What is ERP Software? What is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)?

ERP software is essential to promote growth, employee retention, customer satisfaction, control costs and more...

Okay if you are reading this you are probably familiar with the interdepartmental functions of a company.  Basically you have your accounting department in charge of the back office accounts receivable, accounts payable and general ledger activities, the human resources department in charge of recruiting, employee exits, employee benefit plans, vacation, sick time, etc. The sales department is in charge of cultivating relationships for new business.  The marketing department is in charge of promotions, public relations, pricing and product placement. The customer service department in charge of warranty registration, customer support, complaints etc. and so on and so on.

Many companies start out very small and grow very large.  As a company grows the company may purchase accounting software for the back office needs, customer relationship management (CRM) software for their customer support , sales and marketing related activities, human resources management software (HRMS) for the human resources department, and perhaps materials requirements planning software for the manufacturing side of things.  All these separate software packages are designed for the unique needs of each department.  Often times they are operating independent of one another. 

So what is ERP?  The purpose of  Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is to bring all these separate software systems together under one automated umbrella so each department is running in synch with one another.  For example, your sales people can see the back office accounting data so they don’t have to re key any customer information into their CRM system.  The sales people can also see if accounting is attempting to collect on past due accounts receivable prior to selling their clients more product.  This way the sales people can work more as a team with the accounts receivable personnel to achieve goals.  Another example is the sales people can view inbound marketing inquiries from the website via a pay per click marketing campaign imported into the CRM from website form.  When the lead turns into a customer the back office accounting accounts receivable department can issue and invoice and start collecting on the balance due.  Everyone can view the complete lifecycle of that customer.  Another example can be a sales person selling product in the field viewing quantity on hand inventory via their CRM system showing the data reflected in the inventory management accounting system.  Essentially the key to ERP is integration between all departments.

In summary, if your company has a lot of employees, product variations, locations, warehouses etc. it is essential to have an integrated ERP system to promote growth, employee retention, customer satisfaction, control costs etc.

Contribution by Kerry Gardner:  Director of Sales and Marketing - Klear Systems

Klear Systems

Klear Systems is a Sage, Microsoft and NetSuite business partner delivering world-class ERP and CRM solutions as well as custom development and IT services to customers throughout Southern California, including Orange County, Riverside, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Irvine.

We’re a young company with a tenured staff of professionals that bring broad experience and extensive talents to every engagement. Your business success is the measure of our success. Klear System’s talented team of programmers, consultants, and technicians never stops looking for innovative ways to solve business challenges. From project-planning, implementation, custom development, and ongoing support we keep the focus on delivering a measurable return on your technology investment.