6 Ways Right Enterprise Resource Planning Software Can Improve Your Business

Have you ever wished for a glimpse into the future before making an important decision for your business? While psychic powers may not be a viable option, the right data and analysis can be just as powerful. The quality of a prediction and the ability to solve a problem is proportionate to the amount of past and present data held.

Does your fresh produce business struggle with any of the following problems?

1.     Disconnected, inefficient systems across your organization (i.e. sales, marketing, finance)

2.     Difficulty accessing data and generating insights

3.     Overworked employees due to too many tedious manual processes

4.     Inconsistencies in procedures, processes, and communication

5.     Delayed productivity due to lack of automation

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you might want to take a closer look at whether your enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is the right solution for your business. An ERP should provide the missing data and insights that will better equip you to make decisions and tackle the complex issues faced by the fresh produce industry - but not just any ERP can do this.

Before you invest in an ERP solution, consider the 6 key things the right ERP should do for your company:

1.     Provide Enhanced Data Availability

The number 1 goal of an ERP software is to make available the data needed to perform the actions of the business more efficient and effective. It should aggregate cross-functional data to enhance business as usual performance as well as provide specialized analysis to drive deeper insights to the business.

2.     Display Real-time Data Records

A fully integrated ERP means it should record the data of any process as it happens, in real-time, to allow you to streamline or automate manual processes. AKA: Less tedious data entry by your already over-committed employees.

3.     Calculate Instantly and Consistently

During or after a task is completed, calculations should be performed with the data that is gathered. This allows you to record the quantitative impact of all business activity in real-time so there is no delay in efficiency.

4.     Streamline Workflows and Processes

An ERP should coordinate, perform and capture processes for any core business transaction. This allows the system to trigger and coordinate the next action by making that data available to other functions of the company. For example, once a transaction is completed, that data should feed accounting processes to automatically trigger payments and stay on top of cash flow.

5.     Dive Deep with Data Granularity

An ERP must integrate all the data and all the processes at the consignment level because every consignment is unique. The result is that your business is able to quickly draw unique, data-driven insights. 

6.     Implement and Improve with Learnings

Finally, you AND your ERP operator should continually learn from feedback to iterate and improve. Artificial intelligence should not be left alone to decipher the ever-changing needs of fresh produce. Only when cutting edge AI meets strong collaboration between the ERP software provider who is immersed in the industry and the individual fresh produce company can these challenges begin to be tackled and performance continually fine-tuned.

The inner workings of the fresh produce industry are far too complex for a “one size fits all” ERP solution; rather this industry must rely on software that is specifically tailored to the unique challenges faced from the field to facility to farm truck. The right ERP will allow you to become fully integrated to give you a greater ability to take the performance of each part of your system as well as the whole into account when making predictions for future outcome.

Prophet is a fresh produce focused ERP that delivers all of these solutions and more to fresh produce businesses. Our robust platform has been built and perfected to provide granular, pallet by pallet, consignment by consignment inventory control for all aspects of data processing and profitability reporting.

Call us today on +1 661 200 7812 or email us at info@prophetize.com. We would love to answer any questions or schedule a demo with you.