Struggling with an Outdated ERP System?

Outdated ERP system can be detrimental to an organization in many ways. It is the biggest hurdle an organization can meet with.

With an old ERP system, the organization struggles not only internally, but also externally. It’s better for an organization to come out of this confinement and explore new options to growth.

In this blog we will discuss how new ERP solutions can be facilitator of growth and also the role of BatchMaster in making businesses simpler.

Here are the main halts of the blog:

• How To Detect If My ERP System has Become Outdated?
• Effects of an Outdated ERP Software on Your Business?
• How To Bring the Change in ERP Solution??
• Identify the issues which hold you back from a shift?

* Make a team for new system??

* Explore options?

* Finalize the deal??

* Get involved in ERP implementation?

* Make your employees a part of the project?

* Train the employees

• BatchMaster ERP: The New Age ERP Solution?
• Final Thoughts?

How To Detect If My ERP System has become Outdated?\

An outdated ERP system is no less than a liability. An organization having an outdated ERP is more inefficient as an organization having no ERP. But the challenge is how can you figure out that your ERP is really outdated? Here are some signs to identify:

1. Manual data entry – If your existing system does not support end-to-end automation and team still enters data manually, it is a sign of an outdated ERP system.

2. Delayed data – If various departments of your organization get delayed updates of data it is only because your organization needs an ERP or because your organization needs an updated ERP solution.

3. Integration issues – If various systems in your organizations are not integrated to the ERP only because your existing ERP software does not support integration, it signals you need to upgrade your ERP solution.

4. Security risks – If security system of your ERP is not up to date, there are high chances that your ERP is not upgraded and is an outdated one.

5. Higher maintenance cost - If you see a frequent maintenance requirement and expenses then consider it as a red flag and think to get out of the outdated ERP trap.

6. Lack of mobility – Businesses today are fast and highly responsive. If your ERP solution does not provide mobility like cloud ERP and mobile ERP, it is high time to switch to a modern ERP software.

With the signs mentioned above, one can easily find out the trap of outdated ERP.

Effects of an Outdated ERP Software on Your Business

Do you still use typewriter to draft a letter? Do send messages to your peers via a pager? Obviously, your answer is no. Because these technologies are outdated and have no relevance in present fast-moving world context.

Using them today will be like going on foot between two cities in the era of high-speed supercars! It hampers speed, waste time, and consume more resources.

Likewise, an outdated ERP software has lot of effects on your business. Some of which are:

Budget drain – An outdated ERP software eats up budget of innovation and consumes it in maintenance. Therefore, innovation in organization is pulled back, leading to stagnation in the offerings.

Slow business growth – Legacy systems fail to provide data reports. With no reports, management don't have datapoints to plan strategies. Without strategies they can’t move further. Manual reporting takes time which impacts adversely on speed of business growth.

Falls short of compliance – Businesses today are dynamic and so are the regulatory laws. There are frequent changes in various regulatory laws across the world, but the legacy ERP is unaware of the changes. Hence, it does not support new age compliance which eventually calls for penalties to your organization.

Less mobility – The workforce coming in the job market requires mobility. Be it their social media or their work, they want everything mobile.

The old ERP was not designed keeping mobility in mind, leaving workforce to reach office to share orders, customer details, market review, feedback, etc. This reduces their productivity and efficiency.

Not supporting decentralized business – Businesses are decentralized now. Businesses today are setup considering availability of raw material, labour, tax regime of the location, etc. The concept of offshoring is flourishing with the world becoming closer for business.

Old ERPs were not designed to support new decentralization. This conflict handling (various currency, different unit of measure, taxes etc) becomes a task with old ERP systems.

No real-time updates – Businesses having old ERPs lack real-time updates. With lag in time, strategies fail, plans delay, opportunities slip, and businesses suffer.

No support from the vendor- With due course of time companies stop supporting outdated version of software. Your old software might also fall into the same category, risking the functionality of the software.

These are some of the major effects of an outdated ERP system on your business. To bridge the gap and nullify these effects, businesses must deploy modern ERP solution.

Modern ERP systems not only offer shields to these challenges, but they are also future prepared up to some extent.

This brings us to the next section.

How To Bring the Change in ERP Solution??

Changing an ERP system or deploying a new one is always a task for an organization. Besides having financial involvement, the change brings strain in lot of dimensions. But some quick help from this blog can be a saviour and ease out the change process.

Follow these steps to bring the change in your organization:

Identify the issues which hold you back from a shift –

Why you restrained the shift? Is it monitory issue, workforce issue, resistance to change from the employees, not prepared to take the plunge, too comfortable with the old ERP or anything else.

Finding out the issue will help you to steer towards solution with focussed mind.

Make a team for new system –

After finding the issue and solving it, now it is the time to move confidently. Make a team to carry out the important changeover in your organization.

The team must comprise personnel from all departments and all levels. This heterogeneity will give an overall perspective of challenges faced by the organization,?requirement, and expectation from the new ERP system.?

Explore options –

Once you have a clear picture of your requirement and challenges that you want to solve with the new ERP solution, it's time to explore the market. Find out assorted options available.

Arrange a call, explore if the solution is customizable and solves your problems, explore future adaptability, can it be integrated with other software in your organization?

Finalize the option –

After thorough research, and many meetings and demos, finalize the option that suits your requirement and budget. Freeze the option and sign the deal.

Get involved in ERP implementation –

Don’t consider ERP as a standalone project of IT. It requires involvement from the management also. Granular as well as a bird –eye-view of the project is necessary. Get regular updates of the progress of the project.

Let employees be a part of project –

When your employees are part of the project, their apprehensions, their doubts, their jittery regarding the ERP are solved, they will be more at ease with the new ERP solution. This way you can convert employees’ resistance into their cooperation.

Train the employees –

Training expels fear. Initially the employees might fear using the new ERP. Arrange training sessions for your employees to get along with the new software.

Work with your ERP vendor collectively to arrange sessions for quick understanding of the software. Once training is done, your team is ready to take up the challenges and accelerate the growth journey of your organization.

BatchMaster ERP: The New Age ERP Solution

If you are stuck in the trap of the old and outdated ERP, get away from it with new age ERP solution – BatchMaster ERP.

Made especially for process manufacturing industry, BatchMaster ERP has 30 years of experience in providing ERP solution, yet it is advanced and keeps up pace with the latest trends, and compliance.

Moreover, it provides Cloud solution, On- premises solution and Hybrid solution to suit your requirement. Easily integrated with various financial systems like Tally , QuickBooks , Sage , Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central , etc, the solution is tailor made for your vertical and micro- vertical.

Additionally, it provides end-to-end automation, real-time data updates, various reports, and regular updates for security. It supports localization with support for various currencies, UOMs, Languages etc.

In nutshell, this new age ERP solution can meet many requirements and solve many challenges of process manufacturing industry. This will help in better innovation as per consumers’ demand, faster deliveries, and making customers happy.

Final Thought

An old and outdated ERP not only finishes the accounts of an organization, it is a barrier in its growth also. In the world where businesses are fast, mobile, and smart, an old and outdated ERP is a burden to the organization. The faster the organization gets rid of this, the better it is for the organization.

Of all new-age ERP software solutions available in the market today, BatchMaster ERP can be a facilitator of growth. Clients across the world have stamped the claim.?

If you are a process manufacturer, looking forward to getting out of the outdated ERP trap, call BatchMaster now, and grab the unlimited opportunities the growing market offers.?