New Delhi, May 4 (KNN)  Technological advancement has helped introduce many positive changes to the way in which we do business today.  Many small businesses are looking to technology to help them become more efficient and productive and ERP software solutions can help.
 
Short for enterprise resource planning, ERP is business management software that allows an organisation to use a system of integrated applications to manage the business, according to Webopedia.  ERP software integrates all facets of an operation including development, manufacturing, sales and marketing.

EzineMark.com in an article has stated the benefits of implementing an ERP system, explaining that SMEs too can reap benefits offered by ERP software solutions. 

“The two biggest benefits of ERP implementation are increased productivity and improved efficiency of customer service.  The main objective of ERP is to facilitate flow of information between different departments, reduce data redundancy and ensure availability of consistent and reliable business data for informed decisions,” author Rajesh Shetty (from Mumbai based software company) said.

He recommends ERP for better collaboration within an organisation, its suppliers and clients; to manage costs; and better visibility of inventory.

ERP software consists of many enterprise software modules that are individually purchased, based on what best meets the specific needs and technical capabilities of the organisation. 
 
Each ERP module, said Webopedia, is focused on one area of business processes, such as product development or marketing.  Some of the common ERP modules include those for product planning, material purchasing, inventory control, distribution, accounting, marketing, finance and HR.
 
Over the years, ERP has been increasingly recommended for the efficient functioning of an organisation’s business activities. 
 
Eresource too believes that ERP can help the MSME sector.  “Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) will be playing a major role in growth of small and medium size industries in India apart from contributing largely into the big business enterprises,” it said.

So why is ERP important to a company?  When an ERP system is implemented, information flows constantly and allows you to follow a client’s process at any moment, no matter which part of the process they are going through.  “Purchases and expenditures are registered in a centralized database which allows you to have close control over these activities. In this regard ERP helps you to prevent possible abuse,” eresource adds.

Further, a powerfully integrated ERP system enables interactions of marketing, sales, quality control, products processes, supply lines, stocks and many other areas and it can be in a single database. This will eliminate the occasional loss of and retyping errors. It integrates all departments and functions across a company in a single computer system that is able to serve all those different department's particular needs.

Thus an ERP system automates business processes by placing them into a useful format that is standardized and common for the whole organization.  (KNN)