ERP Software

Project ERP Software

ERP software handles a business’ manufacturing, logistics, distribution, inventory, shipping, invoicing, and accounting. Different from front office systems such as customer relationship management programs that manage customer-related issues, ERP systems perform back office functions. ERP software works to integrate all functional departments of an organization under one system.

ERP systems accommodate all types of industries, including software development, healthcare, manufacturing, and government.  The answer to the question of what ERP software is best for a medium sized and project based company is complicated, however. Although ERP software is broadly available and extensively used today, it is not a simple undertaking to locate a suitable product for a project based company. Most Project ERP Software is designed to the specifications of a manufacturing company. Although all ERP systems profess to satisfy the requirements of any business, regardless its size, this is not necessarily so.  In particular, coming across a system that covers all the aspects a project based company entails is complicated.

It is obvious that for any business, the move to ERP is a project of breathtaking scope. In addition to software costs, a company understands it will have to pay for consulting, process rework, integration testing, training, and implementation expenses before the benefits of the new ERP software will even begin to be manifested. Armed with this knowledge, why is it that so many businesses still walk away from multi-million dollar ERP Projects?

Research has shown that companies abandon an ERP software project because the software purchased turns out not to support one of their most important operational processes. Therefore, before initiating a search for ERP, businesses need to first discover whether standard ERP software will work, or whether something special and specific will have to be designed.

For project based businesses the answer is clear. No matter which software is purchased, Project companies should expect to have the new ERP software customized. In a project organization, calculating demand, predicting inventory for future orders, and budgeting the cost of inventory on a project basis is crucial. It is only with those numbers that a business will be able to maintain accurate inventory supplies –neither over burdening the budget and the warehouses, nor failing to have enough inventory on hand. And, while it is true that most ERP systems have a feature controlling inventory management, this same software lacks features that handle project based accounting. And that is something that business solution ERP software needs to include in order to be effective in a project based organization.

Written by :

Amy Cruz