Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP is one of the most talked-about processes management tools today. Research and statistics suggest that ERP market trends are booming and will continue to do so in the near future. But, why? What is it about ERP that’s making almost all business owners pay close attention? Why is custom ERP software development so important? By the end of this article, you will know.
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What is Custom ERP Software?
Custom ERP software is a type of software that helps companies manage their operations efficiently, automate processes, and streamline data management.
ERP is a process management tool or software program that lets an organization use a set of applications by integrating them into one custom ERP system. This means that all the core processes come under one roof called ERP, which makes management a piece of the cake.
Source: Inno
ERPs may sound quite simple but they are a force to reckon with. It uses the latest and most advanced technological innovations including AI and machine learning to ensure that the integration of various processes is seamless and intelligent.
What are the Benefits of a Custom ERP Solution?
Are seamless management and better communication between teams the only benefits enterprises can enjoy with ERP market trends? While these are the most obvious benefits, there are many more that enterprises can enjoy after implementation. Let’s take a look at a few:
Source: WorkWise
- Operations will become crystal clear, enabling business leaders to scan through results in real-time and see what’s happening at the exact moment.
- Tedious tasks are not just streamlined but also automated.
- It is easily accessible remotely (off-site), making its use very convenient no matter where one may be.
- Identifying challenges become easier.
- There’s a noted increase in the efficiency in finding solutions and implementing them.
- The productivity of the team goes up.
- It improves the efficiency of the entire team.
- Success is accelerated with ERP because the team now has instant access to useful tools and data.
- The data is secure.
- It can be completely customized. This means that you can choose a custom ERP solution and tailor it to suit your needs – nothing more, nothing less.
Are there any disadvantages?
Yes, just like the overused phrase goes, every coin has two sides. There are a handful of disadvantages that an ERP solution comes with. We have mentioned them here:
- It is very expensive. When you calculate the costs of the software, its implementation, and its maintenance, you will see just how big a dent it can create in your bank account.
- It is complicated. When you explore a customize ERP software solution, you will see just how many features and capabilities it comes with. It is quite easy to lose sight and get lost in the spiral. This leads to improper implementation and usage.
Do you Need Custom ERP Software Development?
Sure, custom ERP comes with a wide range of benefits, and it looks like a sweet deal but do you even need ERP? What type of businesses will actually benefit from it? Must you choose it for your business? Let’s see:
- Is there a lot of manual work in the organization? Can this work be automated?
- Is access to data a tricky process? Is that affecting your decision-making abilities?
- Do you work with vendors across the globe?
- Do you and your team members spend hours gathering information?
- Do you have little or no clue about the inventory and day-to-day progress?
- Are you unable to access important data when you are away or through mobile?
- Are you worried about data security?
If most of your answers are YES, you need customize ERP immediately. It will make your life easy and your work highly efficient. We understand that the costs scare you but remember, proper implementation will help your business improve productivity, which will, in turn, lead to an increase in revenue.
Need for Customized ERP Software Development
ERP software is used to integrate the core functions in an organization, such as purchasing, sales, customer services, and accounting. They help to improve the efficiency of the organization by automating repetitive tasks. However, the needs of each organization differ and it is important to have custom ERP solutions that are tailored to meet the requirement and complexity of the organization.
Building an organization-specific custom ERP solution is generally expensive and is only viable for large companies. For most organizations, it is better to get modular ERP software and customize its features according to the organizational structure and demand. This is as effective as building custom ERP solutions from the ground up but at a fraction of the cost.
The main task of the ERP solution is to gather data from the various departments of the organization and present them in a rational way after analysis. It helps the management in making data-driven decisions by extracting, organizing, and interpreting bits and pieces of disjointed information from the different departments.
The interconnections between the departments and organizational structure affect the efficiency of the custom ERP software. When the complexity of the organizational structure increases, custom ERP solutions also need to be modified accordingly.
Top 5 Advantages of a Customized ERP Solution
Custom ERP solutions have added advantages over ready-to-use solutions.
1. You Pay For What You Use
Off-the-shelf ERP products have a set of features that you have to pay for irrespective of whether you use it or not. Not only do you have to pay the full price of the product but you also have to pay for the features that are absent as add-ons. This adds up to a significant amount spent on custom ERP development.
Instead, you can choose a software developer, or contact the vendor to create a custom ERP version for your organization in which you pay for only those required features. This adds functionality that is tailor-made for the needs of your organization and helps in getting the best ERP solution given the budget that you have.n
The vendors can also help to better understand the needs of your organization and suggest the features that would be suitable. ERP customization is done by taking into account the nature of the business and industry, the number of departments, units, and employees, the level of technology already used in the organization, and a number of other factors to improve the custom ERP solution.
2. Optimizes the Workflow Without Changing It
Every organization has its own method of working and off-the-shelf ERP software may not be compatible with the workflow. So you may have to change it depending on the pattern that the software has built into. This also means training employees anew.
This disruption in the workflow may result in significant losses in terms of productivity and efficiency that may not be limited to the short term.
A manufacturing ERP solution, on the other hand, will be able to integrate into the workflow of your organization without any additional changes. The employees would have to be trained to use the custom ERP development only to integrate it into their activities in order to minimize the repetitive and mundane tasks as well as for data input and getting the required data from the ERP solution. This would end up making the workflow more efficient without causing a disruption.
3. Improved Overall Performance
Due to the greater compatibility of the custom ERP solution over that of the off-the-shelf solutions, the overall performance of the software gets a boost. The software is specifically designed to achieve higher performance rates and improved application availability than its ready-to-use counterparts.
Since the customized software is modular, it is easy to reconfigure them to adapt to the business’s growth and incorporate new products, departments, and units. Even without increasing the workforce, the organization will be able to handle a large influx of business partners, customers, suppliers, and optimize itself based on the new regulations.
It allows users to extract relevant information from a large database. It focuses on reporting the data in a visual and numeric manner to enable fast decision-making backed by accurate data.
4. Better User Interface
Custom ERP development primarily deals with data and its presentation. The users in the organization may vary from the employees, experts, management, and outsiders such as creditors and suppliers. Thus ERP customization helps you to modify the presentation of the data depending on the type of user.
A simple and efficient user interface makes it easier to navigate the software, access the correct data, understand the analysis correctly, and make the right decision at the right time.
5. Combined Report For All The Departments
As mentioned throughout this article, ERP customization improves the overall performance of various departments including
- Customer relations
- Inventory
- Supply chain
- Human Resources
- Purchasing
- Sales
- Finance
- Engineering
- Manufacturing
All the departments have their own set of data and analysis reports dealing with the aspects they are interested in. But for the proper management of the organization, it is required that all these reports are unified to ascertain the effect of each stimulus.
A customized ERP software is able to present a unified report in addition to the separate departmental reports, highlighting the results from each department in a simplified manner that all can understand. The system of single reporting helps in simplifying the analysis of statistics within the organization.
Things to Remember While Choosing a Customized ERP Solution
The most common errors that people make while selecting the ERP solution for their organization are:
- They do not analyze the requirements of their organization and the employees, thus lacking a solid strategy.
- Preferring specific features to perform certain actions rather than features that enable the organization to have a competitive advantage.
- Make the selection based on the cost consideration while compromising on the quality of the software.
What is the Cost of Customizing ERP Software?
The cost of customizing ERP software depends on the size of your company, the complexity of its operations, and the number of employees. The average cost ranges between $1,000 and $30,000.
Conclusion
ERP customization is an investment opportunity for organizations for small and medium enterprises to optimize workflow and boost growth. This makes it extremely important that the best custom ERP software is selected based on the organization’s needs.
To get optimized benefits from the software, while choosing the custom ERP solutions, you should take input from the employees about their needs and vendors about the feasibility of having certain features and the features used by other organizations in your industry.
Rohit Rajpal is an accomplished writer and data enthusiast passionate about unraveling the intricacies of information and data. With a deep understanding of the subject matter, Rohit strives to simplify complex concepts and make them accessible to readers. Rohit’s expertise in the field and his knack for clear and concise communication make his blog an invaluable resource for those seeking clarity in the data-driven world.
