ERP is an acroynym that stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP is a unique approach when it comes to software, given that its primary purpose is to house all aspects of a business under one system rather than having them separated into multiple costly software systems. Companies are complex, with each different department comes its own set of unique requirements that a software system must fulfill. Many companies spend large sums of money on separate software systems to fulfill their accounting needs, inventory management, human resources, CRM and more. Not only does this solution lend itself to unecessary spending, it also tends to be more complex and time consuming to put together and train off of, given that there will be such stark differences from one system to the next, and combining software isn't always feasible in a timely manner if at all in certain instances. When its time to upgrade, many businesses are choosing to move forward with ERP Systems rather than the more outdated costly solutions they were used to. Cold storage businesses especially would greatly benefit from incorporating an ERP system into their success strategy.
The diagram below displays the typical flow of an average cold storage business utilizing an ERP software system. As you can see, your typical ERP system should incorporate the following aspects for your business. These include but are not limited to: human resources management, customer relationship management, sales management, financials, customer orders, other services provided, WMS activities and inventory management. Your entire business process should be able to be completed from start to finish all within one ERP software system. As a result, all of your information is managed conveniently all in one place.
The concept of having an enterprise resource management is strengthened even more when combined with the use of the cloud. Cloud ERP software systems greatly enhance a company's ability to function for success. Using cloud based systems allows a company to expand without worrying how their current software and hardware configuration will be able to handle and maintain the new growth. This is largely due to the fact that investing in any hardware is typically not even necessary when using the cloud. In addition to the benefit of not needing to purchase any hardware, most cloud based software is backed up using redundant measures to ensure minimal chance for downtime as compared to other software solutions. This allows a company to rest assured when the unexpected happens.