What would you like your Management System to do?
When asked by your IT Service Provider, “What would you like your Management System to do for your business”, you should already have a list of the exact business areas and aspects that need improving. Perhaps you’ll want to be able to send out invoices quicker, complete customer orders faster, ship out deliveries on time, receive purchase orders electronically, eliminate manual data entry for these orders, etc.
Therefore, in order to figure all of this out, you’ll need to make a list of your company’s pain points and problems (these can be issues your company is currently facing and/or issues you may foresee in the future).
Here are some examples of common business pain points:
Management System: Problems & Solutions
For example, one key area many companies see as a huge pain point is manual order entry in their Customer Service department. Day in, day out, this team is spending most of their time inputting orders manually in their current software system. This time could be spent on other important tasks such as handling customer inquiries, assisting in selling the company’s products and services, maintaining customer accounts, answering telephone calls, etc.
The solution to this specific problem is EDI. All orders and invoices are automatically received and sent straight to and from your management system without any human intervention. Plenty of hours a day are freed up with EDI. Your team can now focus on their own duties and responsibilities and keep customers satisfied.
Another example, deals with the management and tracking of goods at a company’s warehouse. Currently, there are far too many manufacturers who have not yet eliminated their paper-based processes. If you walk into one of these warehouses, you’ll still see employees carry around paper pads and pens to record data. It can be very difficult for managers to properly track all inventory/items in order to ensure all order and shipments are completed and delivered on time and to know where all items are placed in the warehouse.
Going paperless would entail these employees to use handheld devices (barcode scanners), to scan incoming and outgoing boxes or items, where this data is seamlessly integrated in their management system. Managers will be able to view real-time changes in the warehouse as soon as they occur. The solution to this problem would be a Warehouse Management System (WMS).
Another common issue companies face is in relation to reporting and analytics. In many cases, small business owners rely on their employees to provide progress reports or the information they require to make decisions. A pain point for these companies would be the reliance on others to make fast and accurate decisions. Owners and executives should have all the right information at their fingertips at all times. Some decisions may need to be made quickly without relying on key people (what if these people are on vacation or absent or quit?).
All of this can be solved with a Business Intelligence solution (like Tableau) integrated within an integrated management system (like ErpWizard), where all data is sitting in ONE database. Business Intelligence & Analytics allow managers to gain value from their data in order to answer deeper questions and make tougher decisions. Nowadays, it’s critical to visualize your data to explore questions, uncover insights and share stories with your employees, customers, etc. It’s about getting the right data to the right people, quickly!
These are just a few key examples of pain points and solutions. Therefore, once you are able to identify your own company’s main issues or limitations and understand what functions or features are required to solve these problems, you’ll know exactly what to look for and which questions to ask your IT Service Provider. On top of this, once you’ve implemented the right system, you’ll know how to track improvements and find opportunities for growth.
If you need help in identifying your pain points, don’t hesitate to reach out for a free consultation.
