A robust Enterprise Resource Planning solution can help you manage your inventory and processes to save you real money today and in the future. Make sure you fully take advantage of your software and features to make your people and business more efficient and streamlined. Below are the top ten ways I have seen software save client’s money.
1. Keep Your Data Organized
Your information is critical to your success, so keeping it organized and easy is paramount. Information is required at all levels of your organization to support faster and better decisions. Reports that will give users the information they need in a short amount of time will not only save you money but provide you with accurate data to run your business.
2. Maximize Your Investments
Your ERP software should be able to calculate rates and bill according to your business model. Adding that to utilization reports allows you to track which equipment is generating the most revenue and help you determine the right inventory and pricing mix.
3. Accurately Track Inventory
One of the most important aspects of an ERP software is to be able to accurately track items and equipment that you have in stock. This can save you money by preventing over ordering and cut down on time searching for items.
4. Make Reordering Easier
Reordering stock on a timely basis can be a costly challenge to your business. Your ERP software should provide you with automatic triggers based on current inventory make reordering easy and efficient.
5. Control Transportation Costs
It is important for your ERP software to provide you with a tool that will allow for scheduling multiple deliveries to your customer’s job site. Cutting down on trips back and forth from the yard to the site will cut down on fuel and man hours while meeting your customer’s needs by delivering the equipment on time.
6. Control Damage Costs
A mobile solution allows yard and transport people to record the condition of equipment during check out and check in. Drivers can take photos of the equipment and capture customer signatures upon pick up or delivery. This should help with recouping any damage that happened when your customer was renting your equipment.
7. Cut Your Employee Training Costs
Every ERP solution should have an online help center that will provide your users with training guides, FAQ, videos, white papers and manuals that your users can go to learn more about the system. This will help cut down on billable training and the need to hire more individuals to support the software.
8. Money Owed and Not Collected Can Cost You Thousands of Dollars
There should be a quick and easy way to track outstanding invoices and make follow up efficient. Some ways to achieve this are through an AR aging, credit call list and credit follow ups.
9. Reconcile Bank Statements Faster
Make sure your Accounting department does not spend days trying to reconcile the bank statement. An easy way to cut down on time spent is if your ERP software lets you see what payments hit your bank account. This makes daily reconciliation more of a reality and allows for better visibility of what is actually hitting your bank account.
10. Reduce Capital Expenditures
Reducing your infrastructure costs is one way that can save you money. If your ERP solution provides a hosted or SaaS option, you can cut your upfront costs and instead pay a predictable monthly fee. Not only does this cut down on the resources needed to maintain your own system but it saves on upgrade fees throughout the life of the software.
If your ERP provider is not supporting these areas of your business, you might want to explore alternatives.
