different vendors. This causes needless hours to be spent rekeying data, critical company information to be stored on individual personal computers, or worse, on pieces of paper, where the data is not available to others in the organization and cannot be accessed in real time.

These disparate systems not only increase support costs and lower customer satisfaction, but they actually inhibit productivity due to the time and resources needed to compile simple but accurate management reports or even close the books every month.

ERP Software Overview

A common database is the system that allows every department of a company to store and retrieve information in real-time so that the data is entered only once and then shared through the system so that any authorized employee has access to all of the information and functions needed to perform their jobs. Using a common database also allows the information to be more reliable, accessible, and easily shared.

A modular software design is a variety of programs that can be added on an individual basis, usually as "modules", to improve the efficiency of different functional areas of the business. These modules link into the common database, so that all of the information between the departments is accessible in real time.

These modules can include functions for Sales Management, Warehouse Management, Financial Management, Supply Chain Management, Manufacturing Resource Planning, Human Resources, and much more.

There are several methodologies to implementing enterprise resource planning systems and it's important, before beginning and implementation to put the proper time into planning and understanding business, and all departemental functional requirements as well as existing systems and processes.

Regardless of whether you choose to deploy an ERP system on a departmental or divisional level, or for the entire enterprise, it's critical to select the right application and to have the knowledge and skills to successfully plan and integrate the data and processes from all areas of the business.

For more information on CYOP's open source ERP solutions, please contact us or signup for a FREE Business Process Assessment.