How To Get the Most Out of Your ERP

You invested a lot of time and money into finding the right ERP for your business. To ensure that your ERP remains a relevant and helpful tool in your shop for years to come, you must continue to invest in training and learning long after implementation is over.

Making the Most of Your ERP

Your ERP is a crucial component of your manufacturing business, and your business processes are tied to it, making your ERP provider a long-term partner for your organization.

When purchasing an ERP, buyers look at the product and the implementation phase but rarely what comes after. The expense of getting a new ERP system is significant, meaning you will have the same system in your shop for years or even decades following the initial purchase of the system. A strong partnership with your ERP provider — especially one that supports continuing education — is critical.

Over the years, your ERP provider will help you maintain your level of knowledge about your system as employees come and go, plus further develop your ERP expertise and take on new challenges. To get the most out of your system, you need to continuously invest time into learning and training to become more proficient with your ERP and get new hires up to speed.

Hiring shortages have plagued the manufacturing industry over the last few years, creating more job turnover, and translating into the need for manufacturers to quickly get new hires up to speed. Over the coming decade, millions of new manufacturing jobs will be created within the industry, meaning this problem is here to stay.

Your ERP can help you get new employees trained and ready to hit your shop floor running. Putting money (and time) aside in your budget for continuing education is a good idea. This way, you will ensure that everyone in your shop is on the same page and that you will maintain a consistent level of knowledge — and proficiency — about your ERP.

The features and tools you need from your ERP will also change over time. For example, the material shortages and supply chain disruptions currently afflicting the industry were probably not an issue for you if you implemented your ERP a few years ago — but they are now.

Your ERP can help you cope with and mitigate these new obstacles, but you need to learn how to use your system to do so. A strong partnership with your provider — coupled with an easy-to-access training system — can help you get up-to-speed quickly on new features and succeed for years to come.

Your business is also constantly growing and evolving. A strong partnership with your ERP provider can be the foundation for your growth, giving you the tools and support you need. Your ERP helps you move jobs quickly, efficiently, and effectively through your shop every step of the way. You will be able to increase your profitability with your ERP by accurately measuring job costs, comparing your initial estimate to final expenses, and targeting profit/loss centers. Relying on your ERP provider as a strategic business partner will give you the tools you need to take on new challenges and grow your business.

Continuing Education

An easy-to-use and accessible online training system is a crucial element you should look for in an ERP system. Not only will this make implementation run more smoothly in your shop, but it will also help you to continually improve your knowledge and skills — and get new hires up-to-speed.

RELATED ARTICLE: Don’t be a statistic. Implement an ERP the right way.

Relying on expensive consultants isn’t practical or efficient. The more your company grows, the more knowledge, features, and tools you need — meaning the more you have to pay expensive consultants. Alternatively, if your ERP provider has an online training system, you can access the knowledge and information you need through a self-learning training platform. You will save time and money by reducing on-site consultant days in favor of tailored e-courses that include all the information your team will need to get up to speed quickly and efficiently. Built-in tools will allow you to track your team’s readiness with quizzes and performance metrics.

Partnerships for Growth

Your ERP provider can help you reach your targeted objectives. With ongoing check-ins, your ERP provider can check the health of your ERP system to see if it supports you in the ways you need. Your ERP provider can also review your vision and objectives, help you identify problems or obstacles you will face, and work hand-in-hand with you to create an action plan — and what features you need to implement — to reach your goals. On-going feedback with your ERP provider also gives you the opportunity to let them know what new functions or features your business needs — which can help with product development and gives your ERP provider the ability to create the tools that their customers want.

To learn more about how you can get the most from your ERP, check out our webinar Beyond Your ERP Implementation.